CompuServe Messages

Terry, I can believe it. There are many tenured instructors who for some reason or another fear having their students know more than they. I think it's a sad state of affairs myself. But I can understand the problem. I do production drafting 40-60 hours/week 50 weeks/year, tenured instructors have quite a different workload. I'm sure my expertise with the program is surpassed by some instructors, but I doubt the majority of them have had the luxury of learning the program as a result of being cast into the pit as it were<g>. Some instructors are coming from backgrounds where another CAD package was being taught, they're competent with that with which they are familiar, handing them a copy of AutoCAD and expecting them to teach it can lead to frustration. I know of no instructor that looks forward to a question from a student that they can't answer. The only bad instructors are those that fail to find the answers. An instructor unwilling to learn with or from his or her students either has an ego problem or a fear of showing inadequacy. I can respect a teacher that shows fear, sometimes fear is a good thing, that teacher can turn fear to their advantage. A teacher with an ego problem just wastes a students investment in their education. What is your opinion on teaching 3D in a first semester course? I tend to dismiss it as inconsequential. I think that getting my students on par with their board performance is more critical than showing them how to draw a widget in 3D. I see the demand for capable 2D drafters far outweighing the demand for those that can do 3D work. I don't feel the tools for 3D work are developed to the point that they need to be either, which may color my opinion as well. Any and all comments are welcome. Dennis