Good One!

A professor from America came for a two-week visit and gave a short talk on Artificial Intelligence (AI) today. After that 1 hour listening to him, I finally realised why most students doing twinning programs that perform below average here, could do much better once they transferred to American universities. If the professor's one-hour presentation is anything like his lectures, I am truly impressed.

First of all, he put himself at the same level as his audiences. No introducing himself as "professor" or used the title "Dr". No putting up the airs of the high-and-mighty. This kind of humility in the highly educated is actually not apparent in those who got their PhDs locally. When he spoke, he manner was casual, friendly and extremely informal. He addressed his audiences as if they were his peers. His voice was clear and animated. No mumbling, slurring, no accents that are impossible to place. He included humor in forms of short, subtle jokes, well-blended into the topic - no stopping the content flow just to tell a complete, independent joke; no laughing out loud at his own jokes - some self-proclaimed "jokers" do, and that's not funny at all.

The little bit of AI concepts that he presented was presented in a simple manner, explained using practical analogy. And he openly admitted the things that he was an expert in, and the things that he didn't know. You don't get that very often with the I-know-it-all locals.

I once had an American lecturer for an English course and frankly, sitting two hours in his class didn't feel like lecture. I enjoyed myself, had lots of fun and didn't feel like I was learning, but when I left the class, I knew more than before I went in.

When I first took up this teaching job, I had really wanted to be a lecturer that as a student, I had enjoyed learning from. And I did try very hard. Probably I had failed badly. But then again, are the students here as deserving as I was as a student? (Ahem!)