I note that Donald Gould feels that our professors should be trained
in their job (Forum, 27 March). I recall that during my one and (thankfully)
only year at university, a trio of lecturers contrived to turn biochemistry
from an inherently fascinating study of the processes of life into a nightmare
of rote-learned factoids. To this day I cannot understand why it took nearly
a year to teach the equations of enzyme kinetics when one competent teacher
could have handled it in two weeks or less.
There is now hope though: a series of qualifications available to those
who would like to improve their teaching ability; and they need not take
time away from their work to obtain them. The Training and Development Lead
Body have developed a set of standards for a series of National Vocational
Qualifications by which the performance of a tutor can be assessed.
Bernard Peek London
