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Profs should learn to know what they don't know

I don't know everything.

Even though I don't know everything, I know something that will help me throughout the rest of my life: I know what I don't know.

The "know what you don't know" theory is an often overlooked and somewhat confusing concept that my ninth grade Algebra teacher, Mrs. Bohr, often pointed out to her students. Simply put, you greatly benefit by realizing that although you may have a good bit of knowledge in your area of expertise, you don't know everything. The truly intelligent people in life realize what they don't know and go about fixing it. The truly sad, often unsuccessful people, go through life with the misconception that the knowledge they have is enough to get them by and that they never really need to learn anything new.

Many professors at Bloomsburg fall into a much more dangerous category, they don't know what they don't know.

If you don't know what you don't know, you are at a roadblock in the educational road. You can't learn anymore because you have absolutely no idea what it is that you have to learn. It's a vicious cycle, and sadly, I see it all too often. Without enough background in your field of study, you become lost in the endless cycles of academia, never to emerge again.

The saddest part about all of this is that it can be prevented. But many professors just don't want to take the time to find out anything exists beyond their narrow scope of the world. Their slightest bit of knowledge is just enough for them to scoot by for the rest of their time here at Bloomsburg, and no one will think twice about it.

College is an environment that fosters education and the exploration of ideas. It's a place where students come to acquire knowledge that they didn't have before. Students come to college to be taught by someone who is an expert in their field.

The key difference between experts in the field and a handful of the professors at Bloomsburg is that experts realize there is more knowledge to be uncovered than what they already possess. They seek training to learn about the latest medicine, the most efficient way to code a computer program or just how exactly leading scientific studies are developed. They seek training to learn things that they didn't know before so that they can teach people who also don't have the knowledge.

Many professionals outside of academia are required to continue their education because their employers or industry realize how necessary it is for their success in the workplace. For example, according to the State Board of Accountancy [49 PA. Code, Chapter 11], Certified Public Accounts (CPAs) must complete 80 hours of continuing education every two years simply to keep the title of a CPA. Of those 80 hours, at least 16 of those must be in accounting and auditing subjects and eight credits must be in tax subjects.

It's clear the accounting industry realizes how vital it is to continue your education even after you get a job. However, some members of the faculty at Bloomsburg University do not have any requirements for continuing education in their collective bargaining agreement, according to Dr. Roy Pointer, BU President of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty (APSCUF).

If there's any profession that should require continuing education, it is the educational system. These are the people who teach the less educated how to do matrix, how to design an ad and how to administer CPR. The professors' contracts are essentially saying that whatever knowledge the professors have when they enter the university is good enough for the rest of their careers here. Without a continuing education requirement, professors fall back to the dangerous cycle of not knowing what they don't know. They don't understand how the industry has changed so they don't even know what they need to learn.

From a quick glance at the different colleges at Bloomsburg, many of the faculty do indeed go to seminars, classes or educational trips, many on their own time. While this is a step in the right direction, one only needs to sit in a classroom for ten minutes at Bloomsburg to realize that some professors are either learning the wrong things or not learning at all.

This is where the system fails.

When someone in my class is constantly telling the professor that what they're saying is incorrect or impossible, I feel insulted and cheated. I should not know more than professors who are the supposed experts of technology. They should be teaching me, telling me things that I don't know and correcting my mistakes.

It's times like these that I wish I could take a professor's salary for a day, because more times than not, the students end up teaching the class with the professor standing dumbfounded in the corner.

There is certainly no excuse for not seeking additional training. Every faculty member has access to a computer with Internet access. The Internet has a tremendous amount of information ranging from aardvarks to xylophones, and everything in between. But, if the Internet doesn't fulfill your void of knowledge, enroll in a class, go to a seminar, go to the library. The university is absolutely filled with resources awaiting your interest

The concept is simple: if you don't know it, learn it. No bells and whistles here. Nothing to be misconstrued. Simply put, if you are teaching students something that you don't understand yourself, you can do two things. Either you can acquire knowledge on the subject, or you can not teach the subject. There's no choice in between. Even if the students don't call you on your lack of knowledge, they will have been severely hurt by not receiving the best and most up-to-date knowledge in the field.

Finally, professors and students, take notice of one important concept: it's perfectly OK not to know everything. I certainly don't know everything and I would be lying if I said I did. But, you must also know what you don't know. Professors, you are still in school. Take a cue from your students. Read. Talk to people. Listen to people. Ask questions. Watch TV. Play on the Internet. But, above all, learn something. Know what you don't know.

Ah, Mrs. Bohr, you have hit the nail on the head once again. Truer words have never been spoken by an Algebra teacher.