A portion of the reason I joined ITT-Tech’s student base was because of the hands-on reputation, but the main reason was because I wanted an industry professional to teach me C fast! As a digital audio and multimedia freak, I wanted that knowledge, and it was my goal to be my best in it. I got so lucky, because that’s exactly what happened, but even as it was happening, I was watching a culture of complacent discontent threaten it in an environment that needed more of that knowledgeable and applicable spirit. My personal opinion was that the 3 quarters I had this instructor, it really did benefit my understanding of the topic, in a very large way, but maybe that’s just because I wanted it to.

Of course, there’s the usual like that stated above, but my Database I class was strange! The peak in all the drama, though, was, let’s just say, the instructor making her personal issues with me public and blaming me for something that was very far from the truth. Someone sitting behind me solidly corrected her on it, and that was that. She left the next quarter. I almost felt like she was taking my aceing the class out on me. Boy, I learned more in a few weeks at my new webmaster job than with what the instructor taught!

Not to mention that sometimes the administration does bizarre things, like having you registered as an Associate’s and a Bachelor’s student at the same time, thereby screwing up class schedules, and then fixing the schedules without telling you, even though you are three weeks into a quarter. I found this out just this week.

All in all, though, it’s just like the real world. CYOA! What a trip, though, it has all been, and will be for the remaining 2 years.

For me, the biggest complaint that I have is the lack of any experience in game design that she has. If I am going to be taught information about any subject, the person teaching should be knowledgeable about the subject. This would require expertise in some form of game design. Unfortunately, she has a background in 3ds Max and while game artists do use this program, she has not used it for anything related to games. ITT should treat their students with more respect and hire someone who actually knows about game design instead of just whomever they can get to agree to teach a class.

I am struggling to think of a single piece of related information that my instructor shared with the class. It was clear after only the second week that the instructor knew very little about the curriculum beyond the pre-packaged teaching guide she HANDED OUT on the first day. A class on Game Interface Design should teach students about… say… Game Interface Design. Instead, we participated in activities that focused on generating game ideas… an activity we have performed countless times in every class. These activities were rarely relevant and I often had to remind myself that this was an Interface Design class.

I don’t like having to be this harsh, but it is frustrating to pay the amount we students pay for our tuition without receiving a reasonable education in return. If you want to teach a class, know the material or at least learn it before you start handing out grades to students who WANT to learn. Instead of preparing appropriately, the instructor clearly used “in-class activities” to avoid having to teach the material. If asked a serious question regarding an assignment or lab, she would either change the subject to something with which she had at least some remote knowledge, or she would conjure a response that did not answer the student’s question.

I KNOW that I was not alone in often feeling confused as to what we were supposed to be doing or, even more frightening, what we were supposed to be learning. I am not one to complain unnecessarily. The fact is that I have, unfortunately, concluded that an unabashed explanation of why many students (I believe that I can speak for several others) are unhappy with the quality of instruction we have received over the past couple quarters is, indeed, necessary. I cannot bite my tongue any longer while our money, and our futures, are thrown into the void due to the lack of effort (or perhaps ability) of our instructor.

I truly believe that this particular instructor COULD provide value to us, if she were more knowledgeable in the material she agreed to teach. I understand she is extremely skilled in modeling and animation software. This does not (or at least should not) qualify her to teach a design class. Please verify the credentials of our instructors. I understand that it may be hard to find qualified candidates, but with the generous amount of money we students have invested in ITT, your pockets should be deep enough to find someone willing to make the effort to teach the material we NEED to succeed in the industry. You owe your students at least that much if you wish to continue claiming to be an accredited learning institution.