I am 19F and in an intro economics class. During lecture, the professor stated a statistic that I recognized as outdated because I had just written a paper on it.
I raised my hand and mentioned the more recent data source. I did not mean it disrespectfully. I genuinely thought it was relevant.
After class, he told me privately that I should not “challenge him in front of everyone” and that it undermines authority.
I apologized for the tone if it came across wrong, but I do not think students should pretend something is accurate if it is not.
AITA for speaking up?
Idk about being an AH, but it probably wasn’t a smart decision to correct him like that during his lecture. Ultimately he decides your final grade. You should’ve approached him after his lecture to discuss it.
But everyone else in the class benefits from learning the correct information as well
OP never explained what the professor got wrong. It could have been a trivial technicality and OP was showing off her knowledge. OP should probably clarify for us.
And that is even assuming OP was right.
Just because an undergrad has written a paper on something does not mean it is true.
Professor still handled it poorly though.
NTA, but now you know your professor is one.
NTA. if a professor’s ego is so fragile they can’t handle a minor challenge, they shouldn’t be teaching.
NAH, maybe a slight lean towards your prof being the AH. I think a lot depends on the delivery. If it was a ‘Well actually…’ moment it probably came across as obnoxious and disrespectful even if you didn’t intend it to. The biggest thing here is to read the room and know the vibe of the prof. If you have a really laidback professor who invites discussion and engagement, it might’ve been more welcomed. If you knew she wasn’t, or were unsure, you could have sent an email after, along the lines of “Great lecture today! I realized when you mention the stat about \_\_\_ that I recently learned of a more recent study that resulted in an updated value of \_\_\_, here is a link to that in case it’s of interest to you. Thanks and take care.” Then you’re more like, sharing your interest and knowledge, rather than correcting her. You should always keep in mind that even if you have *particular* knowledge that contradicts your professor, they are the expert in the room and you are the learner, so it’s important not to adopt a superior attitude.
INFO.
It depends on how it was handled. I’d have to hear it.
One of the reasons I like math teachers is they’d eventually make a mistake working a problem and have to be corrected by the class. They knew how to handle it.
If the statistic is a make or break topic, I get wanting to correct misinformation. If it was something that just added texture or depth to the lecture, you should have waited after class to tell him. The same way he waited after class to correct you, which would have probably been embarrassing had he did it in front of all the other students. It sounds like you just wanted to prove you are intelligent without considering to be wise.
This depends entirely on if he was just showing it as an example of how to read and interpret data or if he meant the data itself to be the lesson.
If you’re thinking about going to grad school, please don’t ask that prof for a recommendation.
I am a professor. My response would have been “Oh, I hadn’t seen that. Can you shoot me the reference?”
There are different cultural expectations – I’m from the US West Coast, and have taught this way in more than one university, but I’m certainly aware that some places expect students to be deferential. So there is some room for context here. But my knee jerk response is “too fragile to survive”.
Yeah, I tell my students to tell me if I am saying something wrong so that I don’t look stupid (or more stupid than I currently am). I find that most students are so afraid to speak up already, I would hate for them to silence themselves.
INFO: Was it a critical point, or something merely mentioned in passing?