When I was a student at Stanford, I had some incredible professors and seminars, but these classes were often the exception. More often, I ended up with faculty who put little time into their teaching and it showed. Classes were often disorganized, the professors were disinterested, and this resulted in unengaging academic experiences where my peers and I learned material, but a lot was left to be desired.

Today, I am a professor at a liberal arts college where innovative teaching and student engagement is central to our mission. But, I have long wondered how representative my own experiences have been in higher education.