continuing on...

Evaluating teachers in college requires a bit of a different standard than it does in elementary through high school. In those, simply knowing anything at all about the subject you are teaching makes a big difference. You would think that would be a pre-req. for teaching, but in the schools I went to, it really wasn't. Passion for the material is also not something you can take for granted.

In college, you look at these areas a little differently. In college, your teachers are obviously going to have knowledge of the material. They spend their entire lives studying it and rarely do they teach classes radically outside their area of expertise. Passion for a college instructor is really a different question. Obviously they are passionate about the material to spend so long studying it, but do they share that passion for teaching? The important thing in looking at a good college teacher is: 1) being able to break down his/her immense knowledge and present it in a logical and coherant way to the student and 2) actually give a rat's ass about teaching it and view it as something more than just a chore you have to do in order to work for the university and do what you really want.

Essentially, there has been two, one I expected, the other I added after thinking more about the subject:

Dr. Enomoto: I've had him twice so far in graduate school and he is probably the best professor yet, easily the best in the department. This guy knows basically everything and presents his lectures in a logical and coherent way that each one builds on the other. I've had a lot of terrible teachers since I've been in graduate school, but I've probably learned more in his classes than in the rest combined.

Dr. Berrens: This is the one I added upon further reflection. I didn't care much for his class, nor did I think much of the guy personally, he was kind of a pompous ass, but I actually learned a ton in his class. I forget a good chunk of my classes after I'm done with them, but even when we cover utility theory in graduate school, my life is tons easier since he explained it to me so well.