My views on Dean not being present in class...

Who would've imagined Professor Dean not being in class today would actually be productive... I did! I maybe alone on this one but I honestly would prefer that everyone in a blue moon a professor would not show up to class and allow the students to govern and teach themselves.

I've never publicly expressed my views one class, well at lease not publicly were Professor Dean could have a say so, but I will now. I'm not a student who has a strong background in political science, as well as technology, and being in class I feel as though I'm listening to a bunch of computers talk, using terminology that I have never come across or words only used in theory in which I still have no understanding of no matter how late I stay up reading, or how many times I read the same piece of material, or how many notes I take in class. When Professor Dean is in class I feel as though she strikes fear into those who do not have some type of background in or understanding of this course. Many classes I tend to just get lost in translation to the point where I want to give up. Luckily, there are many of students in the class where I draw my knowledge from, to be even more honest I'd say majority of my classmates are the reason I have any understanding of what's going on in this class. I understand as a professor she cannot give us the answers to all the questions, and she also cannot guide us through the process it takes to figure the answer out; sometimes we must do it ourselves.  Be real though readers, does anyone else believe she's taking advantage of this though? Does every assignment given need to be so vague? Is it too much to ask to ask to get some form of clarification of these assignments?

Not all is bad with Professor Dean I must say. Allowing us to work together as a class helps solve many of these problems I'm having here. Being in a setting where there are students who have much experience in such a course helps build a bridge between what the professor is talking about and what I am getting out of it. I give much praise to my classmates for dumbing down some of the text, notes, lectures, assignments so that a few of use can grow within the subject, as well as catch up to the speed of the course. My grades may not show that I have a grasp of this course but I must say, I leave each group interaction with my classmates with a completely new outlook of what's going on in DN as well as the world we live in. The fear I mentioned that comes about when Professor Dean enters the room isn't the same when it's just the students. We are not patronized for not clearly asking a question or even cut off for not making sense, instead we are guided to better word what we are trying to say, or given different ways to make the same point. I find it interesting, how she promotes competition within the classroom but I sense more ally work happening.  I don't know, like I said this may just be me but it's how I see class, and how I feel about it. Nothing against Professor Dean as a individual or even a Professor, I just have a different outlook on the way class is taught and ran. Who knows maybe it's just my duty to catch up, now matter how fast the pace everyone else is moving.