Hey, students -- pay attention. Not to us, mind you, but to the syllabus provided by your professor. Kieran Mullen, a physics professor at the University of Oklahoma, has a fairly strict rule about gadgets in class: there won't be any, ever, under any circumstances. Balk all you want (understandable given his own clipped-on cellie), but if you sign up for this guy's class, you'll be flipping your phone to "off" and leaving your laptop in the dormitory. And if you try to blaze your own path and slip that netbook into the back row, you might leave bitterly disappointed. As you'll see clearly in the video past the break, Mr. Mullen sought to make a visual point that laptops weren't allowed in class (he calls them "a distraction"), and while it seems that the whole stunt was premeditated, most students acknowledged that his point was driven home. In short, he took a defunct machine, submerged it in liquid nitrogen, and proceeded to make the following statement:
"This is just liquid nitrogen, so it alone won't hurt the computer. But this will."
Find out exactly what "this" was by hitting that 'Read More' button there on the lower left.
Using excessive force and aggressive violence in public, shouting and threatening others, forcing others to do something against their will, and acting in no whatsoever way related to what he is supposed to do as according to his obligation as a teacher.
Dangnammit kids an their laptops. Why I'd ban those new fandangled "calculators" and those crazy LCD watches too! Is this an Amish class or something? Geesh.
What an idiot. I understand he is trying to prove a point in this demonstration... but come on!
I have a class where the instructor is anti-laptop and it is ridiculous. And I will agree, yes some people use to to surf the web during class and what not.
On the other hand there are some people who concentrate and become more involved when they have more information at their disposal and the ability to take notes.
When I use my laptop in class yes not 100% of the use is on the curriculum. It is split between taking notes, researching information about the topics we are covering, checking up on my favorite forums, checking email.
If that is how I advance my knowledge, why force me into a box. This is part of the reason education here is not as good as it could be.
If the instructor is going on and on about something I don't quite understand, I can search on my computer to learn more about the topic from another source explained differently.
I'd drop this guy in a heartbeat ... except you probably have no choice but to take this villain's class in order to move towards graduation.
This mad scientist makes the case for removal of Tenure for professors.
Is this guy's real name Luthor?
Students can't take notes with their laptops? What. Did the poor professor have a student who distracted him with a laptop once? Awwwww. Poor baby professor. I guess, like any good villain, he vowed to never allow modern technology into his midst again? And, like any good dictator, he allows himself to have technology on his person?
OU should be ashamed to have a professor like this in their midst.
Kudos to StudentatOU who captured this. I'm sure Luthor has your name and F grade locked into his spreadsheet already (I mean, if he's any good he'll know where you sat from the camera angle) ... and I'm sure you'll find zero justice from an administration that hires professors like this ... but at least you know OU is not the school for you.
STUDENTS REVOLT- Teachers like this work 15 hours a week at most, and often they just send a Teaching Assistant into the classroom, because they are too important to waste their time with the likes of you. To them students are insignificant weak minded drones, whose only real function is to pay their bloated salaries and fund their undeserved retirement. In return for their large incomes they take three months off every year while you struggle on and are expected to be thankful for their petty tirades and weak minded theories. And after they have finished suckling at the public trough of education, and drained it dry, they again demand another tuition increase so that you can go further in debt, to satisfy their avarice and greed. You will be paying for these sorry excuses of humanity for the next 20 to thirty years. And they will still be here, fat, lazy and ossified, demanding more money from the next class of fools that will fund their lazy unproductive dead end careers. And are they giving you anything for all this treasure you are giving them?. You be the judge. We now have the worst educated generation in the world. And still they are guaranteed their jobs and their pay.
I guess my cost of 80$ per class just went up to around 280$ per class as I'll gladly buy a new netbook every week - firstly because I type notes faster than I write, and secondly because these arrogant theatrics will be amusing. Now it might be a different story, if he actually gave a valid, verifiable, measurable excuse for this behavior i.e. this lecture takes place in a chemical, kinetics or magnetics lab...
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posted February 21st 2010 2:54PM
@hockalugie oh i read it wrong...
I bet this professor doesn't really care about teaching.
I didn't realize Harold Ramis was a prof at OU.
Bummer there was no actual smash in the video.
That professor is a looser. The whole act was screaming "look at me".
Using excessive force and aggressive violence in public, shouting and threatening others, forcing others to do something against their will, and acting in no whatsoever way related to what he is supposed to do as according to his obligation as a teacher.
Dangnammit kids an their laptops. Why I'd ban those new fandangled "calculators" and those crazy LCD watches too! Is this an Amish class or something? Geesh.
I have known Kieran for a long time, still think he looks like Harold Ramis... He never likes it when i ask him were slimmer is.
What an idiot. I understand he is trying to prove a point in this demonstration... but come on!
I have a class where the instructor is anti-laptop and it is ridiculous. And I will agree, yes some people use to to surf the web during class and what not.
On the other hand there are some people who concentrate and become more involved when they have more information at their disposal and the ability to take notes.
When I use my laptop in class yes not 100% of the use is on the curriculum. It is split between taking notes, researching information about the topics we are covering, checking up on my favorite forums, checking email.
If that is how I advance my knowledge, why force me into a box. This is part of the reason education here is not as good as it could be.
If the instructor is going on and on about something I don't quite understand, I can search on my computer to learn more about the topic from another source explained differently.
What a jackass!
@MBN The incident was staged to look like it was, but it was, in the end, staged. So, no.
douche = yes
I'd drop this guy in a heartbeat ... except you probably have no choice but to take this villain's class in order to move towards graduation.
This mad scientist makes the case for removal of Tenure for professors.
Is this guy's real name Luthor?
Students can't take notes with their laptops? What. Did the poor professor have a student who distracted him with a laptop once? Awwwww. Poor baby professor. I guess, like any good villain, he vowed to never allow modern technology into his midst again? And, like any good dictator, he allows himself to have technology on his person?
OU should be ashamed to have a professor like this in their midst.
Kudos to StudentatOU who captured this. I'm sure Luthor has your name and F grade locked into his spreadsheet already (I mean, if he's any good he'll know where you sat from the camera angle) ... and I'm sure you'll find zero justice from an administration that hires professors like this ... but at least you know OU is not the school for you.
STUDENTS REVOLT- Teachers like this work 15 hours a week at most, and often they just send a Teaching Assistant into the classroom, because they are too important to waste their time with the likes of you. To them students are insignificant weak minded drones, whose only real function is to pay their bloated salaries and fund their undeserved retirement. In return for their large incomes they take three months off every year while you struggle on and are expected to be thankful for their petty tirades and weak minded theories. And after they have finished suckling at the public trough of education, and drained it dry, they again demand another tuition increase so that you can go further in debt, to satisfy their avarice and greed. You will be paying for these sorry excuses of humanity for the next 20 to thirty years. And they will still be here, fat, lazy and ossified, demanding more money from the next class of fools that will fund their lazy unproductive dead end careers. And are they giving you anything for all this treasure you are giving them?. You be the judge. We now have the worst educated generation in the world. And still they are guaranteed their jobs and their pay.
I guess my cost of 80$ per class just went up to around 280$ per class as I'll gladly buy a new netbook every week - firstly because I type notes faster than I write, and secondly because these arrogant theatrics will be amusing. Now it might be a different story, if he actually gave a valid, verifiable, measurable excuse for this behavior i.e. this lecture takes place in a chemical, kinetics or magnetics lab...
What a creep. I would have walked straight out of that lecture.