He has a reputation in the field of organic chemistry. He wrote an influential textbook after teaching the subject for decades. He was recognized as one of New York University's cool professors.
More than 80 of his students signed a petition against him as the campus emerged from the Pandemic Restrictions.
The students blamed Dr. Jones for their poor test scores.
The professor was defending his work. The university deans terminated Dr. Jones's contract before the semester started.
The officials offered to review the students' grades and allow them to leave the class retroactively. The dean of the college granted an exception to allow students to withdraw, according to Mark E. Tuckerman, the chemistry department's chairman.
The chemistry department's director of undergraduate studies summed up the situation in an email to the professor before he was fired.
He said the plan would give a gentle but firm hand to the students and their parents.
The chemistry faculty protested the decisions and the pro-Jones students sent glowing letters of endorsement.
A chemistry professor who has worked with Dr. Jones said that the deans want happy students who are saying great things about the university so more people apply.
It could be a case study of the pressures on higher education as it tries to handle its Gen-Z student body. Many students are still dealing with the effects of the Pandemic and should universities ease pressure on them? The number of complaints against professors has increased. Students have too much power over contract faculty members who don't have tenure.
What should organic chemistry be like?
The way the subject is taught by Dr. Jones has been changed many times. He pioneered a new method of instruction that relied less on repetition and more on problem solving, as well as writing a 1,300-page textbook about organic chemistry.
He taught organic chemistry at the New York University after retiring from Princeton. He said in an interview that about a decade ago he noticed a loss of focus among the students, even as more of them were trying to get into medical school.
He was terminated from his job because students were misinterpreting exam questions at an "astounding rate". He was able to reduce the difficulty of his exams.
He said that the problem was made worse by the swine flu. He wrote that they fell off a cliff. We now see zeros and single digits.
The students didn't study after several years of Covid learning loss.
The professors taped the organic chemistry lectures. Dr. Jones said that he paid a lot of money for the videos and that they are still being used.
It wasn't enough. In 2020, some 30 students out of 475 petitioned for more help. He said that the people were struggling. There wasn't good internet coverage at home. There are a lot of things.
Students were reassured in an online town-hall meeting by their professors.
Students were having other problems. Kent Kirshenbaum is a chemistry professor at the N.Y.U.
He said they protested that they were not given grades that would allow them to get into medical school.
The university returned with less Covid restrictions, but the students were still anxious.
Dr. Jones said in an interview that they weren't going to class. They were unable to answer the questions because they weren't watching the videos.
The students were able to choose between the two sections, one focused on problem solving and the other on traditional lectures. The students in both sections had problems on a GroupMe chat. The petition was started by those texts.
The petition said that the scores were not an accurate reflection of the time and effort put into the class.
The students were not happy with the decision to reduce the number of exams. He tried to hide course averages, did not give extra credit, and removed access to his lectures even though some students had Covid, according to them. They said he had adescending tone.
A class with a high percentage of withdrawals and low grades has failed to make students' learning and well-being a priority and reflects poorly on the chemistry department as a whole.
The university scheduled the first test after six classes, which was too soon, according to Dr. Jones.
25 percent of the grade depended on lab scores and a final lab test, but Dr. Jones said that students were aware of their grades, even if they didn't know it.
The technology in the lecture hall made it difficult to record his white board problems.
The problem-solving section of the course was defended by a teaching assistant in an email.
The petition was written out of unhappiness with exam scores, according to Mr. BenSlimane. Many of the students who complained about the class didn't use the resources they were given.
Ryan said he found Dr. Jones to be inspiring.
The reputation of the class is that it is a weed-out class. People won't get the best grades. Some of the comments might have been influenced by the students' grades.
The other students seemed shell shocked. Several of them said that Dr. Jones was willing to help students who asked questions, but he could also be sarcastic and downbeat about the class's performance.
Many people feared for their futures after the second midterm when the average hovered around 30 percent. The student was very upset.
Students said that they were surprised that Dr. Jones was fired and that they didn't think it was possible.
From an era when professors set the bar and expected the class to meet it, to the current more supportive, student-centered approach, the controversy shows a sea change in teaching.
During that time, the goal was to teach at a very high and rigorous level. It is our hope that students will see that putting them through that rigor is doing them well.
James W. Canary was the chairman of the department until about a year ago, and he felt that Dr. Jones' communication with students was not up to par.
He hasn't changed his methods in a long time. The students now expect more support from the faculty when they arestruggling.
The N.Y.U. is evaluating courses that have a higher percentage of students getting D's and F's.
One of those courses has been organic chemistry. Is it really necessary for these courses to be punishing in order to be rigorous?
According to Dr. Kirshenbaum, most students in organic chemistry want to become doctors.
He doesn't want you to be a good doctor and he doesn't want you to treat patients.
The dean for science terminated Dr. Jones' contract. He wrote that Dr. Jones's performance didn't meet the standards of the teaching faculty.
The doctor didn't want to be interviewed. Mr. Beckman said that Dr. Jones had been the target of multiple student complaints about his demeanor.
He said that Dr. Jones's course evaluations were the worst among members of the chemistry department.
The professors in the chemistry department are not happy about it. They wrote that they were worried about setting a precedent that could undermine faculty freedom and pedagogic practices.
The university's actions may deter rigorous instruction, especially given the growing tendency of students to file petitions, according to Nathaniel J. Traaseth, one of about 20 chemistry professors who signed the letter.
He said that the faculty who are not tenured are thinking about what would happen to them if their contract is not renewed.
Dr. Jones concurs.
He said that he had planned to retire soon and that he didn't want his job back. I want to make sure this doesn't happen to other people.
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