This article will help you understand your professors finally!

About the author

Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.

Why does my professor do that anyway?

You’ve got questions, and I have answers. See, I was a professor for about 15 years. And I know just about every answer to students’ questions, and I am going to spill the tea. Well, not literally. But get ready to find out the truth.

Why does my professor stare at me?

Your professor may always stare at you and make eye contact longer than normal because they are trying to communicate. It is a way to engage students and they might be targeting you because you are either a very engaged learner or you need extra attention to stay focused. Your professor might also be reminded of someone because you look similar to a celebrity, friend or family member.

Okay, it can be awkward. You are in class, listening to the lecture (hopefully), and your professor gazes in your direction longer than normal. It feels odd. Do you look away, do you keep making eye contact? It is just confusing.

I can’t explain every professors’ actions, but I think I know why your professor is making eye contact with you.

First, it helps engage the students. It is a very effective communication tool that everyone should be using. However, it shouldn’t last uncomfortably long. There is an art to eye contact. You don’t want it to become a staring contest.

So, it is just possible that your professor is making eye contact and staring at you because it’s their way of communicating and engaging you in the class. And they don’t have good social cues to stop.

I always make eye contact with my students, but I make sure I evenly distribute that throughout the class and focus on all students, not just one. If you feel like they are singling you out, it might be something else.

Maybe you are one of the students who has good feedback. Are you nodding your head or answering lots of questions during class? They might just think you are really focused on your education and give you more attention.

If you don’t think that those explanations fit you, it might be that you remind them of someone. Maybe you look like someone they know, or even resemble a celebrity, and they stare for that reason.

And if you still can’t figure out why they are making eye contact, it could be that they want you to pay attention. Are you the student who is working on other homework, playing on your phone, or napping during class? It is possible that your professor is really focusing on keeping you up to speed and engaged by constantly making sure you’re paying attention by making eye contact.

If none of those explain it, I’m at a loss too. Because I can’t think of any other reason.

Now, you are wondering what to do about it. I would suggest you make eye contact back, nod to let them know you are understanding the material, and then start writing notes instead of continuing to stare back. Break the gaze. And move on.

Why does my professor always call on me?

Your professor may be calling on you more than your classmates because you are very educated about the material and they know you can respond, or you need to be more focused on they want you to pay more attention. And maybe they don’t know many other students’ names and only call on the ones they remember.

Do college professors call on students?

Absolutely, professors call on college students all the time. It depends on the type of professor, but it is common for professors to call on certain students to make sure they are engaged and for participation.

Some professors may use this strategy to award participation points. I was enrolled in a course once where the professor made us participate five times during the semester to earn a grade. It was frustrating for sure, but it worked. The class had lots of discussions.

But professors might call on certain students more often than others because of a few reasons.

First, you might not be paying attention and your professor is calling on you to make sure you are understanding the material. And by engaging you, they are hoping to get your attention back on the lecture.

Secondly, the professor might think you have really good responses and is excited to hear your thoughts.

Lastly, your professor might not know all the students’ names in the classroom and calls on the ones that they remember.

How do professors know everything about their subject?

Professors may seem like they know everything about their subject because they got a bachelor’s degree and then they continued school and got a master’s degree or a Ph.D. Some professors might have other degrees, depending on their profession and discipline. But either way, they went to college for a long time. We are talking 6-10 years total. And their last fews years of school are very focused on their subject. So, they have a lot of education and time to learn that material.

And then when they start teaching the material, they start to learn more and get better at remembering the information. Think about it, they are teaching this information every semester, and eventually they will start to memorize it.

Think of it like the alphabet or multiplications. It seems really hard to learn at the time, but once you do, it’s so simple and you never forget it. That’s how it is for professors.

When I first started teaching, I was reading from PowerPoints and notes more often, and I had to review the material frequently. But then it finally just becomes so engrained into my memory because of repetition that I don’t need notes as much. But I am not a human computer and do need a refresher every now and then.

We don’t have some kind of superpower and it’s something that you could eventually do too.

Why do professors publish?

Professors need to publish because they are supposed to contribute to their field. And it’s highly encouraged and sometimes required to get a job in the education field or keep your job. Some professors are trying to get tenure and need to publish to accomplish this.

Publishing isn’t something that is really required of professors, at least not formally, but it is typically encouraged. See, colleges and universities need professors to contribute to their field because a lot of professors can get grants and funding and it looks really good for the college. And it attracts students to the university too.

I am sure that professors also want to contribute to their discipline. They want to continue researching and helping their field as much as possible. They do this by researching, and publishing to share their information with the rest of the world.

And finally, a lot of colleges and universities need professors to publish to earn tenure and show their supervisors that they are active in their field.

That’s all I have for now. But don’t worry, I answer a lot of questions from my readers and you can ask one here.

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