# Professors: different NT types and how they effect the style of lecturing



## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

I couldn't find a similar thread, and wanted to ask how others have learnt to spot a type in the lecture hall. 


Which NT (or other) type have you come across most often at college/university?
Do/did you prefer to be taught by one type over another?
What are their type-related strengths and weaknesses as lecturers?
Has anyone else found that Is are less likely to asks students to comment by name? i.e. they wait for volunteers, rather than target 
Since lecturing obviously entails group communication, I think that some Is (particularly those with Te) can masquerade as Es. You can sometimes spot the Is, however, by their behaviour immediately before and after a lecture: the I doesn't begin to interact (with small talk, etc.) until they are ready to begin. They also avoid tend to avoid eye contact after class, while the E may continue to make comments of a different nature. Es also seem more comfortable mentioning minor details from their personal life; there is less of a wall between them and their students. P or J seems to manifest in their organization skills. Regardless of their knowledge or demeanor, many good lecturers have gone down in my estimations by failing to perform what are simple administrative procedures. 

These are very preliminary ideas, so I'm curious to hear from those who are more informed than I am about MBTI.


E.T.A. - Please excuse the blatant typo in the heading - I need to hire a copy-editor for my posts.


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## MegaTuxRacer (Sep 7, 2011)

I have had two ENTPs, an INTP, and an INTJ. The ENTPs were insanely informal, and they were more concerned with us being able to generally understand what they were talking about. I rocked those classes. It was awesome walking into class and just Ne floodgating with my professors. The INTP was very specific and detailed. It wasn't so detailed that I would get bogged down in them like some of the SJ professors I have had, but it was enough to make the classes much more challenging, so I suppose that's good in a way. I would always do okay in his courses. The INTJ was like an in-between alien. I did not communicate well with her teaching style. Where the INTP was detailed with everything and the ENTPs were general with everything, the INTJ would have certain areas of what she would be lecturing very detailed while others were broad and general. Caused a brainfuck studying and being able to understand everything for me required me to go back and research the things she wasn't specific about in order to understand the stuff she was specific about.

Never encountered an ENTJ.


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## knittigan (Sep 2, 2011)

> Which NT (or other) type have you come across most often at college/university?


I've successfully typed two INTJs and two ENTPs, but I'm sure there are more.



> Do/did you prefer to be taught by one type over another?


Any N-dominant tends to be the instructor I learn best from, although I did absolutely abysmally in a game theory class I took last year with one of the ENTPs. I would attribute my shitty grade to depression rather than poor instruction on his part, though. I’ve had him for other classes and done great, plus he’s a giant spaz in front of the class and I really enjoy being around him. I like INxJs because I feel like I'm just bullshitting my way through their classes, even though I'm not. ENxJs tend to be in awe of the way my brain works, so I always enjoy them, too, for recognising my brilliance :wink:



> What are their type-related strengths and weaknesses as lecturers?


For the ENTPs – their strengths would be that they are interesting to watch since they jump around so much, they tend to be quite playful, they have great examples, usually have a great rapport with their students, and are impressive to watch in a debate (which is always a huge part of philosophy). I guess their weaknesses as I see them are that their logic isn’t always as obvious as they think it is and so they can sometimes come off as arrogant rather than brilliant because they aren’t making their point(s) explicitly, they are sometimes disorganised, and can come off as intimidating or rude to people who are shy or thin-skinned. My biggest complaint, I guess, is that they can sometimes be more concerned with intellectually showboating than teaching the material.

For the INTJs – their number one strength would first of all be that they are brilliant, of course, but that goes without saying :tongue:. They also tend to be superficially organised, which some people appreciate. They’re quite good at explaining things since they often think out loud and shift their perspective on an issue almost unthinkingly. As for weaknesses, their informal lectures/thought patterns may be quite disorganised and hard to follow, although this is much less a problem if they are using visual aids or lecturing formally. Some of them are quite uncomfortable being the centre of attention in a class and may have a harder time connecting with their students because of this. Because they tend to be quite intellectual and reserved, their students might find them intimidating or cold (one of my classmates complained about this quite a bit).



> Has anyone else found that Is are less likely to asks students to comment by name? i.e. they wait for volunteers, rather than target


Yes. Particularly the Ni-dominants, and it's very amusing for me to secretly commiserate with their awkwardness. All of my INxJ professors have a habit of saying something profound and then standing and fidgeting in awkward silence while shooting looks of desperation at the class, hoping for someone to take pity on them and jump in.


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## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

knittigan said:


> For the ENTPs – their strengths would be that they are interesting to watch since they jump around so much, they tend to be quite playful, they have great examples, usually have a great rapport with their students, and are impressive to watch in a debate (which is always a huge part of philosophy). I guess their weaknesses as I see them are that their logic isn’t always as obvious as they think it is and so they can sometimes come off as arrogant rather than brilliant because they aren’t making their point(s) explicitly, they are sometimes disorganised, and can come off as intimidating or rude to people who are shy or thin-skinned. My biggest complaint, I guess, is that they can sometimes be more concerned with intellectually showboating than teaching the material.


I certainly found a (suspected) ENTP both intimidating and rude at times; she would cut people off mid-sentence to counter them, while at other points insisting that people take a side on an issue, even when many said they didn't feel informed enough to do so. She would also refer to her own publications as examples, _a lot_, which bothered people. But yes, her openness and good sense of humor made her entertaining most of the time (when in a bad mood she was prone to exploding). 

Interesting insights overall, knittigan; thanks!


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## redmanXNTP (May 17, 2011)

First of all, they know the difference between the verb "effect" (to bring about), and "affect" (to influence the direction of)... :wink:


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## redmanXNTP (May 17, 2011)

MegaTuxRacer said:


> Never encountered an ENTJ.


Just wait 'til you get into the corporate world...

The academic world isn't going to have many ENTJ profs on the academic side outside of some adjuncts whose professional area of focus is in the working world (e.g. lawyers who teach a law school class on something to boost their resume), and likely only a few on the research side, likely as team leaders.


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## Chipps (Jun 1, 2011)

I suspect one of my professors to be an NT. Probably ENTP. He is a sociology professor and doesnt use any lecture material he just talks and gets everyone involved in the conversation. He is a 67 year old man that is really animated and swears like a sailor sometimes. When someone is speaking in class he will walk over to where ever they are and sit next to them to converse. He is really supportive of people are is genuinely interested in other peoples perspectives of the world. He always says that during class he is also teaching himself along with teaching us. He goes really in depth with everything and breaks it apart and discuss every little detail. I really appreciate it. Im taking it as an elective even though I don't need the class at all.


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## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

redmanXNTP said:


> First of all, they know the difference between the verb "effect" (to bring about), and "affect" (to influence the direction of)... :wink:


As do I. Everyone makes mistakes and in 'real life' we can edit them.


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## redmanXNTP (May 17, 2011)

Lughna said:


> As do I. Everyone makes mistakes and in 'real life' we can edit them.


Second, they have a sense of humor...


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## downsowf (Sep 12, 2011)

Interesting thread. 

When I think about it, I think my favorite undergrad professor was INTP. This guy was probably the most brilliant man I've ever met. He actually was a big influence on my world view. As opposed to the other professors I've had, there was no real structure to his class. Anything was up for discussion, as long you could make a logical connection to whatever we were studying. I followed him all through college and became a history major because of him. The way he approached history was unconventional, though. 

For instance, one history class was intellectual history of Europe in the 20th century. We spent half the semester reading Nietzsche, then the rest reading Foucault, Derrida, Marcuse, Heidegger, and many others. His intellect was enormous; I would just sit there with my jaw open with some of the revelations and connections he would make. 

Half of the class dropped him and he had groupies. The same people followed this guy throughout their college career. One day he got so pissed off at our class because he would try to engage, ask for ideas, and most the class did not read the material. He was demanding and challenging; he expected people to think critically and had no tolerance for b.s. This particular day, he threw his book down, called us all sheep, then stormed out of the room. Another class I had with him, he decided to take vacation for 3 weeks and have an adjunct teach his class. Apparently, he was in Germany teaching in some foreign institution when I asked him. He did not even give an explanation to the class for his absence. I got an A in every one of his classes, though. He expected people to come up with their own source materials, research, and come up with their own ideas and connections for their final paper. 

For me, bland memorization and a predictable course topic can be extremely boring; when going to his class, it was this incredible intellectual journey that could go anywhere.


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## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

redmanXNTP said:


> Second, they have a sense of humor...


I'm shopping around for one. I'll let you know if/when I invest, and you can give it marks out of ten.


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## Van (Dec 28, 2009)

I've had an ENTP lecturer and some others who were definitely N types but I never pinpointed which exactly. I find it hard to tell what people's personalities are like in that context. As for being picked out by name, I only found one lecturer who did it and he struck me as an INFx type.

The ENTP had a lot of technical material to cover in a short amount of time, and there were no tutorials either. He would go over things very quickly and it was easy for lazy INTPs like me to fall behind. He's a bit of a favourite among students because he uses a lot of odd analogies to explain things. He will leap from one thing to another so quickly that I think he loses a few people along the way - I've heard some students complain that he explains things too fast. I don't think he can really be blamed for that though, because if he explained everything step by step he'd never cover all the material in time.


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

I went to school for engineering so I've had professors from all four categories of the NT club. From what I can remember about the profs:

ENTP - Casual and well-liked. Often acted in a goofy way to put his audience at ease.
INTP - Seemed somewhat strict and more formal than the ENTP. Brilliant with explaining theory on a mathematical level.
INTJ - Amazingly brilliant and very strict. Computationally quick.
ENTJ - A less severe version of the INTJ. =P Like the ENTP, the ENTJ professor would inject humorous anecdotes into his lectures. Wasn't really very good at / or didn't care about putting his audience at ease.


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## koalaroo (Nov 25, 2011)

Hmm. Most of my professors in anthropology were NT of some sort.

My favorite professor was probably INTP, although she was extremely tactful with students if they said something that was extremely offensive or aggravatingly stupid. She usually responded to those comments with a very polite, "Yes, that is an interesting insight. I will move on with the lecture/discussion now."


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## Eleventeenth (Aug 24, 2011)

A large chunk of college deans are ENTJ. And university VP's, presidents, and Provosts. They tend to be the movers and shakers of the business side of the university. Overseeing huge budgets, mission oriented, meeting college goals, etc. A lot of INTJ's are professors or department heads. 

I've also had an ENTJ as a professor of management. He also had a consulting business. I actually really liked his style, but many people dropped his class. He told us during the first class that there were going to be 3 tests and a paper. All the other class sessions during the semester were going to be intellectual in-class discussions of the chapters that we were supposed to have read that week. He would say, "OK, let's talk about Chapters 4 and 5 tonight." Then he would pull out a stack of index cards, each with one student's name on it. He would pick a card, read the name and then ask a question to that student. Something like, "OK, John Doe. John, tell us what you learned in Chapter 4 about what makes an organization highly adaptable to external forces and fluctuations." 

If John was able to give a half-way intelligent answer that indicated that he had at least a basic grasp of the material, then he got an "A" for that class. If John was completely stumped, then he got an "F" for that class. He would then call on 2 students by name to give intelligent responses to the first person's response. Same thing: A or F. You were guaranteed to not be called on more than once per class. Sometimes you wouldn't get called on during a class, but you never knew when your name would be called, so you always had to be prepared and current with your reading of the text, lest you be embarrassed. 

I think the tests were roughly 50% of the final grade, the paper was ~25% and the in-class discussions were ~25%. You were allowed 1 F for the discussions. If you got a 2nd F, then you flunked the 25% in-class discussion portion. He was super knowledgeable and the people who stuck through the class undoubtedly came away with real knowledge of Management. But his approach was so unique and forced you to learn, so half of the people dropped after the first or second week.


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## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

Eleventeenth said:


> If John was able to give a half-way intelligent answer that indicated that he had at least a basic grasp of the material, then he got an "A" for that class. If John was completely stumped, then he got an "F" for that class. He would then call on 2 students by name to give intelligent responses to the first person's response. Same thing: A or F. You were guaranteed to not be called on more than once per class. Sometimes you wouldn't get called on during a class, but you never knew when your name would be called, so you always had to be prepared and current with your reading of the text, lest you be embarrassed.


That's a fairly ruthless teaching method. *makes a note for future reference*


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## zerocrossing (Jul 6, 2011)

knittigan said:


> For the ENTPs – their strengths would be that they are interesting to watch since they jump around so much, they tend to be quite playful, they have great examples, usually have a great rapport with their students, and are impressive to watch in a debate (which is always a huge part of philosophy). I guess their weaknesses as I see them are that their logic isn’t always as obvious as they think it is and so they can sometimes come off as arrogant rather than brilliant because they aren’t making their point(s) explicitly, they are sometimes disorganised, and can come off as intimidating or rude to people who are shy or thin-skinned. My biggest complaint, I guess, is that they can sometimes be more concerned with intellectually showboating than teaching the material.


I am an ENTP professor, and I endorse this comment.

I can be extremely playful. I am probably better organized than the examples you give, but I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I get to improvise. This happened last semester, when I got sick during the week when we were moving on to the most crucial material of the semester. I had to change the entire semester plan as a result and do a lot of improvising - and I'm just so much more effective when I get to stop pretending like I'm a J and just get to be the P I'm meant to be. That's when class becomes an entertaining high-wire act, complete with juggling. 

I'm probably more detailed than the professors you mention, and I do try to make points explicit - but after getting a lot of discussion going and trying to get students to come to conclusions first.

I'm never rude to students, but I guess I can sometimes come off as intimidating. I have sometimes had students inexplicably conclude that I didn't like them. 

I do have to guard myself against intellectual showboating and try to focus on the objectives of the course. My natural tendency is to showboat. 

I am ruthlessly critical of my own performance, so I'm always shocked when I learn at the end of the semester that my students enjoyed the class and thought that I really helped them understand the material.

BTW, most of my non-ENTP behaviors are a result of experience and conscious tweaking. They are not my natural tendencies. My natural tendency is to go into class and just let Ne run wild.


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## Eleventeenth (Aug 24, 2011)

Lughna said:


> That's a fairly ruthless teaching method. *makes a note for future reference*


Yes. What I liked is that it weeded out the people who didn't really want to learn, who just wanted to show up and get a passing grade. Those people were gone after week 2, and we were left with a classroom of students who were ready to learn. Ruthless, but effective.


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## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

zerocrossing said:


> BTW, most of my non-ENTP behaviors are a result of experience and conscious tweaking. They are not my natural tendencies. My natural tendency is to go into class and just let Ne run wild.


I think your point here partially explains why I find attempts to type professors difficult: over time, those who are self-aware can adjust their natural style for the sake of overall performance.


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## Eleventeenth (Aug 24, 2011)

zerocrossing said:


> I am an ENTP professor, and I endorse this comment.
> 
> I can be extremely playful. I am probably better organized than the examples you give, but I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I get to improvise. This happened last semester, when I got sick during the week when we were moving on to the most crucial material of the semester. I had to change the entire semester plan as a result and do a lot of improvising - and I'm just so much more effective when I get to stop pretending like I'm a J and just get to be the P I'm meant to be. That's when class becomes an entertaining high-wire act, complete with juggling.
> 
> ...


I had an ENTP professor for a business course once. He had tons of real-world business experience and was well connected in the business world. I loved how each class was fairly unstructured, with him just "sharing his knowledge". To me, that's what learning is - just having good, intelligent conversations. Being able to ask questions and get real answers. There was a syllabus and he stayed on course for the most part, but usually the discussions would stray into uncharted territory - and that was the most fun part. But, a lot of the students hated him and complained that he didn't stick to a schedule. They would say, "He just gets up and talks for the whole class and tells stupid stories about his career...and that's not why I signed up for this class." I remember thinking, "What did you sign up for? For some dry, boring, rote, regurgitating robot?" Cuz I was quite happy to have a professor who shared his real experience in the business world and who was willing to take spontaneous questions from students and expound on the things we asked and that we wanted to learn. I want to learn...not just read 1 Chapter each week and take a test once per month and only discuss pre-decided topics. Those are the very things I hated about school.

I completely agree that P's are best when they are being P's. But, also know that not everyone will necessarily agree with that. Other types will tend to look for and appreciate professors who deliver in a manner similar to how they would do it.


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## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

I've had probable ESTJ and INFJ teachers who I've loved, so...


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## Eleventeenth (Aug 24, 2011)

Owfin said:


> I've had probable ESTJ and INFJ teachers who I've loved, so...


You didn't finish your sentence. So..............what?


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## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

Eleventeenth said:


> You didn't finish your sentence. So..............what?


I like people of all types? Darn it, I am too ellipses-happy.


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## VitaminDeficient (Dec 24, 2011)

Owfin said:


> I've had probable ESTJ and INFJ teachers who I've loved, so...


I realise that it's not necessarily productive to have limited this thread to NT professors, but did so since apparently they do make up the majority. Of course, this may make an ESTJ or INFJ a breath of fresh air, so to speak.


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## Eleventeenth (Aug 24, 2011)

Owfin said:


> I like people of all types? Darn it, I am too ellipses-happy.


Yeah, I've had good professors of many types. Definitely.


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## Sovereign (Aug 19, 2011)

I am a graduate assistant to an ENTP professor. I had him for 3 or 4 classes in undergrad, and his style is exactly as you all have stated. Very disarming and unstructured, but brilliant at the same time. Puts the class at ease through laughter. He tells the most inappropriate stories, but everyone finds them absolutely hilarious. I'm not your stereotypical "rigid" J, so all I do is add a subtle sense of order, execution, and continuity to his ideas for his classes. I take his shiny ideas and build a system out of them, more or less. He's also rubbed off on me a lot. 

His wife, who also teaches, is an ENTJ (like myself). She is not as "goofy" as he is, but she is just as helpful and student-focused. Her classes are better structured, but not always quite as fun. I want to be a professor myself, and being like either of the NT professors I know would be fine with me. They are both very effective in their own way.


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## dan4ster (Jul 21, 2009)

Actually this thread reminds me more of TAing styles. My best friend in grad school is almost definitely an ENTP and his teaching style is similar to other people's descriptions of ENTPs. He's much more personable and tends to joke around with his students and build a rapport. He's also tough on grading. I am much more "strictly business" and don't interact with my students much outside of teaching. I'm also a hardass and nitpicky. Organizationally, I'm a mess, but I can think on my feet and roll with the punches well. 

Anyway, I'm trying to type my pchem prof from undergrad. Despite his loud, boisterous nature, when I saw him at a social function, he said he's not a fan of so many people. I'm thinking INTX. Another prof was an ENTP and was scatter-brained like no other. He taught one class as presentations instead of tests.


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## Hastings (Jan 8, 2011)

Lughna said:


> I realise that it's not necessarily productive to have limited this thread to NT professors, but did so since apparently they do make up the majority. Of course, this may make an ESTJ or INFJ a breath of fresh air, so to speak.


Well, it _is _the NT subforum after all.


The descriptions of ENTP professors in this thread are so funny and so much like an ENTP professor I've had. He was known to be "unconventional" and pretty much made his course up on the fly. The SJ students hated him and pretty much quit his course half-way through. As a fellow N-dom I was totally in it for the ride. It was disorganized, but not in a bad way necessarily. It was still educational and the professor showed great respect for the capability in each student. He was often very bouncy and cheerful.


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## Niccolo Machiavelli (Aug 7, 2011)

Honestly, I only had ONE NT professor, for sure. An INTP Philosophy professor. Most were NFs and there were a few SJs. Are you sure that you guys are typing them correctly? Not just saying "They have a PhD, therefore they must be smart, therefore they must be a T!"


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## Eleventeenth (Aug 24, 2011)

I was thinking about the types of my professors today. I have now had multiple professors of all 4 NT types, including undergrad and grad. Each person is an individual (obviously), but I've recognized a trend with my NT professors. The ENTP's and ENTJ's are actually really cool and make the classes pretty enjoyable. They're willing to make grading adjustments if necessary, they crack jokes, they want the students to have fun, etc. The INTP's and INTJ's have been complete sticklers. They won't budge an inch...on anything. And the classes aren't nearly as enjoyable because you kind of feel like you can't make a single mistake, instead of just being there to learn and enjoy the process. The INTx's will rip your paper apart if there are mistakes and they won't give much positive feedback to balance it out. Not that I need my ego stroked, but it just seems like the INTx's are hyper-critical and obsessive perfectionists - which makes class "not so fun".

I'm not saying that the ENTx's are "better" teachers per se, or that they convey the information better. I'm actually not making any statements about the quality of the pedagogy. Instead, I'm simply observing that the ENTx's tend to make it a more fun and enjoyable process. It doesn't feel like a chore to take their classes and do their work. I was thinking about why this might be...the only thing I could think of is that the INTx's maybe expect everyone to measure up to their subjective, internal, perfectionist standards. 

Thoughts?


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## mr. rozay (Nov 2, 2011)

I had an INTP philosophy professer, oh man he was so good. I'd have class in the early morning and his monotone voice would make me so sleepy, but his sense of humor kept things going. There was an Estj that sat I the back always trying to challenge philosophies and my professer would demolish him in the most subtle ways. Really laid back, not much homework but lots of discussion on discussion boards. He'd also ask these key questions that forced us to read the textbook. Well thought out methods. He inspired me. 

I had an ENTJ professor who I took all his biology classes. He taught so freakin good. He used to be a VP at some huge company that sold computer tech, then became a professor for his retirement. He had the biggest impact on My schooling. He had charisma, and passion that was infectious. His grading was ruthless, but the stuff I learned in his classes I will never forget to this day. He really trained his students how to think critically. Funny, loud, brilliant, I have no negatives.


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