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Is online education really free?
Hi i am from a developing country but for some reasons can't reach the university for now and i want to know if i really can have access to (let's say) a developed country grade education (solid bases) :

Is following a curriculum from a university a good way to achieve my goals?
If the answer to question one yes i tried to follow the curriculum to have a well rounded knowledge but don't find the resources to study the said topics(for example i tried to learn civil engineering from Auburn university i don't seek to become a civil enginner just want to have somewhat a deep look) but i get only the name of the courses with their number but when searching for them online i find nothing useful, how should i proceeds?
I already learned some programming and find the ecosystem open and free? is it the same for other branches of science (apart from computer science)?

It's certainly not always free.
Rules vary around the world.  Here in the US, there is usually no requirement that course materials be made publicly available.  The instructor is generally allowed to publicly post any materials that they created themselves, if they wish to do so, but if they used copyrighted third-party materials like textbooks, then they cannot post those.
These days most US universities use learning management systems (Canvas, Blackboard, etc), and by default they restrict access to students who are registered (= paying tuition fees) for that particular course.  If the instructor wants to make something public, it requires extra steps.
In some cases, the university may have a policy of encouraging faculty to make materials available, perhaps providing support or incentives for them to do so.  MIT OpenCourseWare is a notable example.  But even there I don't think it's strictly mandatory.
So in general, you can't assume that every course in the world will have materials that you can access.  You'll have to look around to find materials that you find suitable.  And of course, their quality can vary, and it will be up to you to evaluate that.
And even when you do find good materials to study on your own, you may end up learning the material well, but you won't get any instructor feedback on your work, nor any grade or other evaluation of how well you learned, nor any official credential such as a degree.  Those do require actually enrolling with the university, and paying whatever tuition fees they might happen to charge.

This is from the perspective of someone who mainly studies' through the internet.

Is online education really free?

In theory, yes but in practice no. You pay for the online education by paying for the device you access material on, the internet and finally with the time you spend going over the material.

If the answer to question one yes i tried to follow the curriculum to have a well rounded knowledge but don't find the resources to study the said topics(for example i tried to learn civil engineering from Auburn university i don't seek to become a civil engineer just want to have somewhat a deep look) but i get only the name of the courses with their number but when searching for them online i find nothing useful, how should I proceeds?

The trick is to find a textbook. Just search any introductory civil engineering textbook and study from that, the part you do get stuck, just check other places. There are of course MIT OCWs, but I feel that they show limited information at times which would otherwise be standard in a textbook.
In my opinion I think if you are outside of a university, then the idea of confining yourself to a course/course material is pointless. A textbook and course may give you direction, but don't try to take more from it then that. If you don't get certain part from a book or a course, then just check something else. Don't force yourself to understand specifically from that place.

There are well-known universities, companies, and non-profit organizations that have made large efforts to make large amounts of university-level educational content available for free.
Examples include MIT OpenCourseWare and Khan Academy. There are undoubtedly many others you can find with a google search.
That means that it should not be difficult to find free and reasonably high quality content for most mainstream undergraduate education topics. For more specialized topics it will be more hit or miss. For some topics you may get lucky and find good content some professor was kind enough to make available, for others you won’t.
The main problem has to do with your first question:

Is following a curriculum from a university a good way to achieve my goals?

Well, we don’t know what your goals are exactly. If your goals are getting a university degree, one big problem is getting someone to certify the knowledge you’re acquiring via tests and other assessments, and eventually award you a diploma. That’s usually not free.
And another big problem is that even if you just want the university education rather than a degree, most people don’t have the discipline and other skills required to study all the material for a college degree on their own even if it is available. A true university education consists of more than a one-way consumption of knowledge (even very high quality knowledge), but rather is a two-way interaction in which you go to a campus, sit in lectures, ask questions, talk to your peers, and do many other things that involve interacting with your fellow students and with the teaching faculty, all of which facilitate the learning process. A university is like a very large positive feedback loop in which thousands of students and professors all reinforce each other’s motivation and intellectual progress. By consuming all the material online on free education platforms, you will miss out on this very significant aspect of what a university education is about.
That being said, the education platforms are used by millions of people who find them beneficial. They’re quite good in lots of ways, and certainly are infinitely better than getting no education at all. And some people - I would say a very small fraction of people - are autodidacts who truly have the ability to learn difficult material entirely on their own with no feedback from others. Those rare individuals can probably get as much benefit from studying free online content as from attending university in person.


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Can I continue studying in Germany/Sweden after a few semesters elsewhere?
I am a second year architecture student at the University of Aleppo. I will start the third year soon. I decided to continue studying abroad, so my question is: can I continue my studies in Germany or Sweden or do I have start from the beginning? Will the courses I already took be counted towards my degree or not?

I edited to question to make it more general, otherwise it will probably closed due to depending on individual factors.

In Germany, this probably depends very much on the specific university you'd like to apply too. I'd recommend to google "[name of university] international office" and get in touch. Here you can find a list of German universities which offer a Bachelor's degree in architecture.

I would suggest talking a trusted advisor in your field about this. Moving countries is not easy, and fields like architecture may have licensing requirements that will make it difficult to use a Swedish/German degree unless you stay in Sweden/Germany long term.

Does this answer your question? Can i continue studying architecture in Germany after i did two year of bachelor degree in architecture in Lebanon

I will try to give a general answer for Germany:
In Germany, if you apply to a university you have to disclose previous study experience, the tests you took and passed/failed and any grades you have achieved. That is because you are not allowed to retake the same test more than three times (e.g. if you failed at linear algebra 3 times, you cannot study any subject that has this course as a requirement). If the studies were done abroad (as in your case) and the documents are not in german (english might be acceptable, too), you probably will have to provide a transcript.
Usually, the administration people evaluate your previous courses and see if any of them can be counted towards the subject you are planning to apply for. Depending on how much the curriculums overlap, you might be placed into a higher semester instead of the first. But this decision is made on a university level, one uni might agree to put you in third semester, while another says you have to start from the beginning or in the second semester.
Contact the universities that you would prefer to study at and inquire there.

Do note that architecture is highly sought-after and each university has its own requirements for admission that may include portfolios or motivational letters or tests. You will also need German at level C1. And they may have different deadlines than other programs. (We have an international student trying to get into a Master's program staying with us in Germany, what a nightmare all the different rules are!)

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Do I have to disclose my minor academic misconduct warning in graduate school applications?
In my freshman year, I had an academic misconduct issue and received a zero for that assignment as well as a warning on the internal record (normally will not be shown to anyone else). I felt so guilty about this.
Some graduate school applications ask  about "academic misconduct" (which I will definitely disclose), but some others ask about "disciplinary issues" (which my case does not technically count as). So should I disclose it when applications ask for "disciplinary issues"?
The last thing I would ever want is to lie on my application. How bad would this incident be on my application? I have worked extremely hard during the rest of my studies and got good grades, research and work experiences.

Probable duplicate of https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/181996/75368

Hi Dvsldbsua, welcome to Ac.SE. It seems to me you are asking if this counts as "disciplinary issues" in addition to being "academic misconduct." I edited your Q to make it clearer (please re-edit if I'm wrong). It is a good question - as these don't have universal definitions. We can't answer your question about specific schools (not in the least because we have no idea what graduate programs you are applying to there) as general policy, so I removed that part.

If you look at your transcript, is there any indication of this punishment?

@AzorAhai-him- No it’s not on my transcript or any materials that are required in the application process

The first rule is that you need to be honest, not only as a moral imperative, but since the outcome can be severe if you are not and it is discovered.
But you don't need to volunteer information not asked for, especially if it isn't in your best interest to do so. For undergraduate misconduct the university normally handles it and closes the case. You can too, taking it as a learning experience and doing better in future. They keep internal records in the case that you repeat bad behavior, but don't normally disclose it to others - sometimes by law.
If you are asked, then you should answer honestly, but stress that it didn't become a habit and wasn't and won't be repeated. People understand that others (like themselves) aren't perfect but can learn. Few people can compete with the angels.
This, alone, shouldn't have an impact on graduate admissions in most cases, but, since decisions are made by individuals, it is impossible to predict with precision.

In an earlier version of the question you asked about admission to some top schools in the US. Your chances there are determined by lots of things, but note that the competition is very fierce at the top level. I recommend, as always, that you make a broad search for a doctoral program so that you aren't closed out completely. Note that if you are rejected by one top program you are probably(?) going to be rejected by other similar programs on the same basis. Shoot for the stars, but settle for the moon.

Thanks Buffy for your answer. Yes I would definitely be honest.

It is very unlikely that the target institution would have access to your data in your current one. So entirely miss the whole thingy. They will assume that you do not have anything black spot, and your way to leave them in this belief, that you ignore the entire topic.
If they directly ask this, then it depends on the question. Probably you will have some frame to interpret the question on the most favorable way (for you). Alternatively, you can think that case is ended now, and they have no really access to your data in another institution, about such a long past thing.
But the most likely outcome is that also they won't ask this.

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The professor for one of my classes has no direction
I'm in my final semester of a Computer Science degree at University and we have general education requirements.
I'm in a Public Speaking course with an interesting professor, lets call him professor Johnson. Johnson doesn't seem to be actually teaching any material or guiding us on any topics that are related to the book or curriculum we're assigned. He was obviously given all of the online course material, including our online quizzes and study guides. Most of the quiz grades are handed to students, whether we completed them or not. Some are not even available.
He was a one year contract with the university, and was hired a mere two weeks prior to the semester beginning. He doesn't know how to use the learning management system and seems to have no interest in learning it. I inquired about an online quiz, and he had no idea what I was talking about or how to get to it. Considering I'm the only senior, I offered to stay after and show him around the site, suggesting that he attach due dates to quizzes so the students will actually do them on time with the reading and he can decide not to accept late assignments if he so chooses. He nodded and hasn't made any changes since.
We spend our days in class talking about no particular topics, nothing about the book, and no PowerPoints in sight. He rants about our news habits, how much water we like to drink, and we spend 25 minutes each period doing breathing exercises. The only related material is a monthly speech that we must give, with basically no guidance.
My question is whether I should speak to the department chair about his behavior. We're halfway through the course and the LMS hasn't seen a single bit of attention, he doesn't respond to emails of any topic, and asks the class what we want to discuss for the day. It's obviously very freestyle and he's not following any course material. I'm finding it harder and harder to attend class, and increasingly frustrating that I have spent money on this course. He seems very financially worried about his contract being renewed, as he has literally brought this up in class.
Should I leave an honest course review and leave it at that, let his own fate decide whether his contract is renewed, or speak with the department chair about my concerns?

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

Is education in your country/university free or not?

Yes, you should raise this with the department, either with the Undergraduate Director or the Chair. The problem is not Prof. Johnson's unfamiliarity with the LMS--as a new faculty member, that is understandable. But you should restate what you said here about not teaching the assigned material.
You mention online quizzes that were given to him. Are they being offered and graded? If so, is the grading fair? If not, what assignments will your course grade be based on?
If the lessons are not being taught, students cannot complete the assignments successfully. That is the kind of issue the department's administrator will be concerned about, because they do want you to get a serious education in every class. And they know that the grading scheme in the syllabus, as well as the learning objectives, are contractual issues that have to be fulfilled.
In talking to the administrator, stay focused on teaching performance issues only and avoid anything personal. You are supposed to be learning something critical about the history and practice of public speaking, and you should have an opportunity to demonstrate that learning fairly, through tests or papers. If that is not happening, the department's administrators need to know. The sooner the better.

I can understand his unfamiliarity with the LMS, however it is extremely simple, all of the content was handed to him, and my offered assistance to implement them seemed to have no affect. He can't be bothered to read important emails regarding speeches. Quizzes offered are certainly supposed to be a part of your grade and overall understanding, but he doesn't use them or just hands out 100%'s to students because they're 'more of a general understanding thing.'

Aside from this, I have a hard time grasping what could be changed here. I'll still need to take the course, I don't see them firing him mid-semester, and it's my last semester here. If they go to him regarding a student's concern, he would almost certainly know that it came from me as I'm sure he recognizes my displeasure with attending.

Apparently he does not want to do the quizzes online. Is he not offering them at all, then, and just giving everyone credit? That would be a big red flag. Are the emails about the course material going unanswered? Another red flag. One last question: has anyone in the class complained to the teacher yet?

All of the quizzes are contained on the LMS, and without due dates, I could do them all now or do them all the last day of the course. They're pivotal to understanding the midterm and final, which are in person and on paper. Before the midterm, he released all of the answers for quiz 2 through 9 in order for us to study. We have talked about none of the midterm material in class. No one complains because it's all first and second year students, who are just happy to be in an easy course and seem to have no issue with this.

You should be getting back graded quizzes before the midterm, so that you can see you how well you have mastered the subject. Handing out answers is not a substitute for being tested, obviously. He sounds incredibly lazy, and the department needs to know about this. Obviously, you do have to worry about it getting back to him, which is not supposed to happen. If there is another section of this course being offered, can you switch to it? That would be the best solution. But you still need to let the Undergraduate Director know what is going on in that classroom.

@Araucaria That's one possibility. It does mean ignoring a majority of what the OP said about in-class behavior, though. I also have seen teachers behave this way--no effort at all. So I would not dismiss this concern so quickly. And admins need to know when someone is not actually teaching their class.

The one thing I might add is that if your university/department has a student affairs person, or even your academic advisor, you might get farther talking to them than you would trying to reach the department chair.

He was a one year contract with the university, and was hired a mere two weeks prior to the semester beginning.

This situation suggests that the university was unable to hire anyone better prepared to teach.  They probably know that already.  I doubt speaking to the department chair will make a difference.

This course has 15-20 sections. This section was added because the rest were full near the beginning of semester, implying that they needed more sections to cover student need. He seems to be qualified for the position and is very charismatic. Regardless, he just likes to talk about his own content and doesn't seem to be interested in anything else.

@Anonymous Physicist. It may be that they know the teacher is unqualified, or it may be that they are trying them out for the first time and had hoped for better. Either way, students pay so much in tuition these days that when they encounter a course that is not being taught, I think it best to encourage them to do something about it. If there are 15-20 sections, the admin could at least transfer the OP into another section (assuming it's the same textbook),

But it's highly possible that the chair/department doesn't really know how badly things are going in this course.

@Philly Are courses in the USA really centered around a textbook? In my 6 years (B.Eng,M.Sc) in the university system in Germany I "had to" buy 3 books because they covered the material and were written by the professor. They offered them for ~15€ (so without a profit). And I didn't really had to buy them it was just offered but you could attend and understand the topic just through attendance. All other courses just suggested books for additional reading and were selfcontainded with a script or otherwise freely available material.

@KamiKaze "Are courses in the USA really centered around a textbook?" Sometimes, but students often believe they are when they are not.  "you could attend and understand the topic just through attendance" Students think that, but it's not true.

@AnonymousPhysicist Ok I simplified, by attendance I meant you do not need external sources but the one delivered to you by the proffessor in the lecture and excercises. Normally you have to do more work then just attend -> Reading after the lecture and doing the exercises. But most of the time an additional book was not necessary.

As someone who was a department chair, I think you underestimate how hard it is for a chair to stay informed about everything that’s going on in an academic department. The only way a chair finds about certain things happening is by people telling them about those things, and often it takes input from more than one person to appreciate how bad a situation really is. What you are saying is a bit similar to saying “if you see a crime, don’t bother calling the police because they probably already know about it, so I doubt calling th em will make a difference.” That’s unhelpful to say the least.

@KamiKaze Many are, particularly for courses in the first two years, where classes are lecture/discussion format with about 25-35 students in each class. In other cases, for standard courses like this one, the department may hand all instructors a syllabus with a textbook attached, limiting their autonomy in favor of standardization across 10+ identical courses.

@DanRomik Did you read adjuncts' CVs and interview them before hiring them?  The police don't check CVs before people commit crimes.  This question sounds like an adjunct was hired out of desperation, not because they were expected to be good.

@AnonymousPhysicist you are making lots of assumptions that simply aren’t stated in the question, nor can be inferred from it. The chair may know what’s going on, or they may not (and based on my experience in administration, both of those possibilities seem entirely plausible). The only way to ensure that they know is for OP to tell them.

@DanRomik Well, I think they can be inferred, and some up-voters agree.  As the asker already knows, the university will receive student evaluations.

What the department head almost certainly does know (or the head of teaching, or whoever organised the lecturing assignments) is that they were short-staffed and have assigned a comparatively unknown, inexperienced teacher on this section (and probably other inexperienced teachers on other courses too).  What they probably don’t know is which of the inexperienced teachers are any good.

It's also possible that the school has a large pool of contract lecturers and could just as easily added someone else at the last minute (or any other minute). Though I agree that this student's complaints are very unlikely to make a difference. If a single unsatisfied student could get someone fired we'd all be gone by now. The student isn't helping their case by complaining about many things which aren't significant.

The professor is being treated as a day laborer, as most adjuncts are these days, he lacks direction because he doesnt care, does not have to care and neither does the university. Hes being treated as a disposable napkin. His contract ends in 1 year, what does he care?
There was a time when adjuncts were supposed to be professionals with professional lives outside the university, such as businessmen or experienced engineers, and they would be invited to give courses to share their experience in the real world, this was in contrast with tenure-track faculty, which required exclusive, permanent dedication to the university and therefore had vast teaching experience but lacked experience in the real world. Both types of professors complemented each other. Nowdays universities just hire inexperienced people as adjuncts and use them as ad-hoc tenure-track replacements just to skip on salaries and pensions and commitment.

Thanks for the answer. I do see this from time to time. I have a hard time reading him, frankly. He is super upbeat and loves teaching and being in class, so I don't think it's a "not here long, don't care" attitude. In fact, he wants his contract renewed. But he has no drive to talk about the book, assign or grade quizzes, read emails, or use any actual quantitative material. Who knows.

I think this is the first explanation of the system I've seen anywhere. Thanks!

"His contract ends in 1 year" if he's really lucky.  Probably it's closer to four months long.

"hire inexperienced people as adjuncts" Sadly some people work as adjuncts for many years.  Sadly because they continue to get low pay.

SE won't let me comment with a 1 rep, so I thought I'd add this answer, to provide context and perspective. I feel your pain, and frustration, and not defending the behavior of your professor, but I'm curious if he's on contract instead of being an actual employee?
The reason I ask is because I was an adjunct professor for two years and was an expendable contract employee of a certain US state's community and technical college system years ago. They hired contractors because they were cheaper - they paid us around $1000 per course per semester. I received just about zero guidance in teaching my first two classes for this school. They asked me to teach Intro to Computers and some sort of database design course. The first was admittedly a required general ed course and probably half the class was just not interested in being there. What made it worse was the book was just not very good at all. It was fact after fact after fact and it seemed like no one was even reading the book. Those that did probably found it not very engaging - I know I didn't. Sure, there were some interesting facts, but it was just too broad. Trying to give homework and create tests with this book was a difficult scenario because each chapter had so much data in it. I think at the time, I tried to set it up so we had tests after two chapters, and that made it worse on the students that didn't care to read the book.
So, that all said, the students in the course that didn't want to be there, didn't read the book, didn't come to class, didn't study for the test, and really needed to be back in high school learning how to read and write just blew me away at how poorly they performed, as a student. I was shell-shocked so much that I recall going to open book tests (I can't recall if I started them out with open book tests), but again, there was really too much material. I also started giving them study guides which was basically the material from the book in outline form that they could look at - and refer to during the tests - so that we could at least get more students to pass the class.
In hindsight, I didn't handle all this well at all. I talked to a fellow instructor that had been teaching for a while and she gave me some pointers about things like quizzes and the like (so they had a hint about what was going to be on the test) but that wasn't in the syllabus. I should have probably talked to the department heads about how to go about handling this situation, but I didn't. The database design course went great - the students wanted to be there, because most were probably going on for a computer-related, or possibly a CS, degree. We designed a school database for housing student records, etc. I got some good feedback and thought it went well. But the required course, ugh. It was painful for me and for them and I had no idea how to fix the problem (at the time). When I stepped into that classroom for the first time, those students owned me. They ended up manipulating me almost to the point of helping them pass and I really regret that in hindsight. It wasn't a good experience for any of us, but I did learn that many of them just wanted a passing grade so they could move on.
I didn't do a good job - at all. I was much younger and less mature and had no business teaching that class at the time. I wasn't prepared to handle the situation with those that didn't care about academia. I should not have been asked to teach that intro to computers class again, but there was no way to objectively determine I was doing a bad job. We even had a well-known and fine instructor from a bigger university come and speak to the professors for tips and tricks about how to teach better. He was an excellent and engaging speaker and I'm certain students loved him, but he was a seasoned veteran. He even told us that student reviews that slammed instructors were mostly because they probably performed poorly in the class or had a poor or failing grade. So, we just kind of ignored poor reviews, because we had some good ones too. I think my own personal saving grace was that I grew relationships with some of the students in the intro to computers class, not because I was doing a good job teaching that class.
I think professor Johnson could be somewhere in my camp. Maybe he shouldn't be teaching. Maybe he needs some direction (clearly, as you've indicated). Maybe he just needed a job and the university needed someone to teach it (maybe because the instructor originally assigned to the class had to bow out). Maybe he's been conditioned by the students so much in his previous experiences that he feels like he can't teach anymore, so he just does something else. Maybe he's a really poor instructor. I'm providing this answer to just say there's maybe not a lot you can do about this situation. If you talk to the department head, they may tell you he's the instructor and the course content is at his discretion. If it gets back to him, he may crack down and it could affect other students in the class. If you leave a poor review, they may shrug it off that a student probably ended up with a poor grade and tried to be vengeful.

Thanks for your input, really. I feel that this is part of the problem. He means well, and has some interesting information, but it's frustrating come testing time. We haven't spoken about any of the content. It sounds like he is in the contract situation you discussed, but so far, he has made no effort to learn the LMS, hasn't even opened the book, and basically teaches what he thinks should be taught. I'm stuck in a tough spot. I don't feel like complaining will be of use since he is a one year professor and this is my last semester. Frankly, I just need the grade, but this is painful.

I hear you. In this particular case, I'd at a minimum do your best as a senior to take the lead in the class for the benefit of others. And, of course, try to understand as best you can the requirements for the course to ace it in the end. Maybe even take on the role as translating the missing course requirements/direction to help those that are confused to know what to do in order to pass the class.

As an aside, one student did mention to me when I was teaching that intro to computers class for the very first time which was on-campus, that she was confused as to what she needed to do in the class. I'm not surprised now by that statement. I was confused what I going to do too!

I seem to be the only one who sees this as a problem. Everyone else (freshmen and sophomores) just enjoy sitting around, wasting time listening to his rants, doing breathing exercises and getting handed grades. I've been through almost 30 courses with some very intelligent professors, and It's nothing short of annoying to be there. I just picked up employment and have to leave work to go to this class. I'd rather be working.

Ha, yeah - the other students are probably thinking they're gaming the system and getting away with not doing classwork. Basically, it's similar to the situation I described above where the students were manipulating me - whether they knew it or not..

The first time you teach a class it is typically a disaster. Also instructors who come from industry, commonly make the mistake of treating students as adults, when many of them have to learn everything the hard way (i.e. read or fail) and would rather con their way through school than learn anything.

Totally agree. As a first time instructor, I felt I was thrown into the deep end of the pool with a ten pound weight around my neck. Talk about being set up for failure...

Another big mistake made by new instructors is apologizing to the class for not doing as good a job as they would have liked, due to first attempt teaching, not liking the text that was required, etc. This is a surefire way to get bad evaluations since many students will now view you as having a shortcoming and refuse to forgive. It rather sounds like this is the current situation to an extent. Prof complains about last-second start, student now views everything as a rush job or filler by someone unprepared, rather than giving benefit of doubt and investing themselves in lessons.

Oh I definitely didn't apologize to the class! This was years ago, and I just did the best I could at the time. Hindsight is 20/20 in terms of how I'd handle a class like that now. I'm old and don't care anymore. :) I'd have to crack the whip a little now... I was really surprised at how ill-prepared many of them were and should have done more hand-holding to help them. That's why I mentioned some should have been back in high school - they seemed to have a basic lack of reading/writing/comprehension skills and when they didn't read the book, it made it worse. It was pretty much a disaster.

I agree with your sentiments above about students having to learn things the hard way. I honestly think there's many that just haven't focused on academics and others that aren't as intelligent as others. If they tried, and cared, and applied themselves, it would be a different story, but there were a lot that didn't. It honestly shocked me and I didn't know what to do about that situation, other than trying to help them. But, I helped them way way too much, and thus my regret in hindsight. The professors I liked most when I was in college were ones that made you work, and I didn't do that.

I think everyone is shocked by this. And even longtime professors are in meetings complaining how students are getting dumber (and I think there's a lot of truth to that, with "everyone goes to college" and the internet-based cheating culture). But in fairness, as an undergrad I recall a lot of fellow students that were in deep over their heads and couldn't do anything unless it was very simple and handed to them with step-by-step instructions. It's just as an instructor they become your problem. You have to focus some on the smarter students to enjoy teaching. They deserve it more anyway.

We should be careful about the "deserve it more" mentality, in all respect. As an instructor, we're going to respect any student that studies like they should, or works to understand the material. I have a personal problem with studying for tests, and have developed a very strong opinion about the state of academics in general in the US. There's a cram for the exam mentality, and part of the issue is that academics are set up to actually encourage that type of behavior. We cover material, instructors give exams, and students game the system because they just memorize the material for the...

...test they're taking, then forget it a week later. It's that way in all of academia. And I don't like it, because I think that doesn't encourage learning - it encourages students to just memory dump all the material for a test grade. Students aren't learning when that takes place and I feel we're the poorer for it. I wish I were wrong, so someone please prove me wrong.

It seems this person's public worries about their contract has given you the impression that their job is in your hands. You shouldn't concern yourself with this.
What you clearly wish to do is give feedback. We can hope it gets to them and they act on it sooner rather than later, but you are one student of many, and I suspect this professor's teaching style will be fairly popular with many others. I'd suggest discussing your concerns with your own academic advisor (you can ask them about whether to do something else next).
As for you particular concerns, issues like everyone getting free grades for homework even if they didn't try, or quiz deadlines not being as early as you think they should be, are not really things to complain about; you are free to do the material as early as you see fit, and to work as hard on it as you want. So I'd suggest sticking to the more serious concerns, like not receiving a fair grade (if this were true), or not covering the course outcomes listed in the catalog (assuming this were true). Issues like staying on track with the syllabus, and giving prompt feedback on students performance, are somewhere in the middle; we should always strive to do these things better so feedback is certainly called for. But they probably aren't emergencies that will make administrators jump to action.

I couldn't help but feel like it would be my fault his contract doesn't get renewed. But frankly, I don't think it should be if this is how he intends to teach. The thing is the majority of these quizzes aren't even available to take online. He just sends us the answers to 'study' and says he will just give us all free points for them.

@C.j. once upon a time many classes consisted of lectures, a midterm, and a final. And frankly it seems that pay scales for adjunct professors are still based on that system, since they often only get paid for hours spent in the classroom. Nothing for preparation of lectures. Nothing for learning online systems and training. And nothing for grading. So keep in mind this person is minimizing effort they probably aren't paid for anyway. Their dept, meanwhile, will try to gently press them to spend more of that unpaid time, but they clearly have limited leverage.

He doesn't come off like the type that just doesn't care or adheres to "If I'm not getting paid, I'm not doing it," he is incredibly charismatic and responsive in class. Loves to be with students. He just doesn't seem to grasp that he should probably be teaching the course material, responding to emails, and actually grading and giving quizzes fairly. He seems oblivious and doesn't realize that he is.

Should I leave an honest course review and leave it at that, let his own fate decide whether his contract is renewed, or speak with the department chair about my concerns?

Talk to your student union about this - preferably to the representative from your faculty/department, preferably from your program-year in that faculty/department. They should have both a better idea of what can be done and the capacity and resources to do it. (Assuming that your student union is not dysfunctional, that is.)
If you have the misfortune to study in a university without a proper student union (see @Philly's comments), then - I'm sorry, you're out of luck. Consider organizing at least some sort of student action group among fellow students taking the class, on this matter.

Regrettably, student unions don't exist in the US in the way you describe. Our student unions are actually buildings where students eat and the bookstore and student government resides. Student complaints are handled by undergraduate directors in the department unless they involve issues of discrimination, where federal law is involved, and then it's handled at the University level.

@Philly: And what's the "student government" then?

Advocating for student initiatives and social events.

@Philly: Well, calling out a Professor who's failing his duty is a student initiative, isn't it? ... :-(

Student governments in American universities rarely (if ever) take up individual student grievances. Departments have procedures for that, as do the schools and colleges within the university.

I notice one of your complaints is that the professor fails to use quantitative material. Obviously, natural sciences, engineering, and technology demand quantitative material, because they deal with physical materials which can be precisely mathematically understood.
Public speaking, however, deals with human experience; Are you going to model speech engagement as a dynamical system? As a series of differential equations or an ensemble of neural network models? The only quantitative material I can think of is statistics based on polls and surveys, and that just seems unreliable to the point of having no real-world benefit or consequence.
Your professor has probably thought about this already, unless you're also calling him a dilettante who doesn't care about his field.
Consider, if you will, the vital importance of breathing technique for the development and sustained projection of a powerful, rich, charismatic voice. Too many speakers do not develop the confidence and physical ability to deliver engaging speech, which hampers their impact and makes it harder for an audience to take them seriously, regardless of their credentials or actual knowledge.
What does a textbook or online quiz have to do with public speaking anyway? The core competency required is the ability to engage, entertain, and relate to an audience, even (especially) in an academic (undergraduate-wise) context; otherwise you limit the transfer of ideas to people who appreciate dry, technical delivery, and ignore the masses.
He flits about and discusses random topics with no discernible pattern, ignores the book and doesn't care about quizzes, and seems to provide you with unlimited freedom to design your speeches. If I were you, I would love that freedom and probably overthink the significance of every random topic, and then I would go off and design the best speech I could possibly give on a subject which I genuinely enjoy, and aim to stir the audience into experiencing that same enjoyment.
Perhaps the solution is not in changing his behavior, but in changing your perspective, and searching for the underlying purpose in his seemingly aimless behavior.
I mean, if results validate approach, then look at the current president of the US -- regardless of politics, he knows how to engage his target audience and inspire their undying loyalty.

Welcome to Academia.SE. Please note that I've edited your last paragraph to remove the commentary on a political figure. This commentary was not necessary to support your answer. and may rise to the level of unnecessarily "offending or alienating" other users, which is prohibited by our code of conduct. Cheers!

@HanX I understand your perspective here. Breathing exercises are definitely important in public speaking, as well as the human experience. But it's come to the point where it's not for learning benefit, but to fill time when he doesn't know what to cover. The underlying issue here is that the quantitative material decides our grade, along with the speeches. This material isn't offered or actually graded, exams are foreign material, and he doesn't respond to emails regarding speeches or provide guidance. That is an issue for me.

Poor teaching harms not only you but all students and all future students. It harms society, since more of its members are poorly trained and can't do their jobs and tasks properly. This can be annoying (the clerk can't fix your computer) or even dangerous (the doctor prescribes the wrong medicine). Please report continous, bad teaching if it is objectively bad (wrong information, almost no course material, etc.), so the teacher can improve and the students can be properly educated. Of course it is best to talk to your professor first. But you already did. So maybe try it again (this time with specific incidents). If it does not work try to escalate this.
Please gather all hard evidence you can get (e.g screenshots from the missing quizes, emails, etc.) and write an ojective review to the department chair.
Something like your posts but with specific incidents:

On October first, we had to do X. The related quiz was not
  prepared [1]. This links to course material were not reachable [2]. Our teacher did not
  provide printed learning material for this topic. He did not have any power
  point slides prepared. Here is a transcript of his speech [3]. It was
  completly about drinking water and lasted for 30 minutes. The official topic of this lecture, announced on the cource website, was
  "The impact of nuclear power stations on the US electrical grid [4]".

So you have specific problems which can be addressed and even better evidence to proof poor teaching. Make screenshots of everything related.
One last remark: If a teacher / professor does not want to enable timelimits, it may be part of his teaching style. "Do it, when ever you have time for it". And since everyone is an adult, the attendees should know what is best for them. This is not high school, where you have to motivate people to learn.


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Publishing datasets as a journal articles
We have created an NLP dataset out of written texts of a certain group of people.
I thought perhaps we can publish the dataset as a journal paper (the data is an external appendix to the article and published somewhere on the internet).
Data in Brief and Nature Scientific Data publish such articles. However Data in Brief charges $600 and Nature has a very high quality expectancy.
Are there other journals where we can publish our NLP data sets?

If you are grant funded, the $600 seems a small matter.

Unfortunately we are not, and a full professor's monthly salary is $350 in my country. Yet Data in Brief does not have any discount for my country.

Some journals will waive fees in some circumstances. You might ask.

If I search on Web of Science for TOPIC: (natural language processing) AND DOCUMENT TYPES: (Data Paper), then I find various results from Scientific Data (which you mentioned already), one from BMC Bioinformatics, one from Bioinformatics, and one from the International Journal of Robotics Research.

BMC Bioinformatics asks for APCs of $2490.00, but offers waivers on a case-by-case basis.

Bioinformatics: I did not find any information about APCs (though, according to their Instructions, they charge for OA licenses, for colour figures, and for excess pages).

International Journal of Robotics Research: I did not find any information about APCs - but to be sure, have a careful look at their submission guidelines.

By the way, Data in Brief also offers reduced APCs or even total waivers under special circumstances (see here).


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Is it a breach of privacy to list the names of past interns and supervised students on your academic website?
I've seen many personal web pages of (US/UK/EU) academics that have a list of all the PhD, MSc/BSc or internship students they've supervised before. Is this allowed or does it break privacy of the students?

Any student you have co-authored a paper with is linked to you quite publicly.

Unlike undergrad teaching (in the U.S.), in graduate mathematics, successful mentoring of a student through a PhD is a non-trivial accomplishment. It's "completing a major project", and is an important part of faculty function, and is judged by administration. If a student told me that they did not want any public acknowledgement of my mentoring, while this wouldn't put the relationship out of the question, it would make me wonder what was going on, and I might feel short-changed... Of course, in harassment situations, I could understand. But, having connections is a professional plus.

Aside from the simple legal issue of privacy law, I doubt if you would find any "bad" information about a student on a supervisor's web page. Why would a supervisor want to advertise his/her failed students?

@JonCuster Not just coauthored a paper... also written a thesis under your supervision. At least around here a thesis is a publication, in a way.

@skymningen - indeed. At least at my undergrad, the thesis were available in the library which likely means on the web now. But it is slightly more difficult to trace the lineage since you actually have to look inside the thesis to find the advisor's name. Masters and PhD usually have a good chance of an actual paper, indexing in Web of Science (or similar), etc...

The governing federal law in the USA is FERPA - the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Under FERPA a school may generally disclose what is identified as "directory information," things such as names, email addresses, photographs, etc. However the student has the right to request that their directory information be excluded from public disclosure, so it's possible that they are not covered here.
Note that, as in most cases, individual states may have their own privacy statutes.
If you are really concerned then the prudent thing to do, regardless of legal jurisdiction, would be to ask the student in an email whether they are OK with the posting of their name and potentially other information. The email provides a reasonable level of proof that you did your due diligence prior to posting student information.
US DoE guide to FERPA: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html

I think the train of thought is that the student is (implicitly, but maybe it should be explicit) consenting to disclosing some information on a lab/group website because it's generally seen as positive for them and the lab to show some activity as maybe a form of advertising.

If a student has asked to have their directory information kept confidential, then FERPA would require the faculty member to keep it off their web page.  However, most graduate programs require the publication of a thesis or dissertation and the student doesn't have a FERPA right to keep that information private.

This not only allowed but is a good practice too towards transparency, and is definitely not a breach of privacy.
Supervision is a publically known position, not secretive and the website is only making it known to a wider audience.
If the student's private emails or personal information of their private travel, etc were revealed on a public site, that would be a breech on the reasonable expectation of privacy.

I don't know in the UK, but at least in Spain these data (at PhD level) are public. Not only student and supervisor, but also committee members, etc. Here an entry of the database: https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/mostrarRef.do?ref=1381779
I wouldn't consider that as a breach of privacy but actually good transparency.

Many professors do this to establish the "academic family tree" of their lab. Most of the students are happy about it and proud. It only documents that you spent some time in that lab/group working on a topic, which I don't think violates your privacy. If you don't want that, you can contact the professor to get your name removed; shouldn't be a problem.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
How do I tell my supervisor his idea is incorrect?
My supervisor gave me some guidance in order to complete my Masters thesis and to publish the result in a journal. His idea to develop the work is not correct and in this case I know my thesis better than him.
How do I tell him his idea is not correct?

No one can answer this without knowing the culture of your field, the culture of the country you are studying in, the personality of your advisor, the nature of your relationship, and so forth.

Your argument "I know better because it is my thesis" is not valid. Can you actually prove why his idea is wrong? If yes, show him your unquestionable proof. If not, you would probably have to implement his idea and then we will see who is right and who is wrong.

@Alexandros Your reading is not valid. The OP never said that he knew better because it was his thesis. Rather, the OP explicitly wrote his ideas to develop the work are not correct and that he knows his thesis better than him. He is not stating the latter implies the former.

By giving proof to that effect (assuming you're in anything at least semi-formal) and going about it tactfully? I.e. don't go "you're wrong, see how I debunked it?", go "it looks like this approach is flawed, I found this counterexample and I don't see how we could fix that".

@G.Bach - That's sage advice, though it is unlikely to work on egomaniacs. Not everyone is very open about accepting their deficiencies. Based on my personal experiences with my advisor, even the alternative path may earn a "WHAT on Earth are you trying to prove" type of response. Pseudo-scientists are a part of Academia, that's a sad fact. :)

In the egomaniac case, the "I'm not sure I understood your approach correctly, I can't figure out how to make it work on this example" version may work better.

I had some serious qualms about this when I started out research in undergrad. My advisor had some pretty mistaken notions about the topic we were pursuing at the time. He is a very approachable and understanding guy but I was still a bit hesitant to say anything. After all, he was the established expert and I was the lowly undergrad. How I approached it was along the lines of: "I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly but would you mind checking my work? Maybe you can explain what I'm doing wrong."
You don't want to challenge or outright claim your advisor is wrong. You wouldn't do this to a friend¹ and you really shouldn't do it to an advisor - it's a good way to ruin your professional relationship. If you're right, you've come off as very arrogant and create some animosity between you and your advisor; if you're wrong, you've let your arrogance get the better of you and killed your credibility.
Professors are human and they can be mistaken more often than you'd think. You're going to run into this a lot more than you might have thought. After a while, you can start to be more upfront and honest after you've established plenty of rapport, but early on it is a bad idea.
¹ I've done this and nearly ended a friendship with a very good friend because my arrogance got the better of me.

I disagree with this. As long as you keep a discussion on the scientific level, no one should get offended. Of course, one has to keep it polite.

@Davidmh Especially because this is work. We're not pursuing friendship - we're just stating the facts in order to get the job done. While I do disagree with the post I do see it as a good way to approach your superiors if they happen to be egotistical.

@Davidmh I agree no one should get offended but from others' experiences, I think this is the best course of action. Some professors do not take criticism from their students very well. It's not very common but it is better to be safe than sorry.

You seem to remind me of the real world. :P

@Davidmh - Maybe you were lucky with your advisor, but not everyone is magnanimous enough in the scientific world. In general, pseudo-scientists have monster egos, and they are a part of Academia. Not everyone responds positively when faced with their limitations/errors, though there is no real sin associated with making a mistake. The question pertains precisely to these kind of people IMO.

@TheDarkSide I think 4/4 advisors in three different countries is more than just luck (and the same experience with some lecturers with way more ego than knowledge). I don't think one should assume the advisor is an egoistic monster until proven otherwise; quite the contrary.

@Davidmh One shouldn't assume that the advisor is an egoistic monster, but given that such creatures exist, it is reasonable for one to take precautions that the advisor might be an egoistic monster.

@KSmarts This was my thought process. It happens. Maybe not so much in math or physics but a lot of my engineering and computer science friends have said that their advisors are ... extremely aggressive. Since OP seemed a bit wary I thought it best to give some advice which might keep things rather cool instead of heated.

The other upside to this approach is that there is a (good) chance that the advisor has seen something that the student hasn't and in fact the student is not correct.

The safest approach is always to make it a question about you rather than about them. "I'm confused. You said... but I had previously read/been told/seen ... instead. The two seem to conflict; can you help me understand what I'm missing, or what that other reference was missing?"
They may be able to show that there isn't actually a conflict. They may be be able to show that you misunderstood something, or that the other reference was outdated, incomplete, doesn't apply in this situation, is an alternative theory that they disagree with because.., ... Or they may say "oops, you're right."
By not accusing them, you avoid embarrassing yourself if they were right, give them space to correct themselves gracefully if they were wrong, and maximize your own opportunities to learn.

This is the obvious answer in my opinion. The student should assume themselves likely wrong, and thus approach the contradiction in an inquisitive, not accusatory, way. The only exception here is if the supervisor can be logically proven wrong, but even then, it's well possible to write false proofs. As such, even when one sits there with what can only be understood (by the student) as a proof that they're correct, thus making them more likely than not to be correct, they should still ask, and not accuse.

The answer can only be politely, respectfully, humbly, and open to the idea that it is you, in fact, that is wrong. There might be something you don't understand and which your advisor can correct. Or maybe your advisor really is wrong. These kinds of academic conversations can be difficult but they are part of the most exciting parts about doing science and some of the best opportunities to learn.

Excellent, brief and to the point.

Who knows whether the OP is right or wrong? Certainly not @Benjamin Mako Hill (he can't be a clairvoyant).  The professor is probably right, and I can understand that.  But it is ultimately up to the OP to decide rightness for him/herself. Alas, we are collectively in a culture that gives too much importance to the holders of knowledge, and not to knowledge itself.  The kind of attitude expressed in this post makes me sorry for the egocentrism of Benjamin and his ilk. But then, I care only for the student OP.

@PKG: I said be open to the idea you are wrong. I didn't say that OP was wrong. I also said that maybe your advisor is wrong. Of course I have idea and I never said otherwise.

At the end of the day, science is not about people.  The universe is what it is, regardless of what we think of it, and science is simply our means of discovering these facts.
If your supervisor really is wrong, this must result in something which has evidence that can be observed.  Moreover, you must have seen evidence that convinces you to have a different opinion from your supervisor.  Leave the personalities out, and get at the evidence.  If your supervisor is actually wrong there must be evidence that can be examined clearly and impersonally.  If you are merely convinced to place your bets differently than your supervisor, then it is only a difference of opinion until the evidence can be gathered.

I had a lot of such discussions with my supervisor. He knows the field much better than me, so I never thought he was mistaken on specific facts. Instead, most of our disagreements were on what the next steps would be.

S: Maybe you can improve the second step using [algorithm].
D: No, that is not going to work because [...the data is too complex...].

This usually started an engaging discussion on the details of the data, alternative algorithms, and ways to circumvent it altogether. For this to work, you have to listen carefully to what he says, have an open mind and learning attitude, be polite, and of course, keep the discussion on a purely scientific level. Your arguments should be supported by evidence, and it should be clear how strongly supported they are.
Also, I think you should indicate how convinced you are when you phrase it. This way you give a true idea of how confident you are, and how much thought should they put into your idea. Furthermore, if you confidently assert something that is factually wrong (and this doesn't happen too often), you get a better chance of getting a detailed and enlightening lecture on why it is wrong.

If you understand the core of the problem well enough, and discussions with the supervisor were not successful, then you should take your time to write down the argument you want to make in pretty much the same style as you would write down a scientific article. You then ask your supervisor to consider what you have written down, he'll then have to read this when he has the time for that.
It may be that he'll try to do that during a meeting, or he may take quick look and then decide that he has to study it in detail and come back with his thoughts later. Either way, he is then forced to read what you wrote and then ask you to clarify it point by point wherever he has objections to the way your argument proceeds. What matters is then that the conversation will be driven by your line of thoughts and not by his ideas. In a typical supervising session this may well be the other way around, preventing him from getting your point.

Discuss your concerns with him obviously, in a courteous way, and in person. There are two possible outcomes: either you are right and they'll be grateful to learn early on; or there is potential that you don't see, but your adviser correctly identifies. My hunch is that if your adviser genuinely thinks that what you are working on merits publication once fully fleshed out, they are probably right.

I would like to uplift answers above that advise the gentle It's not you its me approach. I've done both the I'm right you're wrong and the former approach. Both have worked. But when I'm wrong with the latter approach I end up being more embarrassed, humiliated, and anxious about continuing my work. It has left me feeling that my advisors trust my work less and are less open to me pointing out errors.
In the end science IS about about people: egos, personalities, personal beliefs, and competition whether implicit or explicit to the process. Understanding how to navigate these social biases and situations per person, and at a systemic level, is important for not only being able to work well with other people but more importantly achieving the poster's original goal: furthering their MS work and their science they are researching.

Considering this is your thesis work and that the supervisor is counted as an asset(in most cases), do try and let him/her know about your ideas. Do question the ideas on why he/she has mentioned their ideas and why your idea could be more suited to this particular application.
If it were me, I would do this:
"Sir/madam, you had mentioned these points on how to go about the thesis and had given me some great ideas, thanks! However, could you please tell me if this approach of mine would hold good in this application? I did draw a parallel between both our methods of implementation and I felt approach X could be done in this way since (reason1,reason2 etc). Please give me your opinion on this since it will improve my understanding a lot more.
PS: I am personally of the idea that one must not come off as too arrogant or revert back with off the cuff remarks considering this is something I consider very professional in nature. So there is no proving one another wrong, rather, work together to reach a better understanding. As someone said earlier, no matter if one is an expert or a student, we are all work in progress.

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How to Use a Result Already Under Review in Another Paper?
This may apply to any mathematical scientists. I am working on a paper, which (as far as I can tell) needs a result that I obtained. The result needed is a part of another paper of mine that is already under review. If I would like to submit the new paper, but need to cite the old one, how do I best work this issue out?

There are a couple of ways.

Upload a pre-print of the paper under review to ArXiV. Then you can cite the ArXiV version. This is commonly done in many fields, but typically happens at the time of submission to the journal. Check if this is actually allowed after submission to the journal by your specific journal.
As a less preferrable variant, upload your paper to your webpage (or to Dropbox or an alternative service) under a non-public link. Cite your paper under review in the new paper with the note "under review" and the link under which the paper can be obtained.

Variant 2 is common in case ArXiV cannot be used for copyright reasons (some journals do not accept papers that have already been published in any form). Note that some journals allow to submit supplementary material - it makes sense to include a PDF of the paper with the result that you want to use then. The non-public paper link is not necessary in this case.

You can most likely use the time delay for publishing to your advantage. In the new paper cite the old one as usual except instead of a publisher, just put "under review". You could also name the journal or conference to which it has been submitted.
The new paper, if it is accepted for review, will take a while. If the old paper is published in the interim, you can update the old citation before the second paper is published.
Papers are seldom published exactly as first submitted and go through a round (or more) of revision. Even more seldom are they published quickly. All you need to do in the first version of the new paper is convince the editor and reviewer that  you know what you are doing. You may, of course, be asked to provide more information for the citation, and you can provide it then.


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If I write a paper as PI, is it best to be first or last author?
I'm a physicist at a national lab. I recently became head of a group at my lab and am currently writing a journal paper with a few of the people in my group.
Is it better to put myself as first author (indicating I was the lead researcher on the project) or last author (indicating I am the group leader/PI)?

This is field dependent, I think.

Well, were you the lead researcher or the group lead leading the project? Sounds like this should be one of your last first-author papers.

See also: What does author order indicate? or Author order when senior and lead author same person

To clarify, for my discipline (quantum/physics), first author indicates primary person who did the research and last author represents the PI. If I am both, is either "better" for e.g. CV and or future job prospects?

At a national lab you might want to keep publishing papers of each type. I'd suggest you ask about the local expectations. Apart from that, see also When is it most appropriate to transition from first to senior author?, What author position on publications is best for early-career academics in physics: First or last author?, When do researchers decide to be listed as last author?

Different fields attribute different meanings to authorship order.
In the future, you will be taken up more by your group responsibilities and will have less chance to spend time on research. Thus, first author positions will become rarer, which indicates that you should lean towards it if you have a choice. If you are still in the early stages, you might consider moving writing and researching tasks related to the paper to one of your colleagues and end up functioning as the PI and indicating this by the last position.


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Should one offer to take over a lecture that the lecturer is struggling to teach?
Once upon a time in a lecture I attended, the lecturer had clearly not fully understood the material and was struggling to explain it. I was a student, but very knowledgeable about the topic, and had taught it many times in informal settings, so I felt silly just listening.
In the interest of the other attendees' learning, I considered offering to take over the lecture. However, I stopped myself, out of concern that the lecturer might feel humiliated, or think I'm questioning their authority more generally.
In such a situation, is it appropriate for a student to offer to teach a topic? What about other teaching staff who are attending? How would one politely suggest it, or otherwise deal with the situation?

Related questions: From a student's perspective: offering alternative viewpoints on lecture content, handling unintelligible lecturers and handling lecturers who just read from the book. From a lecturer's perspective: teaching a class you've never taken.

In near future, expect another question, "What should I do if another person offers to take over my lecture which offends me?"

Perhaps the best approach would be to ask leading questions that helps the lecturer head in the right direction.  Or, offer an answer to a question that wasn't going well.
I've taught classes (especially ones that use complex libraries, such as parts of a game engine, that I wasn't a seasoned expert with), and have had students who had more experience with a specific topic chime in to the discussion with details I didn't know.  It was great. I've also had students who were aggressive and conveyed arrogance and had them derail the class by setting up a me vs them dynamic.  Not so great.
The most important thing is classroom dynamics:  let the lecturer retain control (ie. facilitate the discussion) but you actively participate. The lecturer should be there to create a learning environment, not bestow knowledge on the class.  You can make it clear you know the topic, and let them have you participate as much as they are comfortable.
Asking to "take over" would not go over well;  offering your knowledge on bits and pieces and nudging the lecturer in the right direction through questions would be better.

Blair is speaking the word of truth here. I think everybody who teaches applied computer science knows the situation where a few students are really knowledgeable about a specific subtopic. This can end great or horrible, depending on the personalities and maturity of the involved persons. The OP's idea to "take over" the lecture worries me that this specific case may easily end in a disaster, though.

Well, having knowledgeable students is a great opportunity to letting them participate and show students that you can appreciate good knowledge. If someone were trying to derail me, though, there is always something I know which is beyond their horizon (what do you have your experience for?). However, I found that the really brilliant ones are never arrogant, actually.

No, you should not.
The lecturer isn't trying to give a single lecture, but deliver a complete course. That means connecting many lectures together, alongside supplementary material (notes, textbooks, etc), whilst pitching it at a level so that all can engage (taking into account the background and prior knowledge of all).
It may be that the lecturer really didn't understand the material. Or it may be that the material was difficult to teach coherently with the rest of the course, in a way that matched the expected prior knowledge of the others in the room.
It's most likely that your first impression is right: the lecturer was poorly prepared. But unless you're truly confident that you could explain the material to all in the room (you know all their background knowledge?), and link it to the rest of the course (you know how future lessons will be delivered and approached?), you can't expect to do better in the context of the whole course.

Is OP talking about a course?  I got the impression they were talking about a single lecture (if it's an entire course, and OP knows enough about it to teach the whole course, why are they taking the course to begin with?)

@BlueRaja To clarify: Yes, I meant an individual lecture. However, I think Ian intended to point out that the lecturer had planned the course, and my delivery of the material might not have fit that plan. I think it's a good point.

@Anko : that's exactly my point. Sometimes in planning for the course I've backed myself into a difficult corner over an individual lecture, or assignment. It's still a failure of planning on the part of the lecturer, mind.

You should also keep in mind the reactions of other students in the class. Most people are aware that what you propose (getting up, telling the lecturer they don't understand the material, and starting to teach it yourself) is wildly inappropriate. This will almost certainly earn you a reputation you don't want to have, both with teaching staff and other students.
Your concern about balancing the needs of students to learn with the ego of the lecturer is noble, but you taking over the lecture is not only rude (or socially awkward at best), it's probably going to be ineffective. There's a high chance that other students will be turned off from the lecture based on your behaviour, no matter how technically accurate the content. Behaviour management in the classroom would be difficult after such an interruption. And as others have commented, knowing the material and being able to teach it effectively to a large group are very different things (I have tutored 1-on-1/in small groups as well as in larger classrooms, and they are very different environments).
In the immediate situation, do what other answerers have suggested and ask leading/clarifying questions in situations where you know the material is clearly wrong. If it's more a matter of ineffectual lecturing style and you just think the material could be explained better, perhaps you could start a study group or similar, to help other students to understand the material without embarrassing the lecturer?

Does not likely work anyway.  Students are "entitled" to lecturers with "proper qualification".  A student does not qualify, and probably assistant teachers must not exceed a particular percentage of lectures either.
Never mind who does a better job for the particular task.  There might be less formal tutoring sessions where you actually might be able to get a small job.  But the lectures themselves more likely than not are off-limits.

If you feel the lecturer doesn't have a full understanding the material.  You should make a list of documented cases of the material being mis-explained or misleading.
Then make an appointment with the Department Head or with the Academic Dean of the College. If the faculty of the department are not informed about the lecturer, then they can't take steps to fix the situation.

First of all: If you approach the teacher about anything like this, make sure to do it privately.
Secondly, offering to take over something he is doing may generate feelings of hostility, so tread carefully.
Finally, if you think you can do a good job, consider offering your services as a guest speaker for the next semester. Preferably after you have aced the test that covers this part.


text:
PHD in Mathematics
It is possible to purse an online PhD in mathematics? Even though I am already 40 years old, this is the dream I have. I am a full-time teacher, and because of economic reasons I cannot give up my job to dedicate my entire time to work on a PhD. It would be great if there was an online program, but I was not able to find it. Can anybody give me an advise? Do I still have a chance to study for a PhD with a full time job? I understand that it may be almost impossible for me, but I just want to know if there is a chance.
Any suggestion in this matter is greatly appreciated

A real phd? No. Perhaps one from a diploma mill.

Possible duplicate of https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11132/can-i-get-a-phd-online

The point of a PhD in mathematics to get a job in academia, or at least in mathematical research. An online PhD will not be conducive to that goal.

@anomaly No, you're wrong. the point of PhD is improve one's knowledge in mathematics and advance the field.

@SmallChess: It's an apprenticeship; certainly learning the material and how to do research is unquestionable worthwhile and useful, but that's ultimately pointless if you don't wind up in a suitable career. It's nothing as crass or limited as generic job training, but it's only the first rung of the ladder.

Indeed, you should ask yourself why you want this. What do you want out of this dream? If your goal is to simply learn higher mathematics, you can do that online, possibly for free. There may also be other aspirations you could discuss if you have any reasonably close math friends. Random internet users could give advice but it likely wouldn't be as helpful

It doesn't look like you're going to find the answer here -- but I suspect there may be institutions that would offer this, albeit with some visits to the home campus built in.  I actually met someone who had a teaching PhD (music) that she did that way.

@Nate8 – Indeed, you should ask yourself why you want this. What do you want out of this dream?_ I find this remark quite condescending. What makes you think that OP doesn't know why he/she wants to get a PhD?

It is possible to purse an online PhD in mathematics?

Highly doubtful. A PhD is not course-based, like an undergraduate degree. You can't just "do" a PhD, as in finish the given classes and work and call yourself done. You need to do research, both independently, and in collaboration with your supervisor. You're not learning things that are known, but learning how to discover things nobody else knows, and how to communicate knowledge. So this isn't something that can be completed with a few courses.
Could you do this remotely? Maybe, but it would be really hard. I had to do a portion of my Masters remotely, and coordinating over Skype is very difficult, and while we made it work, I would not recommend it. The times I went in to meet with my supervisor, I often felt like I learned more and made more progress than over the weeks previously.

I cannot give up my job to dedicate my entire time to work on a PhD

Then why do you want your PhD?
It's worth mentioning that PhDs usually paid. They're not well paying, compared to teaching, but if this is truly your life's dream, you may be able to make it work economically. Many students do, after being saddled with debt from their undergraduate.

Do I still have a chance to study for a PhD with a full time job?

Again, highly doubtfull. A PhD is usually roughly the amount of work of a full-time job, and what you're doing in it corresponds more to a 9-5 office job than to courses with homework. If you want to have no home-life, you could maybe make both work, but scheduling meetings with your supervisors and such would be a nightmare.
Part time PhDs exist, but they're tricky.
One final note
If you are doing a PhD, and you are not getting funded to do it (or at least, are paying large amounts of tuition) then be wary, as a predatory institution may be taking advantage of you.

Care to explain the downvote? I can make edits to improve aspects of the answer that are lacking.

I upvoted, but can you add more about how phd in math really looks like, for example how much time you need jut for qualification exam and comprehensive examination

@SSimon That sort of thing will vary wildly. Where I did my PhD there were no such examinations but just writing a fairly short report and presenting it. Other places do not even have that necessarily.

In canada you dont have thesis proposal defence? @jmite

@SSimon we do have that in Canada, at least in most programs I've seen. Why do you ask?

@jmite I know that, that is why I asked you to add more info about how phd in math looks like

It's definitely possible to get a PhD online from a reputable school.  The University of Florida, the flagship school of the Florida university system, for example, offers a number of options.  Nova Southeastern University, another reputable school, also offers multiple options. However, if you look closely at the degrees offered, I think you'll find that they tend to be in a relatively small number of fields, e.g. psychology, education and criminal justice.  These are generally considered high demand fields so the Universities' that offer those degrees can be reasonably sure of getting decent enrollment levels.  I think you're going to find that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to find a decent program in a relatively low demand subject like math.  (I have a masters in math from the University of Florida so I'm not just taking cheap shots at the math guys.)
It's also worth noting to those who are suggesting that such a degree would only be useful in academia that a PhD does have value in other fields.  Some school districts base salaries (scroll down to page 13 for an example) on the highest degree earned by the employee so a PhD can have direct monetary benefit outside of academia.

I'd say it's not impossible, but it is challenging to find an opportunity. I myself am about to complete the final hurdle (the viva) to my PhD. My field is Artificial Life/Artificial Intelligence, not Mathematics, but my experience may be helpful to you.
At the age of 49, I decided to do an MSc by research just for my own personal satisfaction. As an experienced software engineer in Ireland who doesn't want to live in a city, I had zero expectation that the MSc would increase my earning potential or lead to a more interesting job. I just wanted to do it. I worked part time during the MSc and also had a scholarship, so the money was OK. The scholarship allowed me to pursue any topic I wanted as long as it was related to data science. I chose a research project that I had in the back of my mind for years, but thought I would have to wait until I retired to pursue it.
After completing the MSc, the company that gave me the scholarship hired me as a researcher. Like many large companies, they have an education programme that pays tuition for employees who want to continue their education. Normally that would mean working full time while trying to do a PhD. However, they were interested in my project, so they allowed me to continue working on the project during a large part of my work day. This was ideal for me, of course. And it worked out OK for them as they got a few patentable ideas out of it, and some new product ideas. And within a few months I expect to be awarded a PhD.
I've been incredibly lucky, but I think there are some practical steps you can take. I'm reading between the lines of your post, but I suspect what's most important to you is learning. And learning on your own has never been easier, with eBooks and videos and online courses. So I suggest you pursue that in your spare time. That will be its own reward, even if you go no further.
At the same time, look for opportunities to use what you've learned in your work, either in this job or another one. Also look for opportunities to get a master's if you don't already have one, even if it isn't in Maths. Maybe you can do research in an area that involves Maths. (This is what I did; I have incorporated a fair amount of Maths into my own project.) Again, all of this will be its own reward.
All of this may lead to unexpected opportunities for a PhD. Good luck.

Some of the other answers seem to have a rather narrow view of how a PhD operates, so let me share some observations.
In the first place, in countries such as the UK and Ireland there is often no coursework so that the degree is awarded solely on the basis of the thesis and the oral examination on it. (Of course the oral may also examine various things which a PhD in the relevant area should know.)
Moreover it is common for at least part of a PhD to be done part time. Many people study full time for a PhD for the first three years, say, and then finish it part time if their funding runs out.
I also know of least two examples where someone started a PhD in pure mathematics when they were over 40, pursued it part time for the full duration of their doctoral studies, and emerged victorious with a PhD. Both people I have in mind worked full time while doing the PhD. (They also had an MSc when they started the PhD.)
So I guess this a positive answer to the question

Do I still have a chance to study for a PhD with a full time job?

though of course it depends on your circumstances, and it's a far from easy task.
Separately, I know of someone who did a distance learning PhD through the Open University, and went on to have a successful academic career. Having said that, I just looked at the OU website (http://www.openuniversity.edu/), and didn't see PhDs among the degrees offered.
Let me also observe that being accepted into a PhD programme in certain countries can be quite separate from being funded to do the PhD. So while it certainly wise to be wary of potentially predatory institutions, it can be perfectly normal to be charged for tuition.

It depends...
I know a few people who have done or are doing a PhD part time in my institution.  One was retired, and got his PhD aged 80! (and no, did not plan to go on to a career in academia); and one is working part time for the same institution.  Closer to your situation, however, a third is simultaneously working full-time at a lower-tier educational institution; a final one was working part-time for a public-sector organisation.
Relevant features:

This is in the UK.  PhD programmes here typically don't have (lots of) coursework, and don't have PhD qualifying exams.
This is a perfectly good institution!  We're no degree mill.
None of these was part of an advertised ‘part-time PhD’ programme, I don't think.  Googling my own university's website, I can see that we support this mode (and more so in some areas than others) but don't much promote it.
In each case, the students were living in the same city, or nearby, so had/have opportunities for personal interaction.  That is, this wasn't an ‘online PhD’, and I think that would be challenging to manage.
I'm not sure exactly how each was was set up, but I think each emerged from a personal approach or a pre-existing relationship – such as having known the supervisor as an undergraduate – which ended up with a supervisor agreeing to take the student on, and sorting out the paperwork at that point.  With us, the time-limits for part-time PhD study are obviously longer than for full-time, but they're not indefinite, and I think in each case the workload is/was pretty full-on.
The first three of these happened to be in the humanities, which tends to have more flexible arrangements for PhDs, and which (for various reasons) is pretty relaxed about people starting or finishing their PhDs part-time.  The last was in astronomy, though.

I think this wouldn't have been possible, or at least not easy, if there were significant coursework requirements.  I doubt that it would have worked if there wasn't the possibility of regular face-to-face meetings, but who knows.  Certainly I know of PhDs finishing largely online, when a student has had to move away for one or other reason, but that was when a personal relationship had been solidly established.  Googling my own university's website, I can see that we support this mode (and more so in some areas than others) but don't much promote it.
So the answer to your question is: maybe, and there's no generic answer.  There's no deep reason why this can't work, but you'd need to persuade a potential supervisor that you wouldn't be a waste of their time (how: exercise for the reader), and it'd need to be at a university where this was administratively possible.
The answers to the one or two very similar questions seem to have useful further advice.

Online PhD is impossible, no university would allow you that. It's important for  you to communicate with the experts in your field, and you can't do that by just emails.
@jmite mentions in his answer that you shouldn't do a PhD if you want to keep your salary. However, I'd argue there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping your paycheck while studying. Why do you have to give up your job for a degree? Why the MBA students can keep their jobs? They are in the top 1% income brackets. Many PhD students do that simply they are fresh graduates and thus have nothing to protect.
Why not a part-time PhD? It's not uncommon to study PhD although it'll be quite intensive and challenging.
While it's possible to keep your job while studying for a PhD, it can't be online. Prepare for the huge workloads.

An MBA is not a PhD. A full-time PhD takes as much or more time as a full-time job. "Nothing wrong" with doing both, sure, but that makes them the only things the person will be doing besides sleep and eat - and the latter are optional.

@Nij Full time study takes as much time as a full-time job. MBA or PhD. I don't see your point.

MBA is a master's degree, which is typically coursework and doesn't require anywhere near as much commitment or time as an original research degree i.e. PhD would. And if you don't see the problem with 80+ hours a week of just study and work, well done for not requiring sleep or having a life outside them.