WHAT MAKES a great prof different from a mediocre one? Well, a US study indicates a number of things, such as: subject knowledge, the ability to develop a rapport with students, responsiveness, caring, a sense of humour and - above all - being organized.

US researchers found that at the end of first year, students who had reported their instructors were organized and prepared demonstrated greater cognitive gains on a number of tests than did students reporting less well organized instructors. In a similar study done at the University of Guelph, students identified "good" professors in terms of: technical expertise (e.g.teaching methods, pacing etc.); knowledge (superior grasp of subject matter); organization (e.g., detailed, complete); responsiveness (encourages questions).

York's Institute for Social Research recently completed its own five-year study on effective professors based on the Guelph findings. Information was collected in surveys from 513 students who entered the University in 1995. They completed mailed questionnaires at the end of every year for four successive years.

Over all four years students said they believed their professors had a good grasp of their subjects. At the end of first year, students stated 86% of their profs knew their stuff. By fourth year the figure rose to 88% (not statistically significant).

Professors seemed to get more humorous the longer one stayed at York - only 65% of professors were viewed as having a sense of humour in first year, increasing to 70% by the final survey.

Illustration: Tracy Cox