The Importance of Research Credentials in Teaching

The art of teaching is figuring out how to bridge the gap between somebody not understanding the thing and somebody understanding it. A lot of people who are world-renowned researchers in a particular field were not people who ever didn't understand the thing. They just sort of got it. Having something come naturally is a disadvantage when it comes to teaching because if somebody walks into the room who does not get it, the teacher has no way. It takes an immense amount of work for a teacher to figure out how to help a student having that particular experience if they have never had it before themselves.