0.4 Teaching your first course  (Page 2/3)

Finding your style

• Adopt a preparation style that suits you
  • If you over-prepare, limit the time by doing it closer to the class
  • If you are anxious, prepare ahead of time but “budget” the time you spend
• Adopt a lecture style that suits you
  • Lots of PowerPoint slides with detail — give students a copy
  • An outline that you fill in

What you project matters

• Students pick up on your attitude
  • If you care, they will be more respectful and forgiving
  • If you dismiss them, they will reciprocate
  • If you are open, they will engage
  • If you are defensive, they will attack
• Large classes are harder
  • Get to know a subset of the students by name to break down barriers

Challenges for women

• Openness can be interpreted as being familiar and/or easy
  • Students can try to take advantage in a variety of ways and can impact the class
  • Talking to them privately may work
• Dressing more formally has worked for some women

Find your own style

• Do what makes you feel most comfortable
  • Clothes
  • Presentation style
• Listen to feedback and adjust your style, to the degree you feel comfortable, accordingly

You cannot know everything

Know that a student will ask a question to which you do NOT know the answer

Tell them it’s a great question

• Ask them what they think OR
• Assign it as homework OR
• Invite them to come by after class and talk because it’s a little off topic for the day OR
• Indicate you don’t know, but there are a number of ways to find out
  • Do a web search, find a research article
  • Ask a colleague with expertise

There will Always Be someone

• …who is bored and looks it
• …who drives you crazy
  • Talking, reading, sleeping, smirking
• …who questions your authority
  • Directly or indirectly
• …who does not follow instructions
• …who simply does not “get it”

Keep your balance, get input, stay steady and get support when you need it!

Issues with today’s distractions

• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
  • All compete for your attention and are here to stay; banning computers won’t work
• They expect your respect, you have a right to expect theirs
• Find your own comfort level in handling these distractions
  • If they make you less effective, you can simply tell the class, these activities make me less effective and impact everyone

Examinations

• Establish your guidelines (check with your department/institution)
  • Examples: No A/V device (no iphone, no ipods, no headphones, nothing electronic)
• Determine the grading policy
  • Go over it with any graders involved
  • Determine policy/process for re-grades
• Decide whether to provide a complete answer sheet for the examination

Classroom needs vary

• Mathematicians use blackboards
• Biologists use Powerpoints
• Chemists and physicists often use classroom demonstrations

Discover the culture of your discipline at your institution and operate within that culture

Ensuring assignment reading

• Use on-line quizzes (probably easiest and best)
  • Variety of resources, often campus-specific
• Pose a specific set of questions and assign them to subgroups
• Assign topics to specific individuals

For smaller classes

• Class engagement is more feasible
  • Lecture preparation less onerous
  • Case-studies can be used
• Group activities engage everyone
  • Can do some of this in larger classes, too
• Learning to write is important
  • Can use peer as well as instructor feedback