Questions tagged [teaching]
This tag is related to the role and duties of a teacher, an academic instructor, tutor or a teaching assistant.
2
votes
1answer
130 views
Student Assessment
I am an academic in physics, i.e. with no formal education in pedagogical methods and teaching yet.
I was reading this paper of Biggs What the Student Does: teaching for enhanced learning and ...
29
votes
6answers
8k views
Quoting Keynes in a lecture
I am teaching mathematical statistics and part of this is large sample theory. I would like to discuss some methods that do not focus on asymptotics and refer to J. M. Keynes quote
In the long run, ...
58
votes
12answers
9k views
Mimic lecturing on blackboard, facing audience
I teach mathematics at MSc and PhD levels. My preferred method of teaching is old-fashioned: talking and writing on the blackboard at the same time.
Why? Because it has many advantages:
Handwriting: ...
0
votes
0answers
90 views
teaching statements [closed]
The departments I am applying to for teaching jobs want to push active learning, and always emphasize demographics. I have done active learning on and off, and have it reflected in my teaching ...
5
votes
1answer
263 views
Whether to strike? [closed]
I'm a graduate student teaching assistant; I run discussion sections. Our department has just initiated a strike. I'm half way through the last semester of my PhD. Do I show up and "work" and get paid ...
53
votes
6answers
11k views
How to deal with a cynical class?
I am dealing with this class that somehow became very cynical. We have constant complaints about the pace of the class, people asking literally the same questions over and over, blatant plagiarism, ...
2
votes
2answers
172 views
Criteria for a Pure Math teaching job at a university
I'm assuming that all good universities in Europe/North America have PhD as the minimum requirement for a teaching job. What I want to know is:
How much experience (research and teaching both) is ...
36
votes
12answers
15k views
I hate taking lectures, can I still survive in academia?
I'm 3rd Physics & Mathematics student, and I almost hate taking and attending lectures; it is not because what is taught, I just don't like sitting in uncomfortable chairs with a lot of people ...
64
votes
8answers
26k views
An undergraduate said they may hire a freelancer to do their work for them. What should I do?
I, a graduate student, have started tutoring undergraduates in computer science at my university to help make ends meet. One student who inquired about my services turned me down upon hearing my rates ...
0
votes
1answer
202 views
exam/teaching culture, possible abusive supervisor, research gatekeeping
Apologies for the length, I don't know how to make this shorter. I also don't know where else to turn for advice. :(
I've recently started an MA in what promises to be a brand new humanities ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
Study design for best teaching methods - how to avoid overly specific results?
I would like to do a study with a class in which the students are split into two groups, A and B. They will each receive a tutorial on the same topic, but group A will get a different tutorial than ...
4
votes
2answers
212 views
Gamified course: how to deal with the massive amount of grading needed without using specific software?
I've been trying to give gamification a go for a while, but I'm struggling on how exactly to implement it.
I teach an introduction to programming course, and as I'm part of a team including a couple ...
2
votes
2answers
69 views
Teaching experience as a subcontractor for a university program
I work as an instructional staff at a local university. The program is marketed and hosted by the university and the certificates are granted by the university signed by the department dean as well. ...
1
vote
1answer
134 views
What should I do when teaching maths for unmotivated undergraduate students?
After completing my Phd in an area in pure Maths and going back to my country, I got a job as a math lecturer at a university, where maths is not the main subject for students there. Maths is like ...
56
votes
7answers
10k views
(How) can you teach a subject effectively for which you are a skeptic without biasing students?
I recently accepted a tenure-track position at a university and will be on a 1-1 load my first year. My first course I will teach, I will get to modify and alter based on my expertise.
In my second ...
6
votes
1answer
185 views
How should I plan my course schedule given that my wife is due to give birth during the semester?
I have been teaching for a few years at my university,
and have mostly gotten into the rhythm of teaching and doing research.
This semester, I am teaching two courses.
What is different this semester ...
1
vote
1answer
111 views
Experiences with Gradescope?
I'm teaching my first class this semester, and was quite happy with Gradescope when I used it as a TA last semester. Does anyone have experience using Gradescope with large (100+ student) classes for ...
3
votes
1answer
126 views
How and when do departments decide who is teaching which course?
How and when do departments decide who is teaching which course?
I am a graduate student at a state school in the U.S. The process has never seemed clear to me, as it seems that when none of the ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
As adjunct faculty at four-year university, with no PhD, what should I have my students call me?
I will be teaching at a four year university as adjunct faculty. Is it okay to have my students to call me Professor LastName, even if I do not have this title formally? If not, what other options do ...
48
votes
15answers
16k views
Is it unreasonable to expect students to read the lecture notes before attending the first class?
The new semester will be starting in a few weeks,
and I will be teaching a course which starts on the first day of the semester.
The goal of the course is to teach students
how to use the R ...
1
vote
2answers
194 views
Is there an efficient way to give a large class of students feedback about their assignments?
I am the course lecturer of a large undergraduate course
with about 700 students in the course.
One of the challenges of teaching such a large course
is grading the assignments and giving students ...
4
votes
2answers
425 views
Why do professors use course-buyouts?
I am confused about how course buyouts work in the United States and about how the incentives play out for professors and the university. I will use a constructed example to frame my confusion. Please ...
30
votes
5answers
6k views
Telling where I am originally from at the first lecture?
I am going to start teaching next year in a university in the UK. One common question I get with students in one-to-one conversations is about my origin. I certainly have an accent, and they are ...
6
votes
1answer
925 views
Is this rejection rude? Should I apply to another position in the same University?
I applied for an adjunct position and never heard back from the school. I emailed them to learn about the status of my application and this is the response I received: Your resume is competitive but ...
2
votes
2answers
324 views
Can auditing students attend consultation hours?
Assume a university allows students to audit classes informally, so they're not enrolled and don't pay, but they attend classes anyway. Obviously, no one has obligation to allow these students to ...
2
votes
5answers
244 views
What do you call a “practice” class that accompanies a lecture?
In my country it is very common for courses to consist of two types of classes: lectures primarily focus on theoretical aspects of a topic and then after each lecture comes a corresponding “practice” ...
4
votes
1answer
216 views
How do I apologize to my teacher for cheating?
In my Chemistry class, we had a quiz and I helped another student cheat by showing him the answers on my paper but the teacher caught us. I know what I did is wrong and I know I deserve punishment, ...
9
votes
5answers
319 views
Assignment extensions for no apparent reasons (USA)
I recently started teaching activities in an American institution.
I have had a couple of students asking for extensions for problem sets / project deadlines for medical or family reasons, which is ...
5
votes
5answers
529 views
How to encourage students to attend and participate in class?
I have seen a shrinking trend in the number of students coming to my classes and suspect that it's due to the large number of digital tools that are available to students.
What techniques can I ...
68
votes
8answers
25k views
As a course lecturer, should I excuse late assignment submissions if I wrote the assignment deadline slightly wrong?
I am the course lecturer of an undergraduate course.
For a recent assignment, I had written the assignment deadline as 23 November 2018 (Saturday). Unfortunately, 23 November is actually a Friday, and ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views
Interviewing for an academic position after abusive department chair in previous academic position
In my faculty job, I was bullied for a long time by a chair of the department (at a US state university on the West Coast). This included:
Giving me bad schedules and classrooms
His secretary ...
20
votes
7answers
3k views
Giving a test lecture, what should I keep in mind? [duplicate]
I hold a PhD in computer science. I've been travelling to conferences presenting my papers and sometimes as part of my teaching assistance duty, I had to give some very simple lectures to students.
...
-4
votes
1answer
3k views
My professor who doesn't let me use my phone to read the textbook online in while I'm in class. What should I do? [duplicate]
I'm currently taking a course where I acquired the textbook as an e-book. Physical copies were available too, but I find kindle-versions far more convenient as I can read it wherever, whenever, using ...
1
vote
1answer
164 views
How to teach students to ask Polya-type questions
I've recently read "How to Solve It" by Polya. In that book, the author basically explains the method that I use in my own teaching - asking relevant, prompting questions to get students to reason ...
7
votes
1answer
382 views
How should I feel about a professor using an entire online course for his own course?
I'm taking a machine learning class at a school in South Korea. I've heard some good and bad things about this professor in particular, but I didn't really know until I actually took his course.
I've ...
23
votes
3answers
5k views
How do Universities deal with poor teaching?
At one school I worked at the strategy for dealing with poor teaching was to get feedback from students around midterms. If the students criticism was strong enough the teacher was pulled from the ...
5
votes
3answers
167 views
Including cartoons in lecture notes?
I would like to include some cartoons in my lecture notes, just to spice up things a bit and relax the atmosphere before moving to serious stuff. However, I am not sure if there is any issue with ...
2
votes
0answers
46 views
Website for scheduling and submitting homework [closed]
I'm looking for a website where I could publish homework at a scheduled time to a group of students and also allow them to submit their answers through it.
The homework is a single PDF file, and the ...
1
vote
1answer
131 views
Sharing set of exercises in a textbook (the morally right way?)
This is possibly a more general question about copyright, but I think I can specify this question into question about teaching, especially on STEM subjects. I don't know exactly whether I should post ...
9
votes
3answers
958 views
Preparing lecture notes and references?
I am a new teacher/lecturer in science, and I am preparing lecture notes for my module. I am putting together a lot of material coming from textbooks as well as borrowing material from other lecture ...
38
votes
7answers
12k views
Can I say no when my principal investigator asks me to help cover lectures next semester?
I'm a postdoc at a US university, and my principal investigator (PI) asked me to cover some of his lectures next semester. I do not want to do any lecturing as I want to focus solely on my research. I ...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
How to teach to an adult person that is not used to study? [closed]
I'm trying to teach some basic things to my mother, such history, basic math and basic physics so she can attend a test.
But because of my mothers personality this has become pretty hard , since she ...
5
votes
4answers
340 views
Teaching using bad material
This semester, due to an increase of students enrolled, I was assigned to teach an introductory course. The course had been previously taught by two lecturers, who taught a different half of the ...
2
votes
2answers
179 views
Where else are teachers not paid for prep time?
Last spring I did some teaching at a university. It was my first time. It was a temporary position. I was there 1 semester only. I was paid by the hour.
A couple of things caught my eye about the ...
58
votes
20answers
21k views
What should I do when my students use their phones in class?
On the first day of class, I told my students that they are not allowed to use their phones in class. However, a lot of them use their cell phones and don't pay attention in class. How should I deal ...
38
votes
11answers
8k views
Is it common to have exam questions 'peer reviewed'?
How common is it that exam questions, after being designed by the instructor and before being given to the students, are checked by a colleague in one's same institute, to make sure that they are ...
70
votes
7answers
27k views
Dating former student?
Here's the situation: She was an undergrad, I was a grad TA. At that point, our interactions were totally professional and limited to the classroom. However, she and I both since graduated and left ...
4
votes
2answers
965 views
Changing from 100% research to 20% teaching and 80% research: Seems like a raw deal, would you do it? [closed]
I'm a named researcher (but basically a Postdoc) on a funded project in the UK which pays my salary. I've got a good CV and currently do 4 hours of teaching per year.
The principal investigator (PI) ...
49
votes
10answers
14k views
What to tell students who want to know how to succeed in your class
Setting is math in the US.
It's quite common for a student who is not doing super well or is worried that they might not be to approach me and ask how they should be studying/what they should be ...
-3
votes
3answers
840 views
Has the student responsibility for not cheating?
If a student is cheating, he can be caught or not caught.
If he is caught, it's not obvious what to do.
There are options with different strategies:
The students are themselves responsible for not ...
