Hi there! I’m about to start my PhD soon and have heard that phd students are sometimes expected to teach undergrad tutorials [up to 6hrs/wk] – I am not that keen on teaching as I have done it before, but wondered whether it will be seen as uncooperative by my supervisor if I said no? If I say yes will this involve taking whole classes and preparing lots of material?? Any advice would be great –thanks.
I can't really comment on your particular department...but typically you are just there to supervise the students, kickstart discussions and at worse briefly go over the stuff they have done in lectures. Its up to the lecturer teaching the course to provide the material, so you don't really have to prepare anything! At least thats how it works where I am. Regards.
If you dont want to teach you shouldnt have to. There are positives - money, being involved in the department (where I am, seems P/T teachers have higher status than those who are 'just' students), looks good on CV. I did 2 hr per week actual teaching (seminars) plus marking, attending lectures etc, total about 6hrs/wk. But my impression is it is becoming more difficult for PhD students to get teaching work - financial pressures mean Unis dont want to spend on this and are putting more of the load onto faculty.
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