Hi everyone,

I've just come back from my first seminar of the new semester - teaching 20 1st year undergraduate Politics students. Was up at 5 am today panicking! I'm trying to build up my teaching experience - because I will inevitably have to teach in the future in an academic job - but I *hate* it. It involves everything that I'm bad at - generalist knowledge, being confident in front of a group of strangers, leading discussion. The irony is that I love doing conference presentations but am petrified in front of a room full of 18 year olds!

The seminar went ok today but during it, I asked one of the students to write on the whiteboard as the others shouted out answers. Afterwards I started to panic that this was the wrong thing to do as the student might have been dyslexic or had another reason for not wanting to write on the board. Am I being totally paranoid?

Would anyone else like to share their teaching experiences - or offer words of wisdom on how to make it more enjoyable?

I've been teaching a course, general and theoretical, to a few classes of first years. It's been fun, and more demanding than I expected.
I am marking their essays at the moment, and am a little bit distraught by the work some of the people have cobbled together. Its either blatantly plagiarized or contains the least bit of argument in the slightest bit directed to the question which they purport to answer. (I just wrote the web link on one of the papers, as it was blatant and quickly found via google - maybe that will teach them)
I've attempted to approach the classes by critiquing the material which was presented, in terms of the content in the articles we were discussing and in terms of the argument which they were intended to support. I did not attempt to explain much. Some of the students had a problem with this.
I'm not sure if I was harsh in refusing to explain material to students who had not read the prescribed material.
I could rant for hours, but it appears that some of the students benefited from my approach, while some clearly did not. Perhaps this is inevitable when attempting to inculcate critical skills.

Regarding making it more enjoyable, the classes which went well were those in which I managed to successfully defuse the passions which some students appear to feel the need to display - first year arts students = moralising peacocks?

I'm a little bit apprehensive about teaching courses which are not my core interest again. I think there is a massive gulf between being involved in teaching something you are passionate about and interested in and something which is felt by the department to be an attractive option to young students. However, I'm sure this is something which is a fairly universal hurdle, and therefore something which we should expect and prepare for.

I am teaching tutorials in something that could not be LESS related to research topic. But that is where the teaching was available, and I wanted the experience. Actually, I think its fine that I am doing this away from my research topic. Its a break from the same ole same ole. Its refreshing to look at something different. And it broadens my scope, so I can point to a diversity of topics I can teach in or have experience researching in. I don't know that its necessary to have a passion for your topic of teaching so much as a passion for TEACHING! I thoroughly enjoyed my first tutorial teaching this week. Thats not to say it was all perfect, but I try to approach it with the attitude that LEARNING is enjoyable, that one of my tasks is to get students interested in the topic, and urge them to stay interested, to mix up the learning methods, keep everything lively, moving at the right pace, and engaging. If you have a choice to do something other than straight lecture, look into different interactive learning things that can be done. Lectures make time stand still........interactive learning seems to be the thing these days, and there is a wealth of material out there on it.

Good luck, hope things get better!

yes you are being paranoid about the dyslexia issue! it is not an unreasonable request to ask someone to write things on a board, they could always have refused if they didn't want to/couldn't do it for whatever reason.

i remember when i was an undergrad we had to give a 5min presentation, on any subject, to be marked on our skills at presenting, confidence, coherence, etc. one guy in our group gave a terrible talk as he got so nervous and the lecturer marked him quite badly accordingly. when he saw the mark (it didn't count towards anything, it was more of a feedback session really) he went berserk and started ranting that it wasn't fair, giving presentations was his weak point and the mark scheme was biased to people who didn't get nervous when he had clearly made the best powerpoint slides! he then stormed out, after insulting everyone else over the quality of their material.

so my point is, you can't please all of the people all of the time, and hopefully if you do ask someone to do something they are uncomfortable with they will calmly talk to you about it instead! i personally feel that geting the students involved by asking them to do things such as present material or write on a board is the best way to teach, as the student is forced to actually participate rather than drifting off and losing concentration.

so good luck, and hope my story didn't put you off - i'm sure that doesn't happen very often!

I totally agree that interactive methods are the way forward, wherever possible. I try to include a mixture of small group discussion, whole-group discussion, and writing-notes-on-a-handout activities to keep it interesting. I've also found a great book called 'Discussion as a way of teaching' by S Brookfield and S Preskill which has a lot of tips on getting discussion started, especially for people like me who freak out if they ask a question in class and don't get an answer!

As to teaching a topic close to your own research interests, i can see pros and cons. I teach a masters module which is quite close to my research topic, and find it quite frustrating when the students don't share my enthusiasm for it (surely everyone finds the civil service riveting :p). On the other hand, when I student writes an assignment on a topic close to my own interests I get a real buzz out of reading their ideas and discussing it with them. Then there are the dreaded 'research methods' modules...the students all hate them and getting them to turn up when the seminar is not about 'their' method is a nightmare. Strangely, I find the research methods classes quite easy to teach, because I don't feel I have an emotional investment in them.

Ps thanks smoobles - I had a friend as an undergrad who had genuine anxiety attacks at the thought of doing presentations, with a medical note and all the rest, but our tutor told her to 'get over it' and stop trying to find excuses not to do the work! Guess I just don't want to fall into the insensitive idiot trap.

i know what you mean about the 'insensitive idiot' - i missed a test at uni once as i was at the funeral of a family member, and when i got back my lecturer (who knew the reason for my absence) moaned at me for being an inconvenience as she had to give up 30mins of her lunch break to let me do the test!

number one, make sure you know where you want the session to go, and plan it. say 5 mins intro, then so long on one thing, so long on another etc. and don't forget to leave enough time to draw things together at the end This will give you a framework. Once you have that, decide what you want to get over in each bit of your session and make sure that happens. It is true there are loads of ways of conducting these things, breaking it up, getting people to work in groups etc, but you need to make sure they all know what they are in the group for. You may have been lucky in your choice of person to write, I would probably have asked for a volunteer, as some people really hate doing this. You might want to have a quick look at some of the education books - if you have the right course at your uni as this might help you. You know what worked for you, and what your peers liked, so build on that knowledge, you will soon get confident in doing it.

I'm relieved other people have struggled through lack of support -I thought I was just being a bit useless for finding it overwhelming! Even though the initial seminars I've been doing have already been well planned (I'll start planning mine for the next sessions), I'm finding it difficult to know what attitude to take with the students. I"m worried they'll see through the fact that it isn't a topic I'm overly familiar with and I won't have enough examples for them. I'm also concerned that I just want them to like me - is that bad? I want them to learn, but I want them to enjoy the sessions. It's how to do that without making the atmosphere TOO casual...

Ideelind - that is exactly how I feel! Getting the balance right between making the sessions 'fun' and actually ensuring that they are critically engaging with some serious material is my biggest worry. In my last session I tried to break the hour up into a few different activities like small group discussions and full group discussions but I did come away worrying that I had been to lenient and made things too light hearted. I recall reading an article in the Times Higher where a lecturer said "I don't need to be the students' friend - they've got friends already" and I sort of agree - but on the other hand I was an undergraduate myself not so long ago and remember how some tutors were just hated for no real reason and everyone sat in a sulky silence totally unwilling to co-operate!

I also feel that I don't know enough about the basics to be able to answer their questions - for example, the seminar I'm leading on Thursday will be covering voting behaviour and electoral systems - something that I last read about in the 1st year of my undergrad degree, 7 years ago! I feel like my level of knowledge is only slightly higher than that of the students and it really panics me. I'm frantically trying to read some textbooks and feel like I'm revising for an exam or something.

My supervisors keep insisting that I will have some really "fulfilling" teaching sessions which will make it all worthwhile but I honestly can't see how this will ever happen.

I think one thing is to be "genuine"--whatever your style or personality is--I know some people worry that they have to "be" something, serious, or formal, or distant, whether or not that is their natural communication style. Obviously there are parameters around what is appropriate for a teaching role, but within that, a range of styles can work! I think its OK to make a session "fun" and still work hard, enjoyment does not negate learning, of course finding that balance or interaction is something else altogether.

I have read about some techniques that work--there is the classic "right pair share" and the small group work that work with groups, and there are variations on those, where the students might be engaged in a group task for a few minutes, and then you carry on your lecture from their collective responses ( I find this means REALLY knowing your topic for the day, and its tiring, but can REALLY work!) and then back on a small group task for a few minutes.

Setting a few ground rules, like I am going to start and stop on time full stop, so if students wander in late, they have wandered into a full fledged class that does not stop for them, but also stopping RIGHT on time, so they can get to their next lecture or tutorial on time, etc, helps I think.

I got a nice compliment yesterday from a student who said my tutorial was her favourite one and that she was so interested in the subject matter, and time flew when we were in the tutorials! Well:$:$ that was nice feedback and I was glad to get it.

Yeah, I know I shouldn't want to be their friend, but I'd rather they felt relaxed enough to tell me if they didn't understand something. I've also found that there are a certain few students in each of my groups who are an absolute god-send. They engage and then make sure their groups do the work properly. I think I probably do verge on the side of too informal, but I'd rather that than austere.



Me too! When i was an undergrad I got the distinct impression that some of our seminar tutors had been chucked in there without knowing anything and I would hate to be that person. I also don't particularly want to have to spend 2 days reading a preparing for a 2 hour seminar. I have my own work to do.

Another question: how do other people handle it when hardly anyone in the group has done the required reading? I was visibly annoyed on Friday. If they haven't done it then they cab't discuss it and it kind of mucks up my seminar plan.

How are you structuring your seminar plans? Are you asking students to participate or be called upon based upon having done the reading? One thing I think is more or less effective is to use small groups, and interweave your lecture with small group answers; in other words, have a variety of short small group tasks and ask for answers, know what results you need ( or if no one provides--you provide) to do the lecture. I found it helpful to explain to students WHY we were structuring the tutorials doing small group and interactive work--it boosts THEIR learning! I don't have any magic bullets. Its daunting to be faced with a group of people who have not read and look as interested in the tutorial as watching paint dry. Small group work holds people somewhat accountable--if you say, ok you have five minutes to work on x and you need to select a spokesperson to report back, I am going to ask each group for an anwer--five minutes being in no way long enough to do the task well if they did not read or prepare---seems to be effective.

If you do groups, mind how they get set up. I go back and forth between random groups, where people number off, and letting people work with their friends, in semi self-selected groups. Random group formation does not let people have the comfort of hiding behind their friends in having not prepared. Circulate while groups are working--ask them what they have come up with, remind them everyone needs to contribute, etc.

How do you respond when students speak out--if an answer is not right, how do you deal with that? Even when an answer is off base, I try to find some element I can work with, and not just say, no thats wrong. I try to say, yes, you identified a very key component of the answer--this is a great place to start. Let's look at this--and ask questions to guide people towards the right answer. I try to create an atmosphere where just as there are no stupid questions, there are no stupid answers--just ones that need to be rehoned and refined.

If students haven't done the reading, and if it is a shortish piece of text, I will make them read it in the seminar. This is annoying for other students who have done the reading, but the advantage of this is that peer pressure might then work on the lazy students and I don't have to admonish them myself. If students give a wrong answer I will try to get them to see why this might be incorrect rather than just saying no. I had them doing small presentations on some work they had researched themselves and one group had chosen an example which was not in the historical period we were looking at so although I told them this was incorrect I praised them for their research and what they had found out. It was an exercise in research skills so they had fulfilled that part of it.

I found that relying on peer pressure to force lazy students to read and engage with the material to be counter-productive.
It re-enforced divisions in the class which were very loosely based on any interesting conflicts of opinion arising out of interpretation of the course topics.
I felt this distracted from their learning efforts, and that it was difficult to identify those who were doing reading and attempting to engage with the material while at the same time being reluctant to get themselves involved in arguments.

I have found that I have been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the student's works. I have also found office hours to be very useful in directly engaging with students interests and also in helping gague their progress with developing these interests. I think it is perhaps a good idea to promote office hours to your students.

Another suggestion is to get students involved in ongoing groupwork which will develop over the duration of the course, giving them a number of chances to present their work, both as works in progress, with the opportunity for constructive criticism, in terms of problems and means of developing the topics and treatments further. This helped to remove the competitiveness and laziness inherent to student/group presentations, and helped to engage the entire cohort in a more detailed research effort. It also helped to get the class to gel together.

On a sour note, I have to refer essays I consider to be worth failing to the professor. I have referred one and he has recommended it be re-graded to a distinction. I cannot believe that I was so wrong in my judgment of it, and I cannot believe that this attempt to motivate a student through an inflated grade is justifiable; if only on the basis that it will not serve to motivate them to do more work in other classes. It will possibly demotivate other students to do less. Another result is that their degree becomes worthless in the academic world. The uni I am tutoring at now is considered ok, but if I was a lecturer/prof in a dept to which this a student from this uni applied I would be very reluctant to admit them.
The consequences of making universities pay for themselves?
Rant over!