Teaching Your First Course: Balancing Teaching and Research
Summary: 2006 presentation in the Rice University NSF Advance Conference entitled “Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position”. This workshop focuses on balancing teaching and research, and was authored by Richard Baraniuk (ELEC), Mike Gustin (BCB), Jane Grande-Allen (BIOE), and Yousif Shamoo (BCB).
Workshop Authors: Richard Baraniuk, Mike Gustin, Jane Grande-Allen, and Yousif Shamoo.
Slide 1: Discussion Topics
- How to be a good teacher
- How to balance teaching and getting a research program off the ground
Slide 2: Why do we teach?
- So that people learn
Slide 3: Who do we teach?
- students
- colleagues
- your chair, your dean
- the public
- program managers
- patent office
- ...
Slide 4: Teaching Tips
- Developing a good course takes time
- learn good time management
- What students learn is less than what you teach
- don’t just try to “cover” the material
- Learning styles [Richard Felder, NCSU]
- don’t “teach yourself”
- Active learning [Richard Felder, NCSU]
- “I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand”
- 2 minute paper
Slide 5: Jane Grande Allen, Dept. of Bioengineering, Assistant Professor
- Started teaching Spring 2004
Slide 6: Your First Year Teaching
- Plan 6-8 hours of prep time per lecture
- Don't expect perfection
- Do get feedback throughout the semester
- Don’t expect eager listening faces
- Do make the time to get to know your students or at least learn names
- Assignment tips
- Textbooks have typos
- Work the exams yourself
- Extra credit: not all that
Slide 7: After - Recap and Revise
- Fix the lectures that needed the most work first
- Every few lectures, work in up to date data to keep things current
- Get a mentor and meet monthly. Go over how EVERYTHING has been for you
- Do attend teaching workshops
Slide 8: Evaluations
Don’t take the evaluations too harshly
- “This professor actually discouraged independent thought…”
- “Dr. Grande-Allen is the most fair and considerate teacher I’ve had at Rice…”
- “Not enough engineering – too much biology”
- “The name of the course should surely be changed to Mechanical Properties of ECM because little or no chemistry or biology was discussed”
Slide 9: Time Management / Balance
- Set office hours and keep to them
- Give the same course lecture you gave last year
- Don’t say yes to every undergrad that wants to work with you
- Focus your time on learning what you need for the research you will be strongest at
- Do early
- Write IRB and IACUC
- Attend regional training seminars by NIH and NSF
- Sign up for grants mailing lists
Slide 10: Maintain Perspective
- Get a mentor and meet monthly!
- Colleagues, other young faculty
- Get to know some people and faculty outside the department
- Read At the Helm
- Check out a few blogs of other women in this position
Slide 11: Points for Discussion
- How to deal with absent or failing students
- The students are not like you were/are
- Should you recycle quizzes/exams?
- How accommodating should you be to student requests?
- Where did the day go? Protecting your time
- What is important and not important?
References
- Richard Baraniuk, Mike Gustin, Jane Grande-Allen, and Yousif Shamoo. (2006, October). Teaching Your First Course: Balancing Teaching and Research. [http://www.advance.rice.edu/negotiatingtheidealfacultyposition/agenda.html].
- Felder, Richard. Index of Learning Styles. [http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/].
- Barker, Kathy. (2002). At The Helm: A Laboratory Navigator. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Comments, questions, feedback, criticisms?
Send feedback
- E-mail the author of the module, Teaching Your First Course: Balancing Teaching and Research
Footer
More about this content: Metadata | Version History
This work is licensed by Susan Cates under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0).
Last edited by Susan Cates on Jul 30, 2007 9:04 pm GMT-5.