1 / 33

Teaching as a Way of Learning

Teaching as a Way of Learning. Goutam Paul Department of Computer Science SUNY Albany SKILL 2004 Conference, Oct 16, 2004. Organization of the Talk. Introduction Who are your teachers ? Some techniques Learning subtler things Conclusion. Introduction. Setting the Scene. Goal

johnna
Download Presentation

Teaching as a Way of Learning

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Teaching as a Way of Learning Goutam Paul Department of Computer Science SUNY Albany SKILL 2004 Conference, Oct 16, 2004

  2. Organization of the Talk • Introduction • Who are your teachers ? • Some techniques • Learning subtler things • Conclusion Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  3. Introduction

  4. Setting the Scene • Goal • Excellence in Teaching and Learning • Teaching • An opportunity for you to learn as well Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  5. Learning: Two Issues • What to Learn ? • Learning the teaching (i.e. how to teach better) • Learning of your own (i.e. acquire new knowledge) • The above two are interconnected • How to Learn ? • The topic of this talk Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  6. Who Are Your Teachers ?

  7. Learning From Whom ? • Instructors • Fellow TAs • Students Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  8. Learning from the Instructor • Attend the instructor’s classes at least sometimes, in order to observe two things: • How does he/she teach ? • How do the students react ? • When they are attentive, when they aren’t • Which part do they understand, which they don’t Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  9. Learning from the Instructor • Meeting with the instructor • Discuss teaching strategy • Don’t be afraid to think about new ideas and give suggestions Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  10. Learning from Your Fellow TAs • Fellow TAs include • Your Co-TAs of the same course • Your friends who are TAs of other courses Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  11. Learning from Your Fellow TAs • Attend their discussion sessions and evaluate their teaching • Request them to attend your discussion session and evaluate your teaching Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  12. Learning from the Students • Learning from them in general • Learning from the smart students • Learning from the weak students Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  13. Learning from Students in General • Note the questions they ask: • Even if you are able to answer … go back and study the relevant materials in order to crosscheck • Increase your knowledge-base of the possible questions on that topic Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  14. Learning from Students in General • Give problems and ask the students to go to the board, and observe … • How do they proceed ? • When are they stuck ? • Evaluate how successful is your teaching Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  15. Learning from the Smart Students • Read their papers carefully • How do they present their ideas in writing ? • Both in classroom discussions and exams … • You may get alternative solutions • Sometimes it may be better than yours Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  16. Learning from the Weak Students • Find out the root cause of weakness • Devise different ways to explain the same thing • Examples, analogies etc. • How do these compare: which approach is easier for which students ? Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  17. Learning from the Weak Students • Introspect yourself: maybe the weakness is yours • Are you flexible enough ? • Are you concerned ? • Are you thinking how to help them ? Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  18. Some Techniques

  19. Examples of Techniques • Preparation • Putting yourself in their shoes • Reaching out through inquiries • Creativity • Feedback Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  20. Preparation • Prepare for the discussion well in advance • Design your own examples different from those in the textbook • Hands-free teaching • Try to avoid mere reading from the textbook as much as possible • Write up your own notes • Mock teaching • Discourse in front of imaginary audience Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  21. Putting Yourself in Their Shoes • Go back, stand, and look at the board • Look at what you have written from the students’ perspective • Do this both during the class and also … after the students leave Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  22. Reaching out Through Inquiries • After the class, pick up a random sample of students each time, and ask … • How was it ? • Did you understand everything ? • Which part was most difficult for you to grasp ? • Advantages • Fresh and immediate response, before they forget Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  23. Creativity • Create new problems to motivate applications • You may add humor to it • But be sure to show it to the instructor and fellow TAs to check for ambiguity / clarity Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  24. Creativity: Example • “Suppose you have designed a robot who can sing to you when you are depressed and make you happy. The program that the robot runs has knowledge of the following notes only: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and B. Assume, for the sake of simplicity, that the sound card in the robot hardware which generates the digital music plays each note for one-tenth of a second. When you are depressed, you prefer to have D# to be the starting note and A# to be the end note of any piece of music being played, and you also want at least two occurrences of E in the piece. Suppose you are very depressed after you got your CSI210 grade for summer 2004. If you want to listen to your robot for half a minute, how many compositions can the robot play to cool you down ?” (CSI 210, Summer 2004) Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  25. Feedback • Get regular feedback from students about your teaching • Can be done in the form of a questionnaire • To prevent boredom … • Multiple choice QA • Single page Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  26. 1stQuestionnaire:Beginning of the Semester • General background • Major / minor ? • Favorite and non-favorite topics • Strength and weakness ? • Preference for office hours • Day / timing ? Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  27. 2nd Questionnaire: Middle of the Semester • Feel about the course • Boring / interesting ? • Understanding • Easy to follow / not ? • Speed • Fast / slow ? • How comfortable with the instructor / TA ? • Anything (s)he should improve upon ? Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  28. 3rd Questionnaire: End of the Semester • Comparison of exams so far • Easier / Harder ? • Shorter / Lengthier ? • Performance: better / worse ? • Regularity / Sincerity • Visit during office hours ? • Attend discussion sessions ? • How much time put into practice outside the class ? • Has the instructor / TA improved ? Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  29. Advantages of Questionnaire • Large space, small time • Response from all the students in very short time • Anonymous feedback • Students likely to tell the truth • Amenable to statistical analysis • Chart, graph etc. from the data • Kills two birds with one shot • Evaluates your students • Evaluates you Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  30. Learning Subtler Things

  31. What Else Do We Learn Through Teaching • Develop Personality • Improve communication • Build confidence Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

  32. Conclusion

  33. Summary • Teaching and learning are the two sides of the same coin • But you cannot benefit from it unless you are aware of it Goutam Paul, Computer Science@SUNYA

More Related