Transcript Teaching the Course

University of South Carolina
Teaching the Course
Jamil A. Khan, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Teaching the Course
University of South Carolina
 WHAT
IS MY GOAL WHEN I AM TEACHING?
 DESSIMINATE
KNOWLWDGE!!
 Creating lifelong learners
 Creating Critical thinkers
 Let
me make two statements
 “You
can not teach all the students in your class”
 “You can teach a majority of the students in your class”
 My
biggest shock came after I gave the first test in
the first lecture-class I ever taught!!!
Teaching the Class
University of South Carolina
 “You
have prepared for the class!!”
 Now
comes the task of actual teaching, this is where the
rubber hits the road.
 Remember that learning is a process of continuous
improvement
Teaching the Class
University of South Carolina
 Developing
a Personal Style
 Modeling Critical Thinking
 Effective Learning or Other Method of Presenting
Materials
 Creating or Maintaining Discussion
 Creating a Balance within the class room
 Reading the audience and your-self
Teaching the Class
 What
are the traits of a good Teacher?
University of South Carolina
 Enthusiastic
(Passion to teach, passion for
the course material)
 Well Prepared and organized
 Concern and respect for the student
Teaching the Class
University of South Carolina
 Developing
a personal style
 Actor?
 Add
humor? (remember worst joke award? Or remember
the professor who always told the same joke!!)
 Entertain?
 Raise a storm?
I
think the best style is the style that you are most
comfortable with. A style that suits your personality
Some Logistics for Teaching the Class
University of South Carolina
 Be
prepared and organized
 It
is a good idea to write down or verbally say what you are
going to cover (do it at the beginning of the period)
 Some instructors ask students, at the end of the period, to
write a sentence about the most important topic they learnt
during the period
 Use
of Chalk Board
 If you use power point or slide--- slow down!!
 Consider
giving hand-outs (students may be busy copying
the slide!)
Some Logistics for Teaching the Class (contd.)
University of South Carolina
 Diversity
 Be

in education
sensitive to the diverse group you are teaching
(hail-mary pass, huddle)
Creating and Maintaining Discussion
University of South Carolina
 Try
to engage students, at the same time try not to
put them on the spot
 Ask questions (but not questions that have “yes” or
“no” as answers
 If you do ask question, give some time for the
students think about the answer
Some Methods for Delivering the Course
Contents
University of South Carolina
 Lecture
 Make
illustrations and examples more diverse
without losing their relevance
 Examples:
 Inter-active
hot-water heaters
discussions
 Ask
the students to lead the discussion and you act as a
moderator
 Co-operative
 Industry
learning (team building)
is looking for team-players
 Good communicator with inter-personal skills (Can you teach
this?
Modeling Critical Thinking
University of South Carolina
 Assign
open ended-problem
 Solution
should meet some constraint but is not unique
 Brain storm ideas
 Encourage out-of-the-box thinking
 Let
me hear your ideas
Effective teaching
students who are having unusual difficulty
and directing them to USC resources for help
 How to gauge your impact on students
University of South Carolina
 Spotting



 How
Reading signs, seek feed back
Ask questions outside the class (one on one)
Is the end of the semester student evaluation sufficient? Isn’t it
end-of-the-pipe inspection?
to know when to make changes in teaching the
class


Syllabus
Other changes
 Taylor

your teaching at the level of your students
Honors class teaching
 Balancing
your own research, class schedule with
teaching schedule