Five Things Nobody Tell You About Teaching in Higher Education
Starting 8 July 2019, students in the foundation programme of my university will return to class for a new semester.
Their return signals the (re)start of a routine for me: of adhering to an academic calendar and course outline, preparing for lessons, and juggling time between teaching, research, and administrative work.
It’s time to get busy again!
I started teaching in December 2018. I was assigned two classes to teach: first a foundation-level Chemistry, then a one-semester preparatory Chemistry for international students who need the extra boost before they are absorbed into their programme of choice at the university.
The foundation-level class had 43 students, while the one-semester preparatory class had 34 students.
Both classes were spread across three out of the five-day working week, leaving me two days free to catch up on lesson preparation, and additional administrative work as a manager at the faculty.
That one-semester period between December 2018 to May 2019 has given me a steep learning curve as a new academic. No books or guidelines have prepared me for the assortment of “management” challlenges when teaching in higher education: time management, classroom management, lesson management, energy management, emotional management...
As I prepare for the new semester, I was reminded of five lessons learnt in my first semester of teaching:
One, it’s a marathon. There are 16 weeks of lecture, 1 week of mid-semester break, 1 week of study break, and 1 week of final examination.
The excitement of teaching in the first week of the semester has to be sustained until the end of the semester.
Motivation will run dry halfway through the semester for various reasons; however, one must keep to the cause, and persevere till the end.
One should also find ways to cope with the stress, and fine outlets to release the tension — I find running, and walks in the park helpful.
Two, always remember the true value of your presence in class. A mentor, upon hearing my grouses on the difficulties in teaching a class with different speed of learning, told me that my role as an educator is to help students becoming better versions of themselves at the end of the semester.
In other words, I have to focus more on facilitating the learning process for the grade B and C students, and reinforce excellence for the grade A students.
Satisfaction comes not from enabling the grade A students score their desired grade; rather, it is in the ability to move the grade B and C students closer to their grade A peers.
Three, it is alright if you don’t have the answer to everything. As I tend to take my time in articulating my responses, live Q&A sessions in class stressed me out. I have met with situations where students pointed out loopholes in my explanation, and corrected me directly during the lesson. I also came across instances where I could not provide satisfactory answers to my students, and was forced to say, “Let me get back to you in the next class”.
As an educator, the act of admitting my shortcomings to students seemed daunting and unacceptable. However, it gets easier eventually. Learn from the moment, move on, and thank the students for the valuable teachable moments!
Four, the 2- or 3- hour class delivery is just a fraction of the responsibility that is visible to the students. Prior to class, there are readings to be completed, and tutorials to be prepared. After class delivery, one has to respond to student queries, mark assignments and quizzes, and plan for the next lesson.
The overall process is tougher for new academics like me. As I move along throughout the semester, the routine gets easier to manage. I have also learnt to seek help from others. It turns out that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a show of strength in one’s determination to succeed.
Five, be creative in experimentation. Teaching gives one the opportunity to try different delivery approaches, both offline and online.
This means that one has to be brave in trying the unconventional — in my case, I have played Lego with my students, get them to watch TED videos as part of their homework, play Kahoot as a classroom quiz, and read Nobel Prize in Chemistry award speeches together in order to understand the significance of particular discoveries in the field.
As the saying goes: a mediocre teacher tells, a good teacher explains, a superior teacher demonstrates, while a great teacher inspires. There is much to explore and invent together with the students.
I look forward to the new semester with different groups of students to interact with, and different challenges to overcome. See you soon, my dear students!
