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Teaching the Course

Jamil A. Khan, Ph.D., P.E.

Associate Professor

Mechanical Engineering

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Teaching the Course

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!!!

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Teaching the Class

“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

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Teaching the Class

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

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Teaching the Class

What are the traits of a good Teacher? Enthusiastic (Passion to teach, passion for

the course material) Well Prepared and organized Concern and respect for the student

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Teaching the Class

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

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Some Logistics for Teaching the Class

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!)

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Some Logistics for Teaching the Class (contd.)

Diversity in education Be sensitive to the diverse group you are teaching

(hail-mary pass, huddle)

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Creating and Maintaining Discussion

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

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aSome Methods for Delivering the Course

Contents

Lecture Make illustrations and examples more diverse

without losing their relevance Examples: hot-water heaters

Inter-active discussions Ask the students to lead the discussion and you act as a

moderator

Co-operative learning (team building) Industry is looking for team-players Good communicator with inter-personal skills (Can you

teach this?

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Modeling Critical Thinking

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

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Effective teaching Spotting students who are having unusual difficulty

and directing them to USC resources for help How to gauge your impact on students

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?

How 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