Teaching Philosophy, Methodology and Results
Michael FuchsDepartment of Applied Mathematics
Short CV
Born in Austria
Master (2000) and Ph.-D. (2002) from the
Technical University of Vienna
Postdoc at the Institute of Statistical Sciences,
Academia Sinica from 2002 to 2004
Assistant Professor at NCTU from 2004 to 2008
Associate Professor at NCTU since 2008
Courses Taught Since 20062006 Fall Calculus I Probability
Theory
Spring Calculus II Stochastic Processes
2007 Fall Calculus I Analysis of Algorithms
Spring Calculus II Stochastic Processes
2008 Fall Calculus I Cryptography
Spring Calculus II Analytic Combinatorics
2009 Fall Calculus I Analysis of Algorithms
Spring Calculus II Complex Analysis
Teaching Philosophy
“If you want to build a ship,
don’t drum up the men
to gather wood, divide the
work and give orders.
Instead, teach them to yearn
for the vast and endless sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Teaching Philosophy (con’t)
Teaching Philosophy (con’t)
Motivating students
Understanding limitations
“We can only bring the horse to the river,
but we cannot force the horse to drink”.
Long-term learning goals
Teaching/Learning in EnglishUnderstanding
problems student face
Creating a learning
environment in which
students feel
comfortable
Gathering feedback
Course Statistic
Enrollment Student Evaluation
Beginning of the Course
Explaining what is expected from the
students
Telling students how and where to find
help
How to learn mathematics
Difference of high school mathematics and
university mathematics
Mathematics is not a spectator sport
Blackboard vs. Powerpoint
Course’s Webpage
Homework and Exams
It is not that we understand mathematics, rather mathematics just becomes familiar with practice.
Homework and Exams (con’t)
Weekly assignmentsExamples not just chosen from the textbook,
but carefully selected from many sources
Weekly quizzes
Midterm and Final which mainly
check understanding
Teaching Assistants
TAs play a crucial
role in the teaching
Weekly meetings
with TAs
Weekly meetings
of students and
TAs
Achievements
English Calculus Program
Since 6 years; NCTU is the only university in Taiwan
which has such a program
Large database of examples for
Calculus
Lecture notes for most of the courses
Thanks for Your
Attention
And
Thanks to All My
Students!