MATH 599: Mathematics Teaching Techniques

Lectures: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12 noon-1 PM, room Math 202

Instructor: Greg Martin
Office: Math 212
Phone: (604) 822-4371
E-mail: gerg@math.ubc.ca
Office hours: by appointment

Course description: The purpose of this course is to provide students with training to help them become more effective teachers, and also to give the mathematics department a means for evaluating the suitability of students to teach undergraduate courses in mathematics. Virtually everybody is capable of becoming a competent and skillful instructor, but virtually nobody would do well if made to teach a course without preparation or forethought about effective teaching practices. Structuring a course, preparing lectures, delivering information, responding to questions, assigning homework, dealing with problem students, and so on are all areas where a little consideration of certain guidelines can vastly improve a teacher's performance.  Much of what comprises excellent teaching is quite different from individual to individual; most of what comprises bad teaching, on the other hand, is universal yet easily avoided with some experience.

Evaluation: The course is graded on a pass/fail basis. Passing the course is based on the following criteria:

Students will give two presentations during the semester, one of length 15 minutes and one of length 40 minutes. The first, short presentation will be to critique the students' mechanics and classroom presence, while the long presentations will be to critique their organization of material into a beneficial lecture. Students will teach typical topics from first-year calculus as if the audience were actually a first-year calculus class, after which they will receive feedback from the rest of the class and the instructor.

Supplement: I found a teaching statement I wrote last year, and it's surprisingly lucid. It could be thought-provoking for you to read over.

Schedule:
I. Preparation for short presentations
Wednesday, September 6: Overview of course
Friday, September 8: Description and scheduling of short presentations
Monday, September 11: Example lecture and discussion
Wednesday, September 13: Blackboard technique
II. Short presentations
III. Preparation for long presentations
Wednesday, October 11: Lecture design and modularity
Friday, October 13: In-class group activity, practice lecture design
Monday, October 16: Description and scheduling of long presentations
Wednesday, October 18: Feedback and discussion of practice lectures
Friday, October 20: Asking and receiving student questions and feedback, classroom psychology
IV. Long presentations