last updated: Mon, August 27, 2018 6:05 AM

MY TEACHING APPROACH

1. "Is this course appropriate for my learning style?"

My teaching style is not for everyone. In brief, you should consider not taking this course …

  • if your expectation is that course content is primarily for me to deliver information to you and then test you on that content; that is, the basic lecture-exam format; or
  • if you aren't ready to devote time to preparing for every class session; or
  • if you expect to miss class frequently; or
  • if you tend to submit assignments late; or
  • if you plan to skim or skip reading assignments.

2. Active learning notice

This class, similar to all my classes, uses an "active learning" approach.

For my classes, "active learning" means to read critically and actively (asking questions of the text while reading it), carry out analysis, problem-solve, obtain knowledge through in self-initiated and self-directed research, and share much of these activities in peer-to-peer situations where you express yourself, make space for others to express themselves, listen well, and sometimes complete work collaboratively.

This teaching approach affects how the class is run in many ways. Before committing to this course, you should know:

  • The majority of "information" is delivered outside the classroom, as online lectures, reading assignments, and such. It will not be delivered as summary in class. This learning, thinking and other ways of preparing for class is key to the course and will be regularly quizzed. Expect to spend time outside of class if your intention is to score well. Even Pass / No Pass students will need to devote more time than they probably expected to in order to pass the class.
  • Since I believe the learning process includes in-class activities, missing class(es) has a substantial negative effect on your grade.
  • Because exercises can be complicated and setup can take time, and because exercises take the full session, late arrival and early departure have a seriously negative impact on your grade.
  • Although I rarely change test dates, just about anything else in the class can change as I try new exercises or decide that for a certain group the plan of teaching is not suiting the class as well as some other approach. Expect to be flexible in the types of assignments, their frequency, when, whether, and what type of feedback, how exercises fit into the larger picture of the final course grade, and, sometimes, changes in the original grade-weighting of the class.
  • This approach generates an enormous amount of assignments. Expect assignments, perhaps even more than one, for every class session.
  • This approach generates an enormous about of grading for me. Expect that grading might take a long time and that some exercises might go ungraded.
  • This is not an "add up the points, know where you stand in terms of your grade" type of approach. bCourse will not be helpful in indicating your possible course grade. The grade estimator I release will be better. But talking with me is best.
  • You cannot predict your grade by looking at "big data" about grades I have reported in the past versions of this course. Each class is unique. You cannot know specifics with confidence about this class via discussions with friends who have taken it before. Again, each class is unique. My approach, however, is more or less the same.
  • Academic honesty is expected and carefully monitored.
  • There is a considerable amount of group work, and sometimes group grades.
  • My classes have far more than the usual volume of instructions that need to be read with care. Many of my exercises are intentionally not intuitive or similar to work students have done in the past. Those who have the patience to read and follow instructions position themselves well in terms of score, learning, and just about everything else. Instructions are closer to another teaching element of the course, not just directions, and are treated as material to be learned, just list other aspects of the course.