Many years ago, I taught college composition at a small art and illustration college in Chicago. The students in my classes were a diverse and irrepressibly creative bunch with an intimidating range of writing confidence and experience—a true challenge for a relatively inexperienced writing
As part of my graduate training in clinical psychology, I was given the opportunity to serve as the primary instructor for one section of an undergraduate course. Excitement mounted as I awaited my assignment. Abnormal Psychology was the gold ring. It was always the
This article first appeared in the December 2011 issue of The Teaching Professor.
I can’t remember when it happened; I just know that it did. I changed vocations in 2003, becoming a full-time academic after being president of a heat treating company in Ohio. I
Over the past year, most campuses have had to confront the impact of ChatGPT on the classroom, particularly on student learning and submission of assignments. Teachers are scrambling to modify their syllabi to lay out policies to ensure no plagiarism occurs. There is not
In 2000, a Teaching Professor article entitled “Professors: Living or Dead” highlighted how dead professors (literally dead) can still teach college courses. Through online teaching, dead professors can continue showing videos, electronically send grades to the registrar, answer student emails
My name is Teacher, and my mistakes are Legion.
None of these mistakes are catastrophic. I haven’t lost my temper and pulled my hair out by the roots. I haven’t made grading errors that led to a 75 percent flunk rate. I haven’t written such
When I started teaching, I had phenomenal mentors. I could ring up Paul, an English prof, and inquire about handling a student’s lie, and he’d help me identify the options. I could share my student evals with Jerry, a chemist, and he’d help me
Years ago, I got to work late and had to grab the last parking spot, right in front of the university print shop. Technically, this was legal, but it was frowned upon; the person who ran the shop had a habit of hanging signs
“How did you become interested in teaching and training?” the eager applicant for a training position asked. I paused, thinking about my mentor, the articles I read, as well as the lectures and workshops I attended. After searching for an answer filled with gravitas and
As James Boswell, noted biographer of 18-century English man of letters and dictionary author Samuel Johnson, writes in Life of Johnson, “The art of communicating instruction, of whatever kind, is much to be valued” (p. 70). That art, I would add, benefits when teachers wrestle
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