teaching demo??

[teaching_demo_neophyte]

I just got called to give a teaching demo at a college.

What on earth extra are you looking for when you just see a brief teaching demo?

Anyone who has evaluated one, please help!


thanks much!

[anon prof]

First is general public speaking skills. Can you get up in front of a room of people and talk loud enough so we can hear you? Do you make sense? Do you read off a tablet the whole time (bad idea that I heard of a job candidate recently doing- better to have printed out notes than e-notes) or have more of a dynamic presence where you move around the room a bit and arn't reading off a screen/paper the entire time? Is your talk organized and do you seem to have command of the material, or are you giving a talk where you are scatterbrained and can't follow your own slides, and there's a bunch of typos in your powerpoint, and you run out of material after 15 minutes when we asked you to teach a 50 minute class? What types of knowledge do I come away with from the class and are they sociological type things? Did you make major errors in the information you were teaching? Basically, are you capable of putting together and teaching a class? About a third of candidates I've seen have totally bombed these aspects.

On top of that, some kind of active learning exercise or discussion or encouraging student participation is what a lot of people are looking for- like a mix of lecture and activity, not just you talking at your students the whole time. Although I would caution you against spending the entire time on discussion/activity too, cause we want to see how you will teach a lecture too. But I think more important than that is the ability to explain complicated concepts to undergrads (and to other profs). We can hear all about your fancy research and all the fancy words you know in your job talk and writing samples- what we want to see is if you can break that complicated concept down and teach those fancy words to undergrads. Because that is a major problem for a lot of people. When I gave my teaching demo I taught a stats class on standard deviations and at the end of the demo one qualitative prof was like "Wow, I think I finally understand standard deviations for the first time!"- that is the kind of comment you are looking for.

Basically, meet the minimum standards of teaching, then teach your students/the profs something new, teach it in a way that students can relate to the material, and teach it so that it's understandable and interesting and we aren't falling asleep in your class cause you're so dull (that's where active learning comes in).

[neophyte again]

thanks so much for the thoughtful response...I appreciate it, sincerely.   Ill make sure to have these bases covered.  The interaction aspects seems like a slight wild card and possibly weirdly inorganic I fear, but Ill think of something.  

Nov 13, 2016 7:52:18 GMT -5 anon prof said:

First is general public speaking skills. Can you get up in front of a room of people and talk loud enough so we can hear you? Do you make sense? Do you read off a tablet the whole time (bad idea that I heard of a job candidate recently doing- better to have printed out notes than e-notes) or have more of a dynamic presence where you move around the room a bit and arn't reading off a screen/paper the entire time? Is your talk organized and do you seem to have command of the material, or are you giving a talk where you are scatterbrained and can't follow your own slides, and there's a bunch of typos in your powerpoint, and you run out of material after 15 minutes when we asked you to teach a 50 minute class? What types of knowledge do I come away with from the class and are they sociological type things? Did you make major errors in the information you were teaching? Basically, are you capable of putting together and teaching a class? About a third of candidates I've seen have totally bombed these aspects.

On top of that, some kind of active learning exercise or discussion or encouraging student participation is what a lot of people are looking for- like a mix of lecture and activity, not just you talking at your students the whole time. Although I would caution you against spending the entire time on discussion/activity too, cause we want to see how you will teach a lecture too. But I think more important than that is the ability to explain complicated concepts to undergrads (and to other profs). We can hear all about your fancy research and all the fancy words you know in your job talk and writing samples- what we want to see is if you can break that complicated concept down and teach those fancy words to undergrads. Because that is a major problem for a lot of people. When I gave my teaching demo I taught a stats class on standard deviations and at the end of the demo one qualitative prof was like "Wow, I think I finally understand standard deviations for the first time!"- that is the kind of comment you are looking for.

Basically, meet the minimum standards of teaching, then teach your students/the profs something new, teach it in a way that students can relate to the material, and teach it so that it's understandable and interesting and we aren't falling asleep in your class cause you're so dull (that's where active learning comes in).

[Owl Capone]

Ask for a copy of the syllabus in the class that you will be teaching in, which can provide you evidence of past concepts covered. That way, without knowing the names of the students, you can pose questions that help set up your topic (harder if you are giving a talk in January or February though).

If you have no other tool in your pocket, begin with a "think-pair-share" in which you pose an overarching discussion question to the class, ask them to take two minutes to write a response, two minutes to share their comment with a class mate, and then you open it up for class discussion (everybody has written something down, everybody should be in a position to say something) and then your goal is to steer the conversation to the key points you want to get across in an interactive lecture. Try to avoid just standing and watching while they are talking as partners, approach two or three groups, hop in, and get their names.

Good luck.

[DrMox]

We require teaching demos and what we're looking for (in addition to the above) is that you can be accessible to OUR students. Not every school has ivy league students, so do some research ahead of time to see what kinds of students the school has. Make sure your teaching demo is accessible-- breaks things down in clear ways, and walks students through ideas/concepts.

If they don't tell you what level to pitch your demo at (Junior/Senior or Intro?) then say at the beginning "this is pitched toward advanced undergrads, or Intro students..."

And using current relatable examples when explaining concepts and ideas is always a plus, at any level of student!

[15_minute Demo_help]

Hi all,

Ive been asked to give a "less than 15 minute" teaching demo to just faculty members. Any advice on this particular form? How on earth do you incorporate anything but just me giving an evocative spiel about a concept or two in such a short period?

Im at a loss to be honest.

thanks....

[15 min]

5 mins intro to some puzzle or complex relationship; 8 minutes with class discussing what's behind it, 2 minute wrap up

[15_minute Demo_help]

Oct 26, 2017 16:09:13 GMT -5 15 min said:

5 mins intro to some puzzle or complex relationship; 8 minutes with class discussing what's behind it, 2 minute wrap up

thank you, I appreciate the response.  I suppose one snag is that its just going to be faculty taking in the demo.  Should I lead a faux class discussion with them?  is that normal (e.g. would they respond)?

[15 min demo]

Geez, they have made this so silly for you. Yes, lead a discussion with them if it's an R2 or lower. If it's an R1, maybe have them watch a short video clip and answer a question in a think/pair/share style about it?

[15 min demo again]

I'd tell them: I like my classes to be interactive, so I'm going to have you all play the role of (upper-division, lower-division) students today in my blah blah class. Please play along!