Awards
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Mentoring
Philosophy of Michael Clancy
Computer Science
I work with GSIs in a variety
of contexts: as coordinator and instructor of our lower-division courses;
as CS Faculty GSI Advisor; and as instructor of our courses CS 301 ("Teaching
Techniques") and CS 302 ("Designing CS Education"). I want
my GSIs to think constantly about how to improve their teaching. My mentoring
philosophy can be summed up in a few aphorisms:
- "Question authority."
I try hard to foster a dialog with my GSIs about my teaching-related
decisions, for example, my rationale for topic coverage and sequence,
course organization, or choice of activities. In responding to probes
about the reasons for my decisions, I make my thinking explicit to GSIs.
My hope is that they too, when organizing their own courses, will examine
their decisions, consider alternatives, and in general not just teach
their courses the way they were done twenty times before.
In CS 302, where participants
invent their own courses, we focus almost completely on course design
decisions. In class discussions, we query each other about content
difficulties, choice of homework exercises, exam problems, textbook,
and grading policies, and ways to enhance participants' own mentorship
of GSIs.
- "Leave no stone unturned."
In CS 301 and as instructor of large lecture courses, I encourage GSIs
to experiment with nonstandard ways of running their sections. My CS
301 offerings include an assignment done in groups, where the GSIs design
a class activity that minimizes information that they tell the students
in favor of information that students are to figure out on their own.
In class, we discuss pros and cons of other alternatives to lecture:
collaborations, brainstorming, question-driven sessions, lab-like problem
solving sessions, and role playing.
The students themselves
may be viewed as "stones" to turn. I encourage my GSIs to
probe wrong answers to diagnose underlying student misunderstandings.
(Much educational research on misconceptions is based on exactly that
kind of probing.)
- "Know thyself."
A good teacher recognizes personal strengths and weaknesses, and learns
from experience. I try to help GSIs do this effectively. In class, they
are encouraged to solicit feedback from students. In CS 301, they provide
and receive feedback from peers, and keep journals about how section
went each week. Ideally, they will learn what they're good at and where
they need improvement, and will be able to choose teaching methods in
their own courses that make best use of their strengths.
Finally, I try to communicate
my own enjoyment of teaching. I can't think of any job I'd be happier
doing, and I hope some of my enthusiasm is contagious.
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