Teaching reection

Huw Colin York

February 27, 2014
As part of the DTC teaching module, I was asked to demonstrate
during the rst week of the Introduction to Mathematics course held at
the DTC. This is an intensive course aimed at rst year DPhil students
coming from non-mathematical backgrounds, with the majority having
done undergraduate degrees in the life sciences. The course aims to take
the students from relatively basic concepts, such as logarithms, towards
solving partial dierential equations by the end of the second week. This
is an intensive schedule, eectively packing a year of mathematical train-
ing into the space of two weeks. The course consisted of two lectures
per day, with each lecture followed by a problem solving session. During
this session the student would work through a problem set based on the
preceding lecture aided by two or three demonstrators.
Before starting my demonstration sessions, I took some time to con-
sider my approach. I found it helpful to reect on my own experiences of
being taught mathematics for the rst time. For those who do not come
from a mathematical background, being introduced to the subject at the
postgraduate level is probably a daunting prospect. At any level, the ab-
stract nature of mathematics coupled with the formalisms and symbols
that must be adopted makes it a dicult subject to get to grips with.
One must learn in a similar way to any new language, requiring practice,
patience and perseverance to reach a level of uency.
Every student learns in a dierent way, thus adopting a general strat-
egy seemed awed. I believe the best teachers are those who are most
adept at perceiving how each student learns individually and adapting
their style to suit each student. This is of course dicult over such a
short period of time, but I was interested in observing just how dierent
the learning styles were amongst the students.
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To ensure that students found me approachable, I made a point of
introducing myself to the group as a whole at the beginning of the session.
I decided on making regular visits to each table, allowing me to keep
track of any progress and to allow the students to ask me any questions.
Between visits I would circulate the room, ensuring the students could
nd me easily.
On starting the demonstration session, the students divided into small
groups of around ve, each occupying their own table. This seating plan
seemed to encourage the students to cooperate on the problems and
provided an approachable environment for the demonstrators i.e. the
demonstrators were not forced to ask each student in turn how they
were progressing but could instead address the group, leading to more
open discussions of any problems individuals may have been having.
The prospect of solving a problem alone can be quite daunting, es-
pecially when you are perhaps surrounded by students that seem to
be breezing through something you cant get your head around. The
temptation is to try and keep up with the group, neglecting your own
misunderstanding. I was keen to keep an eye out for students in this
predicament. The nature of the seating meant this was actually a fairly
rare occurrence, with the majority of the students working through the
problems as a group or in pairs.
It became clear early on in the session that there was a considerable
range of mathematical experience within the group. One group seemed
very happy to continue the work alone, not requiring any input from
myself or any of the other demonstrators. On the other hand, some
groups required more attention. The group in question contained solely
biologists, neither of whom had studied mathematics since A-level. One
student within this group showed a particular lack of condence. On
completion of the preceding lecture the student was reduced to tears.
This response was probably just an exaggerated expression of the feelings
most students have, including myself, after being exposed to new and
foreign abstract ideas. When tackling the problem set, the same student
was initially overwhelmed by the questions, resigning herself to thinking
they were too hard. This feeling is of course common, and condence
must be instilled in the student in order to overcome it. This is clearly not
something which can be completely overcome within a two hour session
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but this student showed that crucial progress can be made. Having sat
and worked through the rst few problems with the student and the
group, she eventually gained a little condence and began to tackle the
problems unaided. Reecting on this, it may have been good to encourage
the students to arrange themselves in groups that would have a balance
of mathematical ability, where more experienced students could oer
guidance to others.
When working through a problem with a student, I found it useful to
then prompt them to explain how they would approach the next prob-
lem. This was a good opportunity for myself and the student to test
their understanding. Making regular visits to the table also gave me an
impression of which questions the group as a whole was having diculty
with. If a particular question was proving dicult for a good portion
of the students then I and the other demonstrators made an eort to
explain the problem on a white board to the whole room.
On the whole I found the experience of teaching enjoyable and re-
warding. I believe my approach was generally successful, as the students
made good progress and seemed to really engage with the subject. Teach-
ing at this level requires that you have an intimate knowledge of the
subject, giving you the exibility to see the problem from the students
point of view, something that can only come from experience. Whilst
it is important to consider your own experiences of learning the subject,
this experience has given me an enhanced appreciation of the diversity
of styles in which students learn, a lesson I will take forward into any
further teaching.
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