For the past couple of years, I taught Introduction to Library Science at St. John’s University School of Information and Library Science. Reflecting on my experience, I thought that I would list some pointers that will be helpful for those teaching graduate students for the first time.
- Always respect the students
- If the class is two hours long, make sure you have three hours worth of material
- Communicate in the first class what the students can expect in terms of coursework, your grading rubric and assignments
- Teach the class from an academic and work point of review. I did that and the students got a lot out of it. (Bring in professionals who work in the field that you are teaching about. For ex: Teaching about Taxonomy, bring in a Taxonomist)
- Expect some students to be unhappy about their grade. When they complain, listen to them and make the decision accordingly
- Make the assignments fun and interesting. If there are group assignments, make the groups have catchy names. (It does work)
- Do not be afraid to say the following
- I do not know
- That is a great question and I will have an answer for you in the next class
- When a question is asked, instead of you answering the question, punt the question to the class and have them answer the question. This fosters class participation
- For each class, try to see if there is an article or some event that happened in the past week that can be used as an example for what you are trying to teach
- Any time that a projector or laptop is needed, make sure that IT knows and there are no technology issues. Nothing bores a class more when the professor is trying to use a laptop and it does not work
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