and I am a bit sad that things have come to an end for this fall. Exams are ahead and I will hold extended office hours for student questions. I have posted some more material for both courses I currently teach, including sets of problems to solve and sample final exams. I am a bit skeptical about sample finals – for the moment I continue to provide them, because students ask me. Although they provide the structure of the final (with regard to length and level of difficulty), they also provide a false sense of security, because the material covered in the sample final will not necessarily show up this way in the final (if even!). So doing well in the sample final does not mean that a student will be doing well on the final … anyway – I will monitor the situation closely 😉 before making a final decision!
Category: teaching
News about my teaching at University – Analytical Chemistry for the most part
Last week of teaching started
… and final exams will be coming soon at the beginning to mid December. I have tons of assignments on my desk to correct, but in general I am confident that everything will go well. Final exams are submitted, so one thing less that I have to worry about. Office hours are busy again with the exams approaching!
A few updates
Now that all exam corrections are done I’ve finally had some time to update my blog software and bring some of the content up-to-date to reflect my new position at Concordia University. Downloads will be updated soon. With some breathing space ahead I will finish preparing my courses and get ready for the last assignments and final exams. The deadline for submission is not far ahead.
Marking is done!
Finally all the marks are out for the midterms and I can again focus on my lecture preparations (my stash of prepared stuff is almost used up – I am really looking forward to CHEM-218 next semester; everything is ready to go, because I taught this course before!). Students are coming in to check their results and discuss their exam. All types are there – those that just want a better mark and don’t care about how they did in detail and those sincerely interested in their errors!I am happy with results for Analytical III, most people did quite well and have a good idea about the course objectives and content. In Introductory Analytical Chemistry, results were less glorious – some students have a severe lack of fundamental general chemistry knowledge, which will require them to study hard for the final, if they would like to pass this course.
A kind of routine is now established …
… after week 2 of teaching is over. I still find the evening lectures on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by the morning lecture on Friday quite exhausting, but things are getting better. Content-wise, I have moved from the introductory sections to the main topics of the course, which for now focuses on statistics. Keeping the more advanced and the basic course apart is not always too easy, when teaching the same subject on different levels, but I am going to move to the discussion of chemical equilibria soon in the introductory course.For now the time that I have available is sufficient – I have enough resources to work on student questions and continue my preparation work. In a few weeks I will start correcting the first assignments …
Ready for next week?!
Teaching starts Wednesday next week and I am ready (actually for quite a bit more). Preparation has gone well so far; although last week I was stuck a bit with administrative details (labs, grading,…) – part of the job and have to be worked out as well.I have given the supplemental exam for my CHEM-218 course as well and 2 out of 5 students showed up. At least it was not in vain that I went for the first hour in case there were any questions.So next Wednesday the madness will start – 200 students, 3 courses … let the fun begin!
Teaching preparations & administration
Most of last week was dedicated to teaching preparations and dealing with administrative requests. I had a few questions from prospective students, if they could take a particular course – if they would struggle or find it easy.It is quite clear that I cannot answer such questions – I can give advice (course content, workload, assignments,…) so that the student can make an informed decision (information that I happily provide). But if a course will be difficult or easy depends on many factors that I do not know – so without a crystal ball I cannot predict, if somebody will pass or not.
Computer up and running
The final task of the week was to get a usable system on my office computer. The old one had Windows 98 installed with an Internet Explorer that had trouble with the companion sites of the books that I use for teaching. Besides, MS does not support Win98 any more and I needed something without gaping security holes.So I opted for Debian and used the netinstall option, because the CD ROM drive would stop during previous attempts (don’t know why). Installation and configuration (including the printer) went smoothly and I am ready to roll on Monday.
Started my new job at Concordia University
Things got off to a good start. My office is ready and I have started being productive again (read: preparing my lectures). I had already moved my stuff from McGill and I brought another box from home, where I have been preparing so far. Everything was set up fairly quickly and I kind of like my office, although it is a windowless one (I hope, I won’t become a caveman).I got an old computer (with a brand new flatscreen, though!) and scavenged a printer, which should suffice for the things that I need to do – preparing handouts, looking for articles, checking the resources for the books I am using and administering the courses.Btw – I have to update my home page too, to have it reflect my new job. Check out my homepage on the departmental website (under faculty).
A week to go …
… of my paternity leave. And I am already sure that I will miss my daughter, when I start working again. But I am also looking forward to more teaching as the lectures are taking shape. The framework is done (including the most important dates – like midterm exam and deadlines for graded assignments). I am making good progress on the contents, although I am not too sure yet, how much time I should allocate for the part that reviews material that students have already heard in CEGEP.I guess I will consult with the previous instructors …