Finally, I have updated the pdf downloadable files for my publications and CV and my pages reflect my current occupation. I have also made some minor changes to some of the pages, mostly cosmetic.
Tag: teaching
Impressions from my teaching duties at McGill
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.
Midterms and oral reports
Midterm corrections are in full swing and finally I have to work weekends in order to get everything done in time. Not a pleasant thing to do given the gorgeous fall outside – mild temperatures and beautiful colours (it is Quebec after all!). Alas, marks have to be ready before the drop date (last day, when students can discontinue a course)! Additionally, oral reports for 3 lab experiments in Analytical Chemistry III have started and although I find these oral discussions extremely useful they are also taking up a good part of my time.
Midterm preparations
The first round of exams is not far away and I am busy preparing. In addition I gave a supplemental exam for CHEM-218 (Analytical Chemistry II) for students, who took the course back in the Winter term. The first assignments are done too and grading was nor too difficult, nor too long. That gives me hope that I will finish grading for the midterms in due time.Â
Departmental and graduate student seminars are a welcome break from the routine – I get a good overview what kind of research  is done in the department and new input from external speakers. After all I keep on doing research.
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 …
“The battlefield of higher education”
… as a colleague of mine put it – my first week of teaching is over and although I was fairly exhausted on Friday, it has been a lot of fun. Things have been off to a good start and I feel a lot more relaxed than last January. The framework for the courses I teach is established and I hope that I have made students interested by presenting some of my own work from the Arctic last year.
On a related note – I have submitted the revisions to STOTEN after a major rework of the manuscript. Although the suggested changes were rather minor, re-reading the text and checking some of the discussion caused us (i.e. the authors) to clarify some things even more than the reviewers had originally requested. We want to deliver a good paper and we think that the revised version is a significant improvement. I have also submitted 2 abstract to this year’s AGU fall meeting in San Francisco for Dec 2007, although I am not sure, if I will be able to attend with the exams happening at the same time.
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).