Grad 6100 : Reflections

"Reflection" about teaching in general brings back a little bit of the question - What is the purpose of teaching and why do I want to teach in the first place? Apart from the multitude of questions that exist about teaching and the prevalent methods I would probably like to concentrate more on the thought that wants me to be a part of this noble bond that many share across the world.

The first reason for me is probably hereditary, if you believe in such things. Both my parents were professors in physics. Ever since I could count I have been helping my parents cross check the additions in their students exam paper total marks tally.

Apart from the heritage, I believe I definitely have a trait that likes to help people. Not help them from a distance, but to get up, "close and personal" and help them as equals, and in the process help myself. In fact, on second thoughts it seems "assist" is a better word for what I want to do - assist people pursue their dreams by imparting knowledge, information and understanding. And that is what teaching is all about. But like everything else, there is an effective and a not so effective way of going about achieving this goal.
The best way to answer that question is to draw upon my own experiences as a student and think about all the excellent professors I have studied with, and try to guess what it is about them that set them apart from their not so illustrious counterparts. Let's break up these into:

1. Knowledge and Content

2. Organisation

3. Delivery

4. Approachability

5. Fairness

6. Personality
The first session at this course allowed me a glimpse of all the above that we are trying to achieve. Even though I was unable to attend the seminar sessions at the beginning of this course the one hour lecture brought to light where we can help the community as Teaching Assistants basing our skills on the mentioned counterparts.