Tuesday, November 18, 2008
First Day of Class
I've been a blog slacker. So spank me.
Last Friday's first day of class went pretty well. I had over 20 students show up, which wasn't bad since the original class list showed only 13. The students have 2 weeks to add and drop courses so many of them were coming to check this out.
Earlier in the week a student had come by to chat with me about the course. It seems people were wondering about it and nobody knew anything about me, so he was basically elected to come find out my background and report back. Apparently my bio never made it onto the school's website. I subsequently added it to the class website.
So yeah, I got a big crowd, and though I lost a few during breaks in the class I still had a bunch when we were done. They are quite a mix...I'm not the oldest one in the room, that honor goes to a guy from Pakistan. I also have a Saudi, four or five Filipinos, two Indonesians, a Sri Lankan, a Canadian (thank goodness, at least one more Western perspective), a Chinese guy, quite a few Malaysians, and of course some Singaporeans, including 2 lawyers, so of course that will be fun.
Since then I've talked with with a few students and it seems like many are planning to stick with it. As one guy told me, "you're more entertaining than our other professors." Not exactly the scholarly praise I was hoping for, but I guess I'll take it.
They got engaged in the class, which was good, but I'm going to need to watch a couple of the guys near the front who want to talk a little too much. Perhaps I'll move around the room more and get to the folks in the back. I didn't cover everything I wanted, which is not unusual for me, so I'll need to watch my time management.
A couple guys came to talk to me today and said a lot of people are concerned that the class seems more demanding than many others. Most professors seem to just want them to memorize and then replicate on the exams. As one guy put it, "we Singaporeans are practical...we just want to do what it takes to complete the course." While I tried to be sympathetic, I also pointed out that if Singapore wants to compete in the world with countries like, you know, the US, Canada, Britain, France, then maybe, just maybe, the time has come to get rid of the "just do enough" mentality. When he told me that, I pretty much lost my concern for him, and to be honest, if he chooses not to stay in the course, that's probably OK.
That afternoon the school held a panel discussion on the US elections the previous week and i was pretty much the featured expert, which was an intriguing role, and it also provided most of the faculty their first look at me. And there were reporters there. But hey, no pressure, right? Anyway, it seemed to go well, and I demonstrated I'm willing to give a straight answer to a straight question, which means folks would do well to dispense with their rhetoric and really focus on facts if they wan to have a meaningful discussion with me. Yeah.
Last Friday's first day of class went pretty well. I had over 20 students show up, which wasn't bad since the original class list showed only 13. The students have 2 weeks to add and drop courses so many of them were coming to check this out.
Earlier in the week a student had come by to chat with me about the course. It seems people were wondering about it and nobody knew anything about me, so he was basically elected to come find out my background and report back. Apparently my bio never made it onto the school's website. I subsequently added it to the class website.
So yeah, I got a big crowd, and though I lost a few during breaks in the class I still had a bunch when we were done. They are quite a mix...I'm not the oldest one in the room, that honor goes to a guy from Pakistan. I also have a Saudi, four or five Filipinos, two Indonesians, a Sri Lankan, a Canadian (thank goodness, at least one more Western perspective), a Chinese guy, quite a few Malaysians, and of course some Singaporeans, including 2 lawyers, so of course that will be fun.
Since then I've talked with with a few students and it seems like many are planning to stick with it. As one guy told me, "you're more entertaining than our other professors." Not exactly the scholarly praise I was hoping for, but I guess I'll take it.
They got engaged in the class, which was good, but I'm going to need to watch a couple of the guys near the front who want to talk a little too much. Perhaps I'll move around the room more and get to the folks in the back. I didn't cover everything I wanted, which is not unusual for me, so I'll need to watch my time management.
A couple guys came to talk to me today and said a lot of people are concerned that the class seems more demanding than many others. Most professors seem to just want them to memorize and then replicate on the exams. As one guy put it, "we Singaporeans are practical...we just want to do what it takes to complete the course." While I tried to be sympathetic, I also pointed out that if Singapore wants to compete in the world with countries like, you know, the US, Canada, Britain, France, then maybe, just maybe, the time has come to get rid of the "just do enough" mentality. When he told me that, I pretty much lost my concern for him, and to be honest, if he chooses not to stay in the course, that's probably OK.
That afternoon the school held a panel discussion on the US elections the previous week and i was pretty much the featured expert, which was an intriguing role, and it also provided most of the faculty their first look at me. And there were reporters there. But hey, no pressure, right? Anyway, it seemed to go well, and I demonstrated I'm willing to give a straight answer to a straight question, which means folks would do well to dispense with their rhetoric and really focus on facts if they wan to have a meaningful discussion with me. Yeah.
Labels: Teaching
