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Teaching: a teacher is quizzed
By The Editor:

This is just part of an extremely wide-ranging discussion, covering maths at Cambridge University, mathematical reading, AI, PhDs, the ethics of war, jokes, teaching and Ramanujan.
The original thread can be found here in its entirety, should you wish to read all 34 pages!

By Hal 2001 (P3046) on Tuesday, October 24, 2000 - 11:22 pm:

Hi Marcus,

Do you enjoy teaching?

Regards
HAL2001

By Marcus Hill (T3280) on Tuesday, October 24, 2000 - 11:53 pm:

I love teaching. Although we all have our bad days, I don't think you'll find many teachers who don't, on the whole, like teaching. If they didn't like it, they'd leave and do something they also didn't like but which paid a third more, which is most other jobs with the possible exception of nursing.

By Hal 2001 (P3046) on Wednesday, October 25, 2000 - 12:52 pm:

From your teaching experience, do you find it more interesting to teach the more able students, or the less able student? The interverted student or extroverted student? What about when pupils don't do as you say, like do their homework? Do you forgive them or get angry? Just interested.

Regards
HAL2K+1

By Olof Sisask (P3033) on Wednesday, October 25, 2000 - 01:27 pm:

I'm also interested to know how different teachers handle difficult situations - if pupils won't do as they say, don't do homework, talk constantly etc.? I suppose the problem varies from school to school, and at different levels of education. I'm not sure if I could handle it if I went into teaching.

Olof.

By Marcus Hill (T3280) on Wednesday, October 25, 2000 - 09:09 pm:

Hal, to answer your teaching questions, I find it most interesting mathematically to teach more able students, since they not infrequently solve a problem in an elegant way which had not occurred to me. However, I find it most gratifying to teach students of any ability when they make progress, and have what Martin Gardner calls that "aha!" moment - that's what teaching is about, whether it's a student who is a better mathematician than I am coming to grips with a complex theorem or a kid with special needs seeing how to work out the mean of a set of numbers.

There are always systems in an institution to maintain discipline and work quality by students, and I tend to stick to those. I don't get angry at students for not doing homework, merely disappointed - they are only harming their own progress. I never let people off when they don't do homework, that would encourage people to not do homework!

By Hal 2001 (P3046) on Thursday, October 26, 2000 - 11:22 am:

Marcus, if you spot unusually high potenial in a student what would you do? a) continue as normal, b) tell the student and set harder work, c) something I haven't put as an option?

I would be interested to know how you would nurture potential in a student so that it does not go to waste.

Regards
HAL2001

By Marcus Hill (T3280) on Monday, October 30, 2000 - 07:52 pm:

Hal, when it comes to very able students, it all depends on the student. In the final analysis, you try what you can to encourage the student to reach his or her potential. In some cases, the student is eager and you need do little more than guide him or her through self motivated study. In other (very disappointing) cases, no amount of persuasion will make the student do more than is needed - the perpetual question is "Do I need to know this to pass my A Level?". The main thing in all cases is to show the student his or her potential and find some material which he or she will enjoy looking into - why have a brilliant student be put off by (say) fluid mechanics when he or she could have been inspired by infinite set theory? (Or the other way round for a different student!)

By Hal 2001 (P3046) on Tuesday, October 31, 2000 - 09:38 pm:

Marcus, thanks for your view. It's very interesting, the way you put it.

Hal