Accommodating different learning styles in (traditional) lectures

Now that I finished my first semester of teaching, I've been breaking my head on one question that keeps coming back to my mind, and that's the following:

I realize there are as many learning styles as there are students in a lecture room. How can we accommodate this, and how can a traditional-style lecture cater to different learning styles?

As I recently read an article about reasons why traditional lectures are awful, I was even more wondering what we can do to make use of our classroom time in an effective way for students - and that only boils down to the question: how can we make sure students actually learn something in the classroom, regardless of all the different learning styles out there.

An answer I can't provide. I never learned much in a lecture room myself, and if I don't take the book of abstracts and/or proceedings to conference lectures, my attention might drift off as well. My learning style is simple: sit in quiet with a book and work through the information myself. I skipped many lectures in university because I preferred to study by myself.

Now that I am teaching, I am trying to find ways to increase the return on investment for students in my classes - but I haven't got much farther than using the occasional video and showing calculation examples.

Probably I should follow this post up with a Twitter chat with some more experienced lecturers.
If you have any suggestions, do let me know!

Passing the Peak Moment of the Semester

I recently wrote about how I am struggling with my schedule during my first semester of teaching. All those journal papers that I was going to churn out quickly from my dissertation - don't ask me about them!

But the tides are turning. The peak moment of the semester seems to be beyond me, and things start to look a little more manageable now. I needed a lot of time to prepare my lecture notes. Generally, I need 4 hours of preparation time for an hour of lecture. For the Reinforced Concrete design classes, I can sometimes make it in 1,5 hours to 2 hours, but for Pavements, a course that is slightly outside of my field of expertise, I need more time to look for extra material. I just don't have that many books and stories readily available for that class.

I'm still trying to get all my paperwork under control. I still need to get my local driver's license. I am still familiarizing myself with the procedure of the new university. I still need to find out from which stores to find certain things (becoming rather urgent: finding who can import the eye contacts that I wear - I have a large correction so these contacts are typically not readily available).

Moving countries always induces culture shock as well. I'm still going through that whole process, and there are days that I longingly look for a light-blue KLM plane in the sky and secretly wish they could take me "home". And other days I enjoy the pleasant climate, smile at the abundance of produce in my home-delivered box of organic fruit and veggies, realize how fortunate I am to be hired at the same institution as my husband, and think that I landed in the perfect spot at the perfect time.

Now that my proposal for the first stage of the laboratory is in the hands of the People With The Money and my class notes are prepared, I finally can get back to what I enjoy doing most - my own research.

Grading takes time, but I'm approaching it more and more in efficient ways. I start to get a feeling of control over the situation.

It took a good number of months, but I'm finally getting back into a good exercise routine. I lost a lot of strength, and 10 minutes on the treadmill feels like running to the end of the world, but at least I am doing something. And yes, exercising give me more energy, exercising helps me sleep more soundly at night, and generally makes me feel better. So it was long overdue that I signed up for the gym.

Admin stuff still takes a tremendous amount of time. I get way more email than when I was a PhD student, and it takes me about an hour every day to weed through it all, reply, and archive the messages that require these actions. Since I'm still relatively new, I still have to make quite a number of trips to the Human Resources office to get documents sorted out. I'm really looking forward to the day that all this admin stuff will be behind me - but I'm afraid that's just part of the deal.

One of the challenges that I am facing as well, is that I get interrupted a lot. While I encourage students to come to my office for whichever doubts or trouble they have, it is not very productive when I switch between cracking a research problem and attending to students. I might over time need to retreat to my home office for a couple of hours a day to do my deep work. One solution has been to go to the office early, at 7am, to use the silent hours for difficult work.

Since I've tried to set a limit to the hours I work on a daily basis, and since I've tried not to work past 6pm (with moderate success), I've noticed some improvements in my self-care routines. I'm not finding a way to fit it all into my days yet, but I've been spending some enjoyable evenings crafting with my sister-in-law, studying a Food Science MOOC, playing Zelda, and cooking experimental dishes. I've also had a few mornings in which I actually woke up before my alarm started ringing.

To conclude, I can say that this has been (and still is!) an awfully busy semester. But I started to get a few projects under control, take more time for myself (it's not like I need to get tenure by the age of 35 or that my life depends on it...) and to take a more relaxed approach to work and life.

Elected as a committee member

Great news to share - not a new publication this time, but I've been invited to become a member of the Concrete Bridges Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

Moreover, my university Universidad San Francisco de Quito made a post and news item about this, which they shared through their social media channels, mailing list and the likes.

Adjunct positions in academia

I recently came across an infographic discussing adjunct professorships. Even though I've been lucky to find a tenure-track position, I do follow a bit the struggles adjunct faculty members are having.

A few side thoughts to this infographic:
1. Doing a PhD does not necessarily mean you are studying to become a professor. There are many career options, in industry and consultancy to just name a few, and saying that only 1 out of 10 PhDs get the job they studied for is wrong.
2. Many adjunct professors see teaching as an additional job, and combine this with consultancy (especially in engineering). So the adjunct salary is often just an extra source of income.


Source: Online-PhD-Programs.org

Workloads in academia

I recently had a short discussion on workloads in academia, after seeing in my ManicTime charts that I had worked 100 hours a few weeks earlier - which pretty much translates to working every waking hour. You can find the Storify of these tweets at the bottom of these posts.

In this discussion, I mentioned that I can keep up this rhythm for just a few weeks, otherwise I will come down with some sickness. In the end, I did get sick 3 weeks later (not sure if you can get a stomach bug from exhaustion, but I know that working and not exercising and sleeping enough sure undermines my immunity system).

To avoid this burn-then-crash scenario, I have now posted a list with my basic self-care rules on my desk. I'm going to try to not do any work after 6pm (except for blogging and studying for fun and reading) - note that I usually start working some time between 7am and 8am, and that I teach over the lunchbreak hours (leaving me without time for a real lunchbreak), so that still leaves me with a good number of hours to work in a day (as of now, I'm very OK with working 60 hours a week).

My other newly imposed self-care rules include at lest 20 minutes of movement per day, daily meditations, and a 9pm curfew for myself, so that I can sleep by 10pm.

Let's see how this goes...

Juggling tasks as a young faculty member

In my previous post, I discussed the biggest challenges that I'm facing currently as a starting faculty member. As always, I turned to Twitter for some advice, and here you can find the Storify of the reactions.

Very useful and honest insights from fellow academics upstream the tenure process.

The first semester of teaching, and my current struggles

Most of the time, I'm broadcasting joyful stories on my blog, sharing what I learned throughout the years as a researcher - few as they may be, I've had my fair number of Euraka moments, which I love to share with my readers.

But at the same time, I value authenticity - in academia, as well as in the web 2.0. People that are walking good news machines look just phony to me.

So today, I want to dedicate a post to the struggles I am encountering in my first semester as an assistant professor.

Sure, I had a few of mitigating circumstances: I have moved countries (and I still am trying to get all my paperwork settled and get the local drivers' license, for example), and I skipped the post-doc and went straight into a faculty position.

Besides that, I am combining two jobs: my part-time research position in Delft with my professorship in Quito - and I want to do great for both institutions.

At USFQ, I'm currently in charge of putting together a laboratory, and teaching 3 new courses, which I'm developing from scratch, with my own examples and material for the most part. And it all takes a lot of time.

I wrote a post about my schedule for this semester earlier. So far, I've been mostly following my weekly template, with the following exceptions:

1. I forgot to schedule time for grading

Grading takes time - and in setting up my weekly template, I only calculated the 4 hours that it takes me to prepare 1 hour of lecture. I didn't calculate in the time it takes me to grade, to put the grades into a digital system, and to write out a detailed solution of the homeworks and midterms to hand back to the students so that they have a full solution of their work. And that, too, takes me more time than I'd imagined.

2. I'm preparing courses on a weekly basis

Instead of preparing my classes the day/night before, I'm currently batching the preparation of classes on a weekly basis. One week I try to prepare a number of classes of one course, and then the next week I go onto the next class. I'm about a month ahead of my lectures at the moment, so I can take the liberty to arrange things a little differently.

3. I have two major research tasks to fit in there

I only scheduled time for my research for Delft, and not for the research I need to do for putting together the laboratory - so I'm still struggling how to balance these 2 research responsibility without dropping the ball on any pending things.

4. I still have more admin stuff coming up than I'd like

I schedule an hour a day for mail/admin stuff, but I end up running around and trying to get things arranged more often than I'd like. Since I still don't have a computer in my office, and have been on and off the possibility of printing from my laptop, most of the time, I have to bring files to the copycenter to get my prints - and that takes time to get there, time to wait there - very often 20 minutes in total.

5. I find it hard to switch tasks during the day

Even though I do well on working in shorter chunks, I tend to start lagging behind my schedule as the day progresses. I find it hard to cut off one task (for example, writing a paper), and then move to my next task on my schedule (for example, preparing class). Especially when I get engrossed in a task, I tend to lose track of time, and need to either move things around in my schedule or (very often) just work later into the evening.

Give these challenges in my schedule, I've been having a hard time juggling all the tasks I have at hand, and a few tasks are balls that I've been dropping too often instead of keeping them in the air:

1. Replying emails

I don't consider replying email as an important task, but I tend to let messages bulk up into my inbox without getting back to people in a timely fashion. As I start to lag behind on my schedule during the day, I often give up on my allotted time for archiving and replying mails. And too often that is something I end up doing over the weekend - say, on a Saturday night.

2. Keeping in touch with my family

Not enough Skype dates with my friends, and not enough calls home. The time difference is one of the factors that make it hard for me to make calls during the day, but I want to keep in touch and I enjoy so much being able to talk a bit of Dutch every now and then.

3. Exercise

I know I'm a big evangelist of living a healthy lifestyle, but I'm currently having a hard time combining everything into my days. I've been practicing yoga from home, but I still haven't signed up for a gym and I haven't pumped iron in months.

4. Self-care

Reading, studying, meditating, playing music, drawing, writing - at the end of my PhD, I had a schedule that worked very well for me, and I managed to find time for my other creative endeavors. But at the moment, I just can't seem to make my schedule work.

5. Sleep

I hate to admit it - but I'm not getting enough sleep, and I'm feeling tired most of the time and progressively tired towards the end of the week. A bit of sleeping in on the weekend is not what I need, and throws off my sleeping schedule more than it does any good in helping me get over the fatigue.

I know the first months in any new job are challenging, and I remember that, when I started my PhD, it took me some time to get my life on the rails. Eventually, things will start working out - but at the moment, I'm just trying to hold my breath until the semester is over.

How was your first semester of teaching? Do you have any good advice for me?

Learning from my Research Experience

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Vijay Thamarai who discusses his research journey, and what he learned to be crucial for carrying out research. Vijay is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering department in SRM University, Chennai, India with research and design-professional interests in Finite Element Analysis, blast engineering, underground infrastructure and translucent concrete. He obtained his Master’s in Structural Engineering from SRM University, Chennai (2013) and Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Anna University, Chennai (2010). His research in blast analysis and design received recognition from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in March 2011. Besides receiving a ‘Best Performance Award’ for academics in M.Tech program, he also received many awards for national level service in scouting. He has published journals on blast resistant design, outrigger frames and pushover analysis and a book titled ‘Modern Heliport Design'. He runs his own structural consultancy firm ‘Trustus Structural Consultancy’ and started an educational foundation for helping the needy and empowering poor people.

My experience in carrying out research began when I was consistently tried to explore different projects in which I can learn more about structural engineering (I decided to choose Structural engineering as my specialization in the second year of my undergraduate studies) and that fire my imagination. During my second year of undergrad I got a chance to watch a movie with my family members and there was a scene in which the heroine dies in a bomb blast. That triggered my desire to design the structures that are resistant against blast load. The very next day, I started collecting journals, books and other articles related to the blast resistant design of structures. I was so excited and started learning with a good level of confidence. My undergrad project and postgraduate thesis are on the analysis and design of blast resistant structures. These research experiences have strengthened my intellectual ability and leadership qualities. I have published several articles, few journals and a book as a postgraduate , which taught me how to effectively convey my thoughts and research to the community.

The topics of my research have varied in structural analysis and design, nonlinear static procedures, strengthening of reinforced concrete members and Translucent Concrete , and the breadth of these topics will facilitate my future research. The common objective I have with my research is to produce a positive impact in society. Before joining the postgraduate course I was working as an Assistant Engineer for Design in an architect firm at Chennai, India. The learning process during the postgraduate pulled my mind out from returning to a corporate office after the course and pushed me in the direction of research. I am currently working as an Assistant Professor in the department of Civil Engineering at SRM University, India (Sri Ramasamy Memorial). Still I am learning and working towards joining a Ph.D program. My thoughts are widespread with different problem statements, selection of universities and funding. So, I am now in a stage of exploring various Ph.D opportunities. Let me share something I learned during my past years of research.

First of all, there is no recipe for good research. Some students expect or hope to be provided with step-by-step instructions or guidelines on how to find or tackle problems. Research is all about thinking, thinking and thinking again. Never hesitate to throw your mind at anything. Before looking up a book or paper, before asking anyone, think. Never be lazy about thinking. That's how you build up understanding and develop a bag of useful techniques. Thinking is fun.

In a second step, you will work on the idea that functions as a benchmark for your research. You pick up how research is done by seeing examples and extrapolating. Attending conferences, reading journal papers, and discussions with your advisor or peers are great sources of research material. Learn how to write a paper by looking at other papers. Make analogies. When you see a new problem, ask yourself which questions were asked previously and use that to ask questions about your new problem. Don't be narrow or concentrate only on your particular problem. Learn things from all over your field, and beyond. The facts, methods, and insights from elsewhere will be much more useful than you might realize, possibly in your thesis, and most definitely afterwards. Being broad is a good way of learning to develop interesting questions.

The third point is understanding your research question. It is more important to understand deeply what you know than to know a lot. Successful research comes from having a good understanding, especially of the basics. When you read a research paper, ask yourself questions. Understanding means the ability to go beyond the immediate. It means knowing not just what the item in question is, but how it fits into a larger context, what are its variants, and what happens if you perturb it one way or another. I follow the quote, “Know something about everything and everything about something”. Knowing everything about something will empower you on the research part you have chosen and will lead you to reach milestones.

The fourth and most important point is ‘Time’. How people allocate research time varies enormously, not only from person to person, but, for a given person, from week to week or quarter to quarter. Some people work on an inspiration or deadline basis, sometimes putting in long hours, then doing nothing for a few days. Others maintain a steady schedule, coming to the lab at a certain time in the morning and leaving a certain time in the evening. Neither is right or wrong or better or worse; it is a question of finding what works best for you.
I always look for long-term productivity. A successful researcher should display some degree of productivity and progress over the course of a reasonably long period, like a summer, a quarter, or more typically, a year. This would include signs of increased understanding, confidence and maturity, and some visible output or deliverable, like a complete paper.

Self-confidence comes next to time as an important asset as a fifth element. Self-confidence affects our performance and success in all walks of life, from sports to socializing to dating. It plays a role in research too. Lack of self-confidence leads to disinclination of work. Fear of failure leads to inactivity. People freeze up because they are so worried they aren't good enough. If this sounds familiar, at least you know you are not alone. Increasing your self-confidence is very much a personal issue, but here are some reflections from my experience. You can find confidence only within yourself. Don't expect to get it from others. Someone telling you that you did well is useful to boost morale, but in the end you must believe in yourself.

If you are afraid of failure you will have a hard time succeeding. You have to fall a few times to learn to skate or ride a bicycle. Research is worse. Once you learn to ride a bicycle you don't fall again, but in research you never stop failing. Failures increase your understanding and maturity. If you find the process of research fun, failure to solve a problem is not daunting. In fact, it leads to all kinds of discoveries. You should feel proud, because you are a problem-solver. One nice thing about research is that nobody needs to know when you failed. You write papers only about your successes. But that is also deceptive, because you don't see the failures of others. But they are there. Even the top people don't always succeed. Gauss failed sometimes, as did Einstein.

Scheduling class preparation time

As I've started my new job at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, I got 3 courses assigned to teach in the Spring semester. Three new courses to teach means three new courses to prepare - which initially sounded like a ton of work to me.

For reference, the first lecture I ever taught took me roughly 30 hours to prepare. No way I can spend 15 hours per hour of class when I'm teaching 9 hours of class per week...

To figure out how much time I should schedule, and get a realistic idea of what to expect next semester, I turned to the Biggest Oracle of our World aka the internet.

First of all, I stumbled upon this great resource from University of Chicago on preparing to teach. This document takes you step-by-step through the process of preparing a new course: from the moment you put your syllabus together to the actual delivery of your class.

Then, I found that the American Faculty Association discusses the topic of class preparation time very directly. They give 2 to 4 hours of preparation time as a rule of thumb. My planning is happy with getting a real estimate of the required time.

I also learned (not really to my surprise) that, as with everything, there is a law of diminishing returns for class preparation time. The more time you plan to spend preparing, the more time it will take up. We know that from PhD research too. The guideline from this resource is "Two hours for new lectures and half an hour for lectures you've given before is a good guideline". The authors of the article suggest a "mean and lean" approach to preparing for your class - and I am planning to follow this approach.

Finally, I turned to Twitter to get advice from more experienced lecturers. Many times, 4 hours of preparation for a new class is coming up. The Storify of this discussion is here at the bottom of this post.

In conclusion: I'm scheduling 4 hours of preparation per class. As suggested in the "mean and lean" approach, I am subdividing that into the following activities:
45 minutes to read the class material
45 minutes to distill all important information
15 minutes to outline the class hour
45 minutes to construct the argument around the "what if" question
45 minutes to prepare an example and possible homework
45 minutes right before class to make some slides with figures that are complicated to draw on the blackboard, or pictures from practice, and to revise all material.