I was a graduate student at Notre Dame from August 2005 through April 2010. During that time, I tried to assume as many teaching responsibilities as I could. They roughly break down into two types of experiences, as a teaching assistant, and as a co-instructor, instructor, or instructor for lab/recitation sections of a course. I did get the unique opportunity to teach my own course while just a third-year graduate student, so I got that awkward "first-time teacher" semester out of the way blessedly early, and have certainly improved since then!
There are two "holes" in my teaching past, according to this list - the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2010. Primarily, this is because there was no available assignment for me to take on in these semesters! There have been other willing co-instructors in the department and the college, and I didn't want to deprive them of their chances to help conduct courses. In the fall of 2008, I picked up the slack by taking the time to contribute more to the Kaneb Center - which paid off, as I was offered a senior position in the center for the 2009-2010 academic year.
All chemical engineering graduate students at Notre Dame are expected to help with undergraduate course work in their first four semesters. While these experiences are relatively minor compared to later positions, they still kept me exposed to the variety of topics covered in the curriculum, and more importantly, connected to various faculty in the department.
Fall 2005: CBE40443, Separation Processes, instructor Ed Maginn. Here I graded some homework assignments, proctored a midterm exam, and helped to grade the final exam.
Spring 2006: CBE31358, Chemical Engineering Laboratory I, instructor Salma Saddawi. As a laboratory supervisor, I was charged with guiding student progress and maintaining equipment for two of the four laboratory experiments.
Fall 2006: CBE40472/60572, Modeling in Ecology and the Environment, instructor Mark Stadtherr. I graded problem sets and held regular office hours, and sometimes provided input to the homework and discussion presentations.
Spring 2007: CBE40448, Chemical Process Design, instructor Mark Stadtherr. I was responsible for writing and grading the homework problem sets and graded the midterm and final exams. I also conducted a few short lectures on the use of computer programs and held regular office hours.
Starting in my third year in the program, I was able to pursue opportunities to co-instruct and instruct courses in the college. So, that one semester of teaching where the goal is to not completely screw up and make sure everyone survives is behind me (I didn't realize that was the goal at the time, but when someone once explained to me that that's actually the unofficial goal of the first semester of teaching, it actually made a lot of sense). Here's a summary of my experiences.
Fall 2007: CBE20255, Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering, primary instructor Mark McCready. I was largely responsible for conducting the two recitation sections for this course and holding regular office hours. I also managed the first-year graduate teaching assistants who served as the graders for this course. I wrote the solutions to all the homework sets and posted them on the course space that I maintained on Concourse. Since I was not formally evaluated in this position, I invented my own evaluation form, which roughly 70% of the class filled out, and received good reviews (available upon request).
Spring 2008: CBE40472/60572, Modeling in Ecology and the Environment, primary instructor Mark Stadtherr. While teaching my own course, I co-instructed this course with my advisor. I was responsible for roughly 1/3 of the class periods, where I conducted homework reviews and topic discussions. I wrote some of the homework sets, the entire final exam, and all of the solutions. I also graded the exams and held office hours for this course.
Spring 2009: CBE40472/60572, Modeling in Ecology and the Environment, primary instructor Mark Stadtherr. This year, I conducted roughly 2/3 of the class sessions, after working with my advisor to adjust the course content and organization. The focus of the course has evolved since I took the class myself as a first-year student, to focus more on the fundamentals of mathematical modeling, answering questions we tend to take for granted - Why are we doing this? How is it being applied? The course included more content on chemical process safety and pollutant-tracking models. I wrote all the homework sets and exams this year, aiming to make problem sets more practical. It was largely successful, though I think I caused the course to lose some technical rigor that should be re-instituted next time the course is offered.
Spring 2009: EG11112, Introduction to Engineering II (learning center sections), primary instructors Kerry Meyers, Leo McWilliams, and Gary Bernstein. The pilot semester of the First-Year Engineering Teaching Apprenticeship Program included three other graduate students and me, each responsible for contributing to the course and conducting two of the twelve sections of associated learning centers (labs). It was an incredibly fulfilling experience working with first-year students of all different backgrounds and intended majors, and it really got me thinking more about teaching and learning styles than ever before. I conducted my sections of the lab, attended all lectures and once gave a short demonstration in class, helped write the exams, and held my own office hours.
Fall 2009: EG11111, Introduction to Engineering I (learning center sections). Following my performance in the spring, I was asked to return to the program for an extra semester. I took advantage of the opportunity to work with another set of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate upperclassmen in this intro course. I also took on the extra role of compiling and editing the final exam and final exam review under the guidance of my faculty mentor.
Fall 2009: CBE20255, Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering, primary instructor Mark McCready. With the enrollment in this course nearly doubling since I last helped instruct it in 2007, I covered two of four recitation sections, working closely with another graduate instructor to keep experiences in the other two sections consistent. I had a much more active role in writing homework assignments and exam problems this year, as well as working to incorporate more material on bioprocesses and recycle systems than has previously been covered in the course. Once again, I created an unofficial feedback form and received positive reviews from my students.