Best practices for adjunct professor totally new to academia?

July 7, 2022 6:55 AM

I'm looking for guides, articles, anecdotes, etc. on best practices for an adjunct professor who is totally new to academia. Personal experience can be as a professor yourself or as a student - and can be something very small that you found great, or broader tips for what makes an engaging classroom experience.

For background, I've been asked by a university's department head to give a weekly course/lecture related to the field where I currently work. I have many years of experience in that field so coming up with material and explaining it to the students won't be an issue. But I have zero experience in academia, and it's been many years since I've sat in a classroom as a student (and didn't pay much attention to things I preferred from a professor) - so I'm looking for anything and everything as it relates to what I can do to be a great teacher.

posted by NorthCoastRiver to Education (15 answers total)

Don't spend the whole time lecturing. Structure the class in such a way that the students are fully engaged active learners. Like you said, you didn't pay much attention back when you were a student.

Check out flipped teaching/learning.

Consider creating a seating chart as you go do roll call and asking your students if they would please sit in those same spots for the first few classes until you've learned their names. I could also be that your course management system includes photos. Are you familiar with course management systems? If you're not, find out which one the university uses and sign up for any quick overview they offer.

Will your students be writing research papers or giving research based presentations? If so, find out if the library has a subject specialist librarian and/or a library research guide for your discipline and add links to the librarian and the guide on your course page.

Have fun, be real, and ask colleagues for help when you need it. If you don't know the answer to a question your students ask be honest.
posted by mareli at 7:25 AM on July 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Sorry that this isn't specific advice, but I've taught at very different institutions, which has made me conclude that there is no such thing as universally good teaching. What works for one set of students will flop for a different set of students. So, the first thing you should do is ask the department head to tell you about the students, and proceed from there.

That said, if there is one universal, it's that students do better when a course contains different types of learning. So, a bit of lecture, a bit of group work, a bit of multimedia, a bit of discussion, etc.
posted by coffeecat at 7:26 AM on July 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

I found the book Tools for Teaching extremely helpful when I was a graduate student teaching college courses for the first time, and I continued to apply what I'd learned during a year teaching at a community college.
posted by Fuego at 7:38 AM on July 7, 2022

Universities tend to ask a lot of adjunct faculty with no extra compensation. Be careful with your time.

I managed Tech Support at a University. There's probably online learning software like Blackboard; find out what it is, see if there's support. It's useful for storing documents, posting assignments, collecting work (timestamped). It should have an online meeting space. it could be a great resource. You'll have some web space; find out what tools are available to use it. Post office hours, even if your office is a corner table in the cafeteria. Be clear about time frames; students will want to text a question and get a fast answer; it's reasonable to decide how you will communicate and do that.

The Library and librarians are an excellent resource. The administrative staff for your department will be able to help, too. Ask what the resources are for adjuncts. Dept. admin staff are usually underpaid and overworked. Bring them a $15 gift card (flowers, plant) to the nearest good coffee shop. Bring another one when they help you figure out grade submission, or how to post a test.

Students and their expectations, and learning styles and so much more will have changed a fair bit since you were a student. I don;t have resources on that and would def. look for some.
posted by theora55 at 7:41 AM on July 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Ask this question in

r/AskAcademia

on reddit. You likely will get a LOT of advice, most of which will be "you are being paid peanuts, do the bare minimum". Which is understandable.

If we don't know the field or student level, specific advice is going to be limited....
posted by lalochezia at 7:44 AM on July 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Can you sit in on a few of your colleagues' teaching sessions? Your department may well encourage you to do teaching observation anyway, but I've always found it a really good way to get up to speed with what your students are expecting to see, and get some hints about what does and doesn't work in your context.

If you're doing activities that require you to speak to a group of students (lectures, tutorials, etc.), make sure that you can be heard clearly throughout the room without needing to raise your voice - it's less stressful for the students and won't leave you with a sore throat for the rest of the day. Use the PA system if you've got one.

Any students you're teaching this year have been through 2+ years of disrupted teaching already. Give them the benefit of the doubt where you can, and find out ahead of time who to direct them to if they need more support.
posted by offog at 7:51 AM on July 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Make a really good syllabus and stick to it. Students feel betrayed (often justly) if you don't preset clear description of the course and expectations, or if you say you will do one thing, then do another.

Try to have fun with it; be happy to be there and interested in the material. Students sense your attitude and will pick up on it.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:42 AM on July 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

In addition to the above advice about diversifying teaching styles and learning to use the LMS, get a syllabus from someone who has taught that or a similar class recently to get an idea of expectations in that particular department for things like number/type of assignments, number of exams, participation points or no, etc. These things vary widely between universities and even between departments within the same university.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:46 AM on July 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I asked to watch Zoom recordings (being done due to COVID anyway, and FERPA-okay because legitimate educational interest) of classes run by professors with strong reputations in teaching. That was the most helpful thing I did. But also, I had a good chat with a tenured professor who said look, we understand what we’re buying with adjuncts and accept the risk that your day job might present demands that make the class less than optimal. Expectations are not the same as for regular faculty so do a good job but don’t kill yourself.
posted by HotToddy at 9:55 AM on July 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

You likely will get a LOT of advice, most of which will be "you are being paid peanuts, do the bare minimum". Which is understandable.

The more complex answer is that if you're doing this for the money, you should almost certainly do something else instead and should be laser-focused on doing what is absolutely necessary and no more.

But if you already have an external career going well, you're probably not doing this for the money. In which case, you're doing it ultimately for your own satisfaction, like any other what's-effectively-a-hobby. So, do things that satisfy you. Others have already posted advice about what constitutes good teaching, but you should more directly be focused on being the kind of teacher that you want to be and that fits with your psychology.

Don't try to force your square peg into a round hole because the round hole is "best." Do what works for you, what makes you comfortable, what makes you feel good about being in the room presenting info or leading discussion. Keep it a hobby you enjoy. Most people don't enjoy grading, so most people in your position shouldn't assign more than a bare minimum of graded work.

If they want you to do something else or be someone in class that's difficult or unenjoyable for you to be, congratulations! That's a job, not a hobby! Remember always that you being in that room is your favor to them, not in any way the other way around, and if they don't like what you're doing in the classroom then you can just shrug and pick up a different hobby you actually enjoy instead.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:10 AM on July 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

If your students are undergraduates, there are two things I try to impress on grad students new to teaching.

First, it's not about you. They're going to be disappointed and angry and whatever, and they're going to say mean things about you, especially if you have the temerity to present as nonwhite or female. It's not about you. You're part of a system now and the students are almost always being disappointed or angry or whatever at the system.

Second, they're not like you. This applies more to grad students than career-based adjuncts but still. For grad students, I remind them that they're people who intentionally sought out further instruction in this field because they hope to become professional dorks. Unless you're at a deeply elite school, a clear majority of your undergrads are there because it's an annoying obstacle on the way to a decent job, and that's okay. Most students have almost no investment or real interest in your field and are just checking off boxes, and that's okay. The point being that you should absolutely not ever expect them to respond to something that you care about or that you find interesting or useful like you do, because they're not like you. And it's 100% okay for them not to be.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:17 AM on July 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Your college/university might well have a department whose job it is to teach teachers to teach better- ferret around the intranet and see if you can find it. Also, the library should have some books on college-level teaching (if not, ask them to buy some).

Look up current best practices for accessible learning materials. Things like not having tons of text on each slide and writing very clear step-by-step instructions for activities help students with SpLDs, students with lower levels of English, and also every student in the room (in fact have a look at UDL [Universal Design for Learning] stuff, now I think of it).
posted by Shark Hat at 10:46 AM on July 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I have both studied and taught university didactics aside from my main field. Then these past two semesters I have been sitting in on more colleagues' classes than in the past 33 years in which I have taught at different levels. So it is from this new perspective I write:

Be present and be prepared -- you may feel this is obvious, but I can assure you it isn't. And this is because many very smart people are not prepared for actual the situation in which they should be present. They are in the room with their decades of accumulated wisdom, but they are not in the room with the students and meeting them at their level. Some tips for this are:

Do not stand with your back to the class more than it is absolutely necessary -- look at the students when you talk, and look all over the class

Do not read out what it says on the slides -- your students are perhaps not as smart as you are, but they are smart enough to read what it says on the slides, and then they are demotivated by you reading out loud. Use the slides for diagrams, formulas, or other illustrations that are relevant, and for brief notes they can use as reminders later

Understand their level as it is relevant for your course, and not only which courses they have taken. If you are teaching super-light constructions to a class that has barely passed structural engineering 1 with a median grade of D, you are not going to reach them with a very high level presentation on day one. (This is based on a true story ;-)) But you can actually coax them into reopening those textbooks they failed at reading if you gradually bring them into the material from your unique specialist perspective

Examples of real life uses for the theory are great at that, so as an adjunct professor, you are already a step ahead here. Use it to your advantage. Show examples and tell about them

Be very, very clear that questions are welcome and cannot be stupid. You will perhaps get questions that are not directly about your course. Do not mind this. I remember minding, and bitching about my colleagues who hadn't done their job. Don't do that

Do not ever never make more assignments or longer assignments than you can handle. Be completely honest with yourself about this. Can you read and comment on 2000 pages in the second week of October? If not, don't make that assignment. When you make assignments, give feedback, unless there is a meaningful reason not to, and in that case explain it clearly

Be honest and clear with your feedback. Students are really bad at reading/hearing advice if it is not clearly stated.

Be very clear about the learning objectives and organize classroom evaluations before any exams about them. If possible, base your students evaluations/ exam questions on the learning objective, not the test scores (I know this is not possible in all subjects).
For example:

"in this class you will learn about daylight in spaces, including how to plan it, predict it, model it and measure it. You will listen to lectures, get theoretical handouts and build virtual and physical models of buildings, then we will compare your results to the actual buildings. The learning objective is not to solve the problems perfectly but to understand the theories, methods and tools and their qualities and shortcomings".

The exam is in week 10 of the course. In week 8, there is a classroom evaluation, where you ask what they have learnt, and which elements of the course contributed to that learning. It's always nice to evaluate and improve your course, but the real purpose of this, and the reason it has to be in class, is that it enhances peer learning, which might be the best learning . The students will be able to improve their individual results and learning. But you will also improve your teaching

Make your lectures a realistic length. Know that only very few humans can listen to a lecture for more than an hour and actually learn anything.

This will depend on the course structure at your university. We have 13 weeks of weekly classes of four hours (and some variations, but this is the basic structure). If I can, I prefer those classes to have a 45 minute lecture, a break, and then 3 hours of group assignments in group sizes where I am certain I, or my TA can give in-class feedback to every group. Realistically, I often have to give two lectures, and then I have to adjust the group sizes or the lengths of the assignments (so I can be sure to give feedback within two or three weeks).
Once I taught a class of 10 grad students at an elite university, that was a whole different thing. If that is what you are going to do, still don't make long lectures, but perhaps think more like a seminar structure where you make sure every student contributes.

Don't create more work for yourself that you can handle. This is so important. I have a couple of absolutely brilliant colleagues who the students should feel honored to meet, but who often promise more than they can deliver. I've been that person. It never fails to create angry and worried students. I learnt not to from my students, which brings me to the last point, which is perhaps also the first one:

Listen to the students. There is a lot they don't know, but they do know if you are there for them.
posted by mumimor at 12:29 PM on July 7, 2022 [6 favorites]

COVID did a lot of harm to students, in terms of direct trauma, as well as incomplete or missing learning about "how to college". Talk to colleagues in the department about this if you can.

For example I was teaching a class of largely graduating seniors, and I asked the class how being on campus was different now. One of my students raised his hand and replied "How can I answer that, this is my first semester on campus!" - he had transfered in as a sophomore from a 2 year college, landing in our 4 year college at the start of COVID times, and then had entirely online classes until the very last semester.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 4:46 PM on July 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Some great advice above. Particular points to add:

Do a lecture zero, right at the start to introduce yourself, set out the syllabus (lecture headers is fine) and maybe mention structure (eg I teach a module which introduces a bunch of stuff and only starts building it together once we're 40% of the way in). Tell them the modes of assessment and due dates if possible. Maybe work through the learning outcomes.

You know more than them, way more! So no need to get worried about standing up front.

My feedback often emphasizes my passion for the topic. Guess what? I fake it! I can do this as I know more than them (see above) and because once I'm in the classroom I commit to being in the classroom. An hour is an hour whether you are focussing on getting your message across or watching the clock, so engage!

Use lots of pictures in your slides. It will show up in your feedback if you use walls of text. As others mention don't read off the slides. Unless you want to watch people shut down in real time.

Try and break up straight lectures with questions etc, this can be old school show of hands or shouting out but there are loads of good tools to get better engagement.
posted by biffa at 3:52 AM on July 8, 2022