Monday, May 05, 2008

Out-Of-Class Experience

For various reasons, I recently spent a lot of time outside regularly scheduled class time with some of the undergrads in the class I've been teaching. Spending time with undergrads in close proximity to major end-of-term activities such as final exams might not sound enjoyable, and in fact in some cases it is not, but this particular time was fun because I have had a great group of students in my class this term. Sometimes these experiences can be one long "Do we have to know X" (for the test) type conversations, but in the best cases, such as this recent one, the students used the opportunity to ask things that went beyond what they learned in class. I was peppered with questions about how the class material relates to other classes and topics and life and the world and everything. It was very cool.

Providing optional outside-of-class time tends to attract students who are most enthusiastic about a class. Of course, some students can't participate because they have other commitments (work, family, sports). I make sure that those students have other options if they want or need to spend some extra review time with me before their exam. Perhaps it is unfair to provide an opportunity in which not everyone can participate, but so many students benefit from it and seem to enjoy it, that I can't imagine not providing this out-of-class time. I schedule the extra end-of-term time far in advance (in fact, it is on the syllabus), so most students have sufficient warning to adjust their schedule to participate if they wish.

During some of these out-of-class experiences, some students want to chat about topics other than the course material. These conversations range from the kind that convince them that I am from the outer solar system owing to my lack of knowledge of Mainstream Culture (TV, music, video games, sports..), to the intense kind about their hopes and dreams for the future.

For example, I ended up having a long conversation with one student who is a bit older than the others -- a student who already has a degree but ended up in an unsatisfying job and is now going to try again with another degree in a different field of science. I asked her how she had come to her decision to change fields and why she had chosen to switch from Science X to Science Y and how she managed to balance all this with raising her kids. It was fascinating.

This student told me that in her previous job, she sort of liked what she was doing, but she didn't love it. She met people who were truly passionate about their work, and she knew that she was missing something. She always wondered what could make her feel that way about her work, and eventually decided to go back to school and change careers entirely. She said to me "You obviously have it -- a passion for your work. It is obvious every day in class that you love what you are doing."

I don't know exactly what her antennae are picking up on. It's not as if I bound into the classroom every day and say "Hi Students! Let's talk about Cool Science Stuff again today, and by the way, I love my job!". I also don't slouch into class, sigh in a sad and hopeless way, and say "I guess we have to talk about some more of this Science Stuff again today, so let's just get it over with." I am glad, though, that somewhere in the large middle ground between being an in-your-face happy professor and a going-through-the-motions unhappy professor, I somehow convey to at least some of my students that I am passionate about my work.

This student wanted to know how I figured out exactly what I wanted to do. How did I know that this was the right field of science for me, that being a professor was the right job for me, and that being a professor at a research university was the best place for me to be? The answers are, respectively (1) see below; (2) luck, and (3) trial-and-error and luck.

The first question is the easiest to answer: I still remember flipping through a course listing during the fall term of my first year in college and coming across the listing for a certain Science Department. I was not planning to major in any science in college -- I was more interested, I thought, in ancient things (history, literature, languages, culture) -- and was just looking through the catalog to see what other courses I might take. When I came to the page for this particular Science Department, the mythical light bulb went off over my head. It is hard to explain how looking at the name of an academic department in a course catalog can be an intense experience, but it was for me. I went to the college bookstore and bought a textbook for the introductory course in that Science Department, and sat down and started reading it. There have been a few bumps and detours in the road between that moment and where I am now, but that was the start of it for me.

That's how I discovered that I loved this particular Science, but that light bulb flash did not, however, involve the further thought ".. and I want to be a professor at an R1 university." That came later -- much later -- in part by trial-and-error. My student seems to be on a trial-and-error kind of career path as well, although perhaps with more dramatic turns in the path. She says she thinks she has finally found it, though, and from what I can see, she has indeed. In her case, she is going to teach Science at the K-12 level, and it is quite thrilling for me to think that I have helped her in some way on her route to that goal.

In the day or two before this recent out-of-class experience, I must admit that I was feeling some regret for scheduling this time that I could be spending doing other things, none of which would involve students, but once the students showed up and we started chatting, it was great. Loving your job doesn't mean you love it every second and have a 100% optimistic attitude, but for me it means that I am very often reminded of why I love my job. Sometimes I am reminded by my research and sometimes I am reminded by my students, and that's probably why working at a place that lets me do both research and teaching is the best place for me, however it is that I got here.





12 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the geosciences, some of our most rewarding experiences involve the time that we spend in the field in the students, when we will spend anywhere from a few hours to several days (or even weeks) with students outside the traditional classroom. They see us eat, drink, sleep, listen to music, and often only then do they make that connection that yes, we are real people with real lives outside the classroom. Sitting around the campfire at the end of the day is the perfect setting for those "how did you get here" conversations, or frank discussions about whether grades are the end-all and be-all of the college experience. Moreover, for many of us geo-professors, field trips are where students see us most passionate about our subject...

Anonymous said...

I do not believe there is one perfect job for a person any more than there is one perfect soul-mate for a person. Personally, I think I could love many jobs, albeit a smaller set than the set of jobs I'd hate or be indifferent about.

I try to tell this to my students when they are agonizing about choosing the Right Career Path. My own career path is rather meandering, but satisfying, and there hasn't been anything along the way that hasn't come in handy in what I do now (I was going mention my brief stint as an opera singer, but one could argue that experience made me better at giving talks, which is as much about performance as it is about anything else.)

Female Science Professor said...

I agree that there is not one Right Career Path for each person. Some students worry that they will make a Wrong Decision about a course, major, grad school/job, and then their life will be ruined. The route to finding something you really want to do isn't always a direct path, and maybe there isn't just one "best" thing (as anonymous just said).

Unknown said...

Great post! Thanks

Ms.PhD said...

Great post.

Anonymous said...

I just had one of these conversations with a student, too, one that makes you think *wow* they are listening to me in class, and they wonder about the same things that I do. It started out badly -- a student who missed a class and wanted to go over it with me. I was thinking, yeah, one more thing to do, and yes, as we were walking to my office, I was telling him "you know, this will *not* be on the test" just in case he deduced he had something better to do, too.

But, then, it turned out that he just wanted to know and understand the material and we ended up talking about why we ended up studying what we study.

Anonymous said...

Hey, what are these out-of-class experiences of which you speak? They sound fun.

I've just finished teaching my first year of university courses in the sciences- a very applied science- with lots of labs and field trips. All of which are required.

Is what you are talking about an optional lab-type experience, or is it something different?

Thanks, I'm always looking for new good ideas...

Anon said...

I love having random conversations with my professors! Science, weekend plans, classes, family, career choices, etc...it's conversations like these that transform a professor from an advisor to a true mentor.

mentaer said...

a) What is K-12 (wikipedia tells me that it is until/inlcuding year 17/18 .. so does it mean she starts to be a Highschool teacher?)

b) I can guess what R1 means. But can you tell me more preceise what you would consider an R1 university? Is there an R2 level or something for the "rest"? Where does the naming come from (from the "R-1 expert" system?)
(as this term has been used several times)

Rose said...

Dear FSP,
In my experience, everyone loves to be listened to, especially if the listener is someone they look up to. And also in my experience- generally speaking-professors are not the greatest listeners.. I bet you made the day of these students by engaging in this discussion with them.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post about the "other part of teaching and mentoring," the unofficial part that just comes from conversation and asking questions. These are the kinds of interactions that there should be more of between professors and students. I agree with previous posters who said and advise students that there is no One Right Choice and to stop stressing about it. I gave the same advice at a recent event where I had the opportunity to talk to graduating seniors. You do the best you can with the info you have at the time, and if it doesn't work out, you revise/make another decisions...that's real life. A billionaire entrepreneur who spoke at our university recently said the same thing about business and life, "No bad decision is irreversible, so just do it, make a decision." Talking with others and hearing that this is a normal process helps students to see the bigger picture.

Anonymous said...

I'm a grad student in the physical sciences, taking an (undergrad) genetics course this semester. Last week we did course evaluations, and even though I didn't interact much with the professor, I still wrote "Bonus: female faculty member in the sciences" on my course evaluation. Just getting to take a course from a female prof can mean a lot - without any out-of-class conversations! But I wonder if that was the appropriate place to mention this... since I didn't go to office hours, she probably didn't know me, so even an email seems strange! But, it wasn't really a "teaching evaluation" comment.