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A model lesson is a usual element in interviews for the faculty level positions. Normally this is not a full lesson but a 15-minute version which is performed in absence of actual students for just a few professors from a hiring committee. It is supposed to demonstrate "your teaching style", but by design this is clearly a different enterprise: you should "act normal" doing "the same" things

  1. in a different time-frame,
  2. for a different audience,
  3. with completely different motivation and
  4. under exorbitant cost of failure.

Having said this, I also acknowledge the model lesson as indeed a much needed element of the interview, which helps to assess a candidate's set of relevant skills.

The question is how one can ideally prepare to give such a model lesson. Putting aside obvious things like "structure of the talk," "clear slides," "projection of the voice," and "body language", which normally should be already trained by experience, are there specific things that should be taken into account for the model lesson only? What about techniques like jokes, questions to the audience (e.g. how many of you are familiar with the definition of the derivative), work in pairs, which you probably use in a real classroom — is it a good idea to demonstrate them in a room full of senior professors? I am a little confused.

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    May I ask: is this a common scenario in Europe? In my experience, in the US: (i) if you are applying for a job at a research university you will give a research talk only; (ii) if you are applying for a job at a teaching/liberal arts college, you may still give a research talk, and you will probably also teach a class, but a real class: i.e., of full length, and to actual students. The format that you describe seems so artificial so as to select primarily for people who can get past its weirdness.
    – Pete L. Clark
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 1:22
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    It is quite common in the UK, afaik, since they are very much in the "teaching & research" mode. I can not say for the rest of the EU.
    – Dmitry Savostyanov
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 7:03
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    @PeteL.Clark: I teach at a community college in the US, and the 15-minute format described by the OP is exactly what we use for interviews. You simply don't try to present a large amount of material.
    – user1482
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 16:42
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    I did this in Sweden, and student representatives from various levels were in the room. They were primed to ask common student questions.
    – Dave Clarke
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 19:03
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    I have also experienced this in Switzerland, the audience consisted of the hiring committee, but student representatives were present also (and/or were part of the hiring committee).
    – fgysin
    Commented Jun 29, 2020 at 9:30

2 Answers 2

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+100

Having done this, I'd advise:

  • Take it really seriously. In places where candidates are judged equally on teaching and research, the model lesson could really make the difference. Strong researchers may neglect it, relying on their publication/citation record.
  • Make sure you prepare for the expected audience (in my case, 1st year students), not the actual audience (academics).
  • Feel free to use techniques you would use in a classroom, but then use "time jumps" to indicate that the activity has taken place. The problem with this is that if you have follow up questions, there may be no answers and the lecture may fall flat.
  • Don't forget "learning objectives" and "lecture structure" up front, and other guidelines for students throughout (though you probably can only show one such thing).
  • Practice more than you would practice for an actual lecture.
  • No corny jokes. If you cannot tell whether a joke is corny, then assume it is. In fact, beware of jokes. Relying on natural humour is probably better.
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    Nice answer. I've been on a number of committees where we had our candidates do this. In addition to the points you listed, I would list a few more. (1) If someone on the committee asks a typical student's question, respond as you would to a student. I often ask a question that shows a common student misconception, and candidates often don't seem able to recognize that and respond appropriately. (2) Feel free to say, "as you know from the reading," pass out a sample reading quiz, say, "as we discussed in the first half of the class," etc. (3) Don't be afraid to use active learning techniques.
    – user1482
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 16:47
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    @PeteL.Clark ...just like real teaching, no?
    – JeffE
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 19:33
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    @JeffE: Maybe. Remind me to end my next lecture with "and.... scene."
    – Pete L. Clark
    Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 20:18
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I participated to this kind of interviews, as an applicant as well as a committe member. For the exemple, I will assume that you are applying to a position as a maths teacher.

  • As Dave Clarke mentioned, prepare for the expected audience. If your are expected to teach to maths major in a very good institution, it is not a big problem to show off your skills by lecturing at a level a little bit above the expected audience's level. But avoid this if your expected audience is notoriously weak or non maths majors. I got rejected once because I was "too good" for the position.
  • To prepare the lecture, you should study the curriculum of the institution you will be teaching. You usually can find it on the institution's website. It is important since it helps you to do the lecture at right level, but also helps you to connect your lecture to other topics (especially when your expected students are not maths major) studied by your future students. It will make you more comfortable for the questions that usually follow the interview.
  • Only do things you usually do in class. An interview is definitely not the place to experiment a new teaching method. Last month, a candidate with an impressive CV failed an interview in my institution by trying to use a computer and videoprojector, thing he obviously never did before. The result was pityful.
  • Make sure your connect the lecture to the lectures sequence of a real course. So, take time to tell what students should have studied in the previous lectures, and which problems (related to the current lecture) they will solve in future lectures. This is something you probably already do in a normal lecture, but it is especially important here since the committee wants to know if you can organize a complete course.
  • But putting your lecture in context does not mean reviewing the (expected) previous lecture, you have no time for being off-topic.
  • I would not prepare a joke, as if it was a stand-up comedy. But, if an opportunity to make a joke, I would take it in order to make a more decontracted atmosphere. Beside hiring the best teacher, the committee wants to hire someone who they feel comfortable to work with. To sum up, your goal is to appear as a reliable, professional, open-minded and with team spirit person.
  • Even if I do it in class, I would not prepare any activity where the audience participates -or only a very short one-, since it takes too much time (except for a foreign language teacher interview). But I would try to interact as much as I can with the audience through questions.
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