Timeline for Reference letters for teaching positions
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 11, 2011 at 21:03 | comment | added | Deane Yang | Amit, I agree with KConrad that the tenured faculty are supposed to do this as part of their regular responsibilities. You should not need to ask someone. It seems to me that the Berkeley math department should make it a routine for every one of their TA's be observed by a regular faculty member at least once a semester (or, if that's too much, at least once not long before the student graduates). This seems important to me for both internal reasons (quality control of the teaching being done) and the normal process of helping their graduate students get jobs. | |
| Jul 10, 2011 at 18:22 | comment | added | Amit Kumar Gupta | @KConrad, it's interesting you say that faculty are supposed to do this, in my four years of being a TA here I've only had one professor sit in once, and that was because it was my first semester teaching. @ABayer, it's not a research job, just a teaching job. @Deane, I don't think anyone said that faculty can't be bothered to observe me, but I'd have to ask someone to do it, it isn't something faculty would otherwise do. | |
| Jul 10, 2011 at 14:48 | comment | added | Arend Bayer | I agree with this strong statement. Another way to put it a bit simplified: If you are applying for a research job, then the teaching part of your application can only cost you a job, not gain you a job. Doing s.th. unusual there is pointless at best and risky at worst. If you are applying for a teaching job, then it is REALLY important that the information about your teaching is professional and informative. | |
| Jul 10, 2011 at 13:50 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by S. Carnahan♦ | ||
| Jul 9, 2011 at 21:50 | comment | added | KConrad | Having just visited Berkeley for a semester, I can report that faculty there with TAs in their class are supposed to sit in on all of their TAs discussion sections at least once. In any event, I agree completely with Deane that it is a terrible idea to use a student's letter as your teaching letter for jobs. If you were applying for some teaching award, then a student's letter wouldn't look unusual, but in an academic job application-- at least for research department jobs -- it would be considered bizarre, almost like having a classmate write a research letter for you. | |
| Jul 9, 2011 at 21:09 | comment | added | Deane Yang | You're a graduate student at Berkeley, and none of your professors can be bothered to observe you and evaluate your teaching skills? To be honest, I consider that to be a fundamental responsibility of a tenured faculty member. If you will be doing any more teaching before you apply for jobs, I encourage you to seek out an appropriate faculty member to observe and evaluate your teaching. Also, as I mentioned in my answer, you should definitely provide the results of student evaluations. | |
| Jul 9, 2011 at 18:01 | comment | added | Amit Kumar Gupta | Thanks Deane. Unfortunately, { people who know about my teaching skills } $\cap$ { people who are experienced teachers } = $\emptyset$ | |
| Jul 9, 2011 at 12:51 | history | answered | Deane Yang | CC BY-SA 3.0 |