PhD support group?

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pug_in_a_bed wrote:

crumbs, just heard about my teaching for this semester. I'll be taking three groups for tutorials a week, with about 20 students in each group!

Soooo worried about this, especially as its sods law that I haven't read any of the texts for it. The only teaching I've ever done is a teeny bit of tutoring for gcse, so worried, its only going to be my fisrt semester for PhD and I don't even know where I'm at with that! When i was an undergrad tutor groups had about 5 students in...

I actually dreamt about it last night.

Can you tell I'm a worrier...:o

Don't worry too much. The first teaching I ever did, I walked into the room with about 20 second year undegrads and nearly wet myself! It all worked out OK, but perhaps I can mention a couple of things that I have learnt:

1. You'll inevitably get a smart-!!!! in the group. I try not to get annoyed or rise to them. What often works best when they make some flippant comment is to ask them to elaborate in detail or come up to the blackboard and talk us all through a concept.

2. It's a given that at some stage you will get asked a question that you don't have the first clue about answering. Sometimes this is because it's a genuine question, other times it's because a student wants to put you on the spot. In either case, I was advised before I started teaching to never bluff through these. I think this is generally good advice as you can get yourself in deeper otherwise.

3. Whilst you will have to spend time preparing and will almost certainly over-prepare for the first few times, try to avoid this as you become more used to it. There are clear decreasing returns to your efforts here. In fact, I often find things are more fun when I have to wing a tutorial and it gets more discussion going with the students.

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pug_in_a_bed wrote:

My phd is in english lit.

They are such big groups that I think they might have to run more like a seminar than the informal tutorials I'm used to. All three sessions are actually for the same course, so the first group will have me a nrevous wreck but hopefully by the third it'll be a totally different experience.
You know that feeling when you've committed to something and then :eek:

Just noticed you also posted this pug. It's great that all the sessions are for the same course :T Should make things easier for you. I should have stuck out for this in my last couple of years of teaching. The first year I taught on three different course and last year I taught on six different courses and they included all undergraduate years, MSc and even PhD - which was bonkers considering I'm a PhD student myself...! Consolidating teaching is the key... even if it makes it a bit more boring...

melancholly

charts wrote:

Having said this, the forthcoming RAE has caused a hiring frenzy for good researchers, and once it is out of the way there will probably be another 8yrs to the next one (and we don't definately know there will be one yet).

from the rumour mill in my uni i thought that the next RAE was very very likely to be scrapped..... we can only hope what replaces it isn't any worse!

cupid_s

charts wrote:

I think a little bit of caution is needed regarding publications. Whilst I don't know that much about other disciplines, I can say that in my field it is more or less impossible to get any kind of lectureship without published research. That's not to say that I could not go off and do something else that is equally fulfilling, but unless I get my finger out and publish I'm dead in the water. _pale_

i was under the impression, in my field at least, that it is impossible to get a lectureship position with out at least a good few years post doc experience

so if you didn't get many publications during your PhD you still have probably 3 years of post doc work to get papers published before anyone will even look at you for a lectureship position.

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cupid_stunt wrote:

i was under the impression, in my field at least, that it is impossible to get a lectureship position with out at least a good few years post doc experience

so if you didn't get many publications during your PhD you still have probably 3 years of post doc work to get papers published before anyone will even look at you for a lectureship position.

That sounds better as you have a bit of a cushion. As I said, I don't know much about other disciplines. Unfortunately, this isn't really the way it works in my field. The department here has appointed a lot of young lecturers recently and without exception they have all come straight from PhD.

There is a slight caveat here in that there are openings for a small number of teaching only posts/fellowships, but certainly where I am these tend not to have any bearing on employment and have the distinct disadvantage of coming with enourmous teaching loads.

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melancholly wrote:

from the rumour mill in my uni i thought that the next RAE was very very likely to be scrapped..... we can only hope what replaces it isn't any worse!

We'll see - if I stay in academia I won't hold my breath for an improvement

misskool

charts wrote:

That sounds better as you have a bit of a cushion. As I said, I don't know much about other disciplines. Unfortunately, this isn't really the way it works in my field. The department here has appointed a lot of young lecturers recently and without exception they have all come straight from PhD.

There is a slight caveat here in that there are openings for a small number of teaching only posts/fellowships, but certainly where I am these tend not to have any bearing on employment and have the distinct disadvantage of coming with enourmous teaching loads.

Are you doing in the sciences, social sciences or humanities? It is very odd that a university would employ a LOT of young lecturers direct from PhD, most expect a few more years of research under the belt, in biochemistry/genetics type thing, you're expected to do AT LEAST 3 years of postdoc, most often people end up doing 5-6 years before getting a tenure-track position.

Also, you mention that you did teaching for phd students, I didn't realise phd students were taught any coursework? unless they are some of the new specialist 4 year ones which are up and coming and you get one year of coursework.

DrFluffy

misskool wrote:

Also, you mention that you did teaching for phd students, I didn't realise phd students were taught any coursework? unless they are some of the new specialist 4 year ones which are up and coming and you get one year of coursework.

Some places have a compulsary training programme for doctoral students, and you are expected to go to these lectures...

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misskool wrote:

Are you doing in the sciences, social sciences or humanities? It is very odd that a university would employ a LOT of young lecturers direct from PhD, most expect a few more years of research under the belt, in biochemistry/genetics type thing, you're expected to do AT LEAST 3 years of postdoc, most often people end up doing 5-6 years before getting a tenure-track position.

This is social sciences. It is obviously contingent on some research being there, given the impending RAE. I suppose the University does some cost/benefit analysis of getting these people. Part of that calculation I would suppose is that as new entrants to the profession they only return two pieces for the RAE.

It's clearly heterogenous across subjects. My partner is in a permanent position in an arts department. It took her many years after completion of her thesis (and a lot of published work in articles and a monograph) to get a permanent job, but this is certainly the norm in her subject.

Also, you mention that you did teaching for phd students, I didn't realise phd students were taught any coursework? unless they are some of the new specialist 4 year ones which are up and coming and you get one year of coursework.[/QUOTE]

As DrFluffy says, we are one of those places that forces doctoral students to attend certain master's courses. Of course the ones now who are research council funded have to do the master's component as part of the 1+3 funding criteria. However, what I was involved with was more of a core skill for their research in a relatively specialised field. It's not assessed. I was, shall we say, forced into doing this and wasn't particularly happy about it. The feedback was good, but it took an immense amount of my time.

missejackson

hi all,

Just had my first day at uni (after a few years out). I am working on a funded project and get 10 days a year to complete academic work which is my own research interest. I understand it's all to do with funding so that's ok. Also the work I do whilst on the project forms the research background for my PhD. I will be registered for a PhD in October.

Went and met staff and they told me about the project. I am totally baffled. I was given names, numbers, meeting dates etc and I'm scared I can't absorb it all. Is this normal? Was it really daunting for everyone? I'm reassured that in a month or so it'll all bed-down and it'll be ok and it'll be like second nature. Still, I'm still concerned!?!