I realize July is starting and the semester is around the corner, but I'm not paid in the summer, and this is also when I do my research (also for no pay). Are you paid for 12 months? Or do you work on teaching in the summer for no pay.
When do you typically prep your Fall classes? In a traditional setup, you can often get away with waiting until a week before the semester starts, then throw something together. In an alternative grading setup - and especially if you are changing from a traditional to an alternative setup - doing things on that time scale generally isn't a good idea. David and I recommend having the "alpha" version of the grading system done about a month before classes start, so you can have a couple of weeks to think about it and make changes, then a couple more weeks to think some more and make it final.
If this doesn't work with your summer plans, that's understandable. You'd just need to realize that the soonest you could implement a new grading system is January in that case.
I wonder if we're running into terminology difference: Class prep vs. Lesson prep. A lot of this post is about "class prep" in the sense of preparing the overall structure of the course (e.g. the syllabus, how assessments will work, etc.). Those are things that you need to know before the semester even starts. Lesson prep is something I also do while in the middle of the course, but by the point I'm prepping an individual lesson, I need to already have a syllabus set up and a course structure determined.
Well, partially I was wondering if you and Robert work for free in the summer or are paid. I think the constraints and demands on non-R1 faculty are quite different (but just as tricky of course) and it would help me to better understand and act on your posts as I develop better knowledge of these.
I did standards-based grading in my spring class last year, and I wrote most of the assessments in weeks 1-6 of the class, just because that was when I had time to do it. I don't know if that counts as lesson prep or class prep. But the good news was the students loved it, and I am considering whether I can do it for my fall class.
Late to this discussion, but...is there any way you could suss out the opportunity for summer stipends or the like at your institution to do this work? At my current institution, part of my job is to help faculty implement new teaching strategies and curriculum, and I try really really hard to make sure there is pay for that work (whether summer or during the academic year). At my previous institution, where I was a professor, I could also sometimes get paid for this work through stipends and the like. Unions often help in this (I was union president and a contract negotiator at my old institution as well, so looked for ways to include this kind of stuff in the contract, and had some success).
Alas, the links to the objectives for the discrete structures course lead to a page not found. If you have time, can you update them?
https://github.com/RobertTalbert/discretecs/blob/master/Fall2021-225/design-notes/mth225-learning-objectives.md
Fixed. Link: https://github.com/RobertTalbert/discretecs/blob/master/MTH225-Fall2021/design-notes/mth225-learning-objectives.md
I realize July is starting and the semester is around the corner, but I'm not paid in the summer, and this is also when I do my research (also for no pay). Are you paid for 12 months? Or do you work on teaching in the summer for no pay.
When do you typically prep your Fall classes? In a traditional setup, you can often get away with waiting until a week before the semester starts, then throw something together. In an alternative grading setup - and especially if you are changing from a traditional to an alternative setup - doing things on that time scale generally isn't a good idea. David and I recommend having the "alpha" version of the grading system done about a month before classes start, so you can have a couple of weeks to think about it and make changes, then a couple more weeks to think some more and make it final.
If this doesn't work with your summer plans, that's understandable. You'd just need to realize that the soonest you could implement a new grading system is January in that case.
Mostly I do my class prep while I'm teaching the course, and on weekends, but I get your point about taking the time to do it earlier.
I wonder if we're running into terminology difference: Class prep vs. Lesson prep. A lot of this post is about "class prep" in the sense of preparing the overall structure of the course (e.g. the syllabus, how assessments will work, etc.). Those are things that you need to know before the semester even starts. Lesson prep is something I also do while in the middle of the course, but by the point I'm prepping an individual lesson, I need to already have a syllabus set up and a course structure determined.
Well, partially I was wondering if you and Robert work for free in the summer or are paid. I think the constraints and demands on non-R1 faculty are quite different (but just as tricky of course) and it would help me to better understand and act on your posts as I develop better knowledge of these.
I did standards-based grading in my spring class last year, and I wrote most of the assessments in weeks 1-6 of the class, just because that was when I had time to do it. I don't know if that counts as lesson prep or class prep. But the good news was the students loved it, and I am considering whether I can do it for my fall class.
Late to this discussion, but...is there any way you could suss out the opportunity for summer stipends or the like at your institution to do this work? At my current institution, part of my job is to help faculty implement new teaching strategies and curriculum, and I try really really hard to make sure there is pay for that work (whether summer or during the academic year). At my previous institution, where I was a professor, I could also sometimes get paid for this work through stipends and the like. Unions often help in this (I was union president and a contract negotiator at my old institution as well, so looked for ways to include this kind of stuff in the contract, and had some success).
Great thoughts Heather. I don't know of anything, but I'll check. Do you have any hints on how I could bring this about if there are no resources?