Teaching

The finite elements text.

As part of the exchange I am on I taught for a semester. I like teaching, so this was something I looked forward to, although during my first semester here I appreciated time away from teaching. It's always fun to meet a new group of people, and good students force you to understand the material well. I also looked forward to meeting more Africans, as well as teaching some course material I had not taught before. I'll comment on the differences in the teaching format and students between University of Montana and University of Cape Town.

C++ was taught from this text.

First, at UCT it's not uncommon to have two instructors take responsibility for a single course. Each then gives half the lectures, and develops half the assignments and exams. I entered into a couple of these relationships, one for a course in C++, and another for a introductory level finite elements course. This was good and bad. Just when I felt like I was getting to know the class, I stopped teaching. In this way, I don't think the students ever really caught on to what a charlatan I am, which is good. Then again, I never got to know some of them very well, which was bad. I enjoyed working with another instructor, but it was occasionally awkward to be so mixed up in one another's teaching.

The system here favors a final examination amounting to some 60% of course points. The process is highly formal with external reviewers looking at the exam itself, making sure the test is fair, and that it is graded in a consistent manner. The exams are three hours long. All of this meant for a busy week, preparing exams in time to get them off for external review before the end of classes.

Sitting for final exam in Finite Elements.

Students here were a delight. I enjoyed meeting people not just from South Africa, but from all over Africa. I had students from Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Nigeria, Mauritius, Lesotho,  as well as all over South Africa. I also had recent immigrants to South Africa from Italy, Bulgaria, and Bosnia. I truly love the diversity that I experience here. This institution draws the finest from all over Africa, and beyond, and it's a pleasure to try and instruct them.

Outside of the wonderful assortment of backgrounds my students came from, the other most striking difference was the standards that are applied. 50% is a pass, and at about 75% one can be awarded a distinction, but that's not a primary concern. Hence, when designing assignments and exams, you make them much tougher than I would in the US. The students are used to taking a beating. Exam questions I know I'd have been hassled about the 'fairness' of in the US were received without comment. In the end, I fear I may not have been such a hard teacher, the years of writing tests targeted at about a 70% average was a hard habit to break.

A student's version (left) of my notes (right).

Finally, the system stresses hand writing at all stages. I know my boys were taken to task about this at primary school level. I thought it would be fun to show a picture of just how tidy some of the student's notes are.