Your Relationship With Mentees: Students Dealing With Students

by Ryan Leib

Life always has its chores. As a youth,you probably took out the garbage or mowed the lawn. In college,maybe you bussed tables or shelved books in the library. You didn’t really think grad school would be different,did you? If you’re like most of the graduate students on our campus,you find yourself teaching a course that you hardly paid attention to a few years ago during your own undergraduate career. Between obligations to your research project,your post-doctoral (or other degree) plans,and your social life,it’s often hard to find the time to prep for that freshman lab course,but your students will never know,right? The problem is that most of us (excluding the oh-so-lucky education students!) have little formal training on how best to pass on our wisdom to the next generation. In fact,you probably fall into one of these archetypal categories of GSI:

The Puppeteer
You don’t see teaching as educational so much as a quest for control. Sure,you have your favorite student or two who you can trust,but most of them need to be ‘managed’. You spend most your time turning your students against each other,setting up in- class competitions and publicly posting grades. Whenever possible,you avoid interacting with the students directly,and instead choose to send mass emails and hang handwritten signs next to the whiteboard.

The Doorstop
Instructing your students is an addendum to an afterthought. You are so busy with other things
that you find yourself looking over the day’s material for the first time with an Expo marker in your hand. You hit the high points,but most of the class period feels wasted as you turn pages and say “Um” with alarming frequency. You know only a couple of their faces and none of their names – but “hey you” seems to work thus far.

The Milquetoast
Your students don’t need to learn, or work, or frankly even show up.No one quite remembers
the last time they studied for your class. You have office hours from 9-5,and bring the coffee
and doughnuts. Assignments are more of a motivational exercise,and tests should be less about
grades and more about feeling comfortable. Sure,your students don’t respect you,but they
invite you to parties on the weekends.

The Over-Analyzer
You live to teach. You read every book, review every article,attend every seminar – all in the interest of your students’ education. Unfortunately, that means you’re on the outs with your girl,
your PI is still waiting for that presentation outline,and you own class work is in the toilet. When you teach, you spend more time polling the class for ways to improve or change things up
than covering the real material.

Hopefully none of these describes you perfectly. However, not unlike those ridiculous horoscopes you read in the checkout line, there’s probably a nugget of truth in some of them (and as an added benefit/horror, they probably serve as an interesting window into my psyche,which is something I typically would like to keep closed with shades drawn). Regardless of how your personal style seems to be working out thus far, here are some handy ways to keep ahead of the curve, or at least one chapter ahead of that smart kid who sits up front.

People learn differently. No, it’s true. Since you’re a graduate student, it may not be obvious why those basic concepts that came easily for you are not getting through to your freshman. The important thing to remember is that what comes easily for some can be a real bear for others. Try mixing things up a bit,and always have a couple extra angles to approach hard subjects. This is especially helpful during those office hour sessions you should be holding (and plugging during class) to help your students stay on top of things.

It’s a part time job. As much as you’d like to slack off (or learn all there is to know about your subject), most GSIs are being paid for a 20 hour work week. Those 20 hours includes attending class sessions, grading papers and reports,holding office hours and studying up on how to be a better GSI. Spending too much less or too much more,and both you and your beloved students will suffer for it. Sure, sometimes there are light (or heavy) weeks, but the hope is that you’re still advancing towards your academic goals while helping your students meet theirs.

Have a plan. A few minutes of prep can make any interaction with your students go that much more smoothly. Know what general issues have been discussed during the last few class periods,and what likely stumbling blocks are in the new material. Make sure you can work through any assigned homework before you assign it. As far as prepping for lectures,the author has found that using notecards to plan your chalkboard layout (in scale format,no less!) does wonders.

Get feedback. If you’re not sure how you rate as a GSI, try asking. Find some students whose opinions you trust,and ask them what kinds of things you could do to improve. Alternatively,ask some of your fellow grad students to sit in on your lecture and see if they can pass along any pointers. If neither of these are a good option, you can always videotape yourself giving a lecture,and then see what you think. It’s always easier to see a problem from an objective (or approximately objective) point of view.

Students are students - not friends (nor enemies) Face it, you will like some students better than others. Maybe you’ll have common interests,or maybe they’re more charming than their compatriots. Alternatively, you might have a student who never has a good question and you feel like every minute you spend on them is wasted. Whatever the issue, you have an ethical obligation to be fair to your students. This doesn’t mean doing their work for them (that’s unethical too!) but try to be available and equitable. Maybe, after the class is over, you’ll find time to befriend some of your students,but while the grades are being assigned, aim to keep things on an instructor-student basis.

You’re not alone Almost ten thousand graduate students currently attend Cal, and many of them have teaching questions (and problems) like you do. Luckily, in addition to departmental training assistance, the GSI Teaching and Resource Center provides funding, seminars, and a whole library on the subject of being a better instructor. For details on new resources and upcoming events, see their website at gsi.berkeley.edu. Oh,and the last 15 minutes you spent reading this totally count towards this week’s 20 hours.