Looking back on the one-year teaching experience: interviews with three graduate research teaching fellows
Juerong Qiu
The Faculty of Arts inaugurated the Graduate Research Teaching Fellowship (GRTF) last year. The Fellowship aims to enhance and deepen the teaching experience of graduate researchers. Juerong interviewed three teaching fellows at different stage of their candidature: Yizhou Wang, Niles Zhao and Felicia Lee. Check out what they said about their teaching experience during the year!
Last year, the Faculty of Arts inaugurated the Graduate Research Teaching Fellowship (GRTF). This is a fairly new scheme. What motivated you to apply for it in the first place?
Yizhou: The experience of teaching is extremely rewarding for me, and I started helping with tutorials in the second year of my PhD. I also got inspired by our very smart students every year, so it’s a great opportunity to learn from others. Since the Graduate Teaching Fellowship is a continuation of the casual tutor position, I applied right away.
Niles: I had five years of experience teaching EFL at secondary and tertiary levels in China, but I had not taught non-language subjects before. This would be a great opportunity. It includes training components. Teaching fellows can choose either Melbourne Teaching Certificate or Certificate in Small-Group Teaching. I chose the former and I felt more prepared to teach in the Australian context after completing it. The fellowship also covers two semesters and thus could give me a sense of stability.
Felicia: I have been teaching at a secondary school since 2008. I love teaching because it gives me a great sense of satisfaction knowing that students were able to acquire whatever knowledge or skills I’ve imparted. It kind of gives me a high, like “Yes, they got it!”. Also, I like that teaching provides me with a platform to be creative with my pedagogical approaches, and I can do different fun things with different students in the classroom.
However, with that said, doing it for almost a decade can be stale, even though I try to make it exciting. I like to be intellectually stimulated so I see this as an opportunity for me to grow as a teacher. I was hoping to find out if there are any differences (pedagogically) between teaching secondary school students in Singapore and teaching tertiary students as a tutor here.
What subjects did you teach in the two semesters? Are the subjects related to your PhD projects?
Yizhou: I tutor students in our undergraduate phonology class (coordinated by Professor Janet Fletcher), and last semester I tutored semantics. Both subjects were linguistics. I really enjoyed teaching them. Phonology is closely related to my PhD since my research looks at how phonological structures are cognitively processed in second language learners, and it requires a lot of analysis of phonological systems. The subject matter of our course is very useful in this regard, since we cover not just English phonology, but also phonological structures in many typologically diverse languages. Teaching the subject also taught me a lot.
Niles: In Semester 1, I taught Language Testing (LING90009), which is a master-level subject. This semester, I’m teaching Second Language Learning and Teaching (LING20003), an undergraduate subject. Both are related to my PhD research as my project looks at the impact of a high-stakes English test, which falls in the field of language testing. The impact on learning is a key area that I’m looking at, so the second subject is also quite relevant.
Felicia: I taught ESLA90004 – Intercultural Professional Communication (IPC) in Semester 1, and LING10001 – The Secret Life of Language (SLL) in Semester 2.
I wouldn’t say both subjects are directly related to my PhD project, which is actually good, because I get to learn new stuff! IPC is more of a practical subject in which students learn to communicate effectively at school or at the workplace, so I guess my experience working at a multinational company would come into play here. It allowed me to share real experiences with the students through my dealings with co-workers and clients from all over the world.
I was also very psyched to teach SLL because it provided me with the opportunity to learn more about the field of linguistics. I’m not exactly trained in linguistics, though I read a lot about the subject in my own free time, so having the opportunity to teach this subject allowed me to learn the bite-size aspects of linguistics, and at the same time, gave me fresh perspectives on my own project.
I learn that teaching fellows need to deliver at least one lecture during the Fellowship period. How did you prepare and plan the lecture(s)? What support did you receive along the way?
Yizhou: My role consists of leading tutorials for two classes each week. It is important to do some preparation ahead of time to ensure that the class runs smoothly. As I am teaching semantics for the third year and phonology for the second year, I am relatively more familiar with the syllabus and the flow of topics than those teaching a completely new subject. Even so, I often spend hours each week preparing handouts and exercise questions. Don’t forget to anticipate students’ questions, as they will come up! The coordinators have given me good suggestions about how to run the class and what to cover in the class. Before entering the classrooms, teaching fellows are also required to complete training modules (e.g., workplace ethics). I also receive very helpful feedback from my students.
Niles: I delivered a lecture towards the end of Semester 1 in Language Testing. I discussed with the subject coordinator at the very beginning of the semester, and we felt Week 10 would be a good time as by then I would have a better understanding of the subject and it would also give me more time to prepare. Once we settled on the topic, the subject coordinator sent me materials from previous years. After reviewing the materials, I decided to deliver them differently, which was supported by the subject coordinator. She suggested some readings and I also read widely myself. Once the new materials and slides were ready, she offered very constructive feedback. In the end, the lecture went well, and the students were quite engaged in the subsequent workshop.
Felicia: For IPC, lessons were seminar-based, so I guess there are no traditionally-defined tutorials or lectures per se. As for SLL, there wasn’t an opportunity for me to deliver a lecture.
Since the continuation of the Fellowship is contingent on satisfactory progress on the PhD thesis, how did you manage to balance teaching and research?
Yizhou: I think the fellowship package is designed smartly so that graduate fellows only focus on one subject each semester. That is 0.3 full-time equivalence. While it’s true that I can feel some pressure at times during the semester due to teaching and marking obligations, I think everyone does. Suppose you have to run two tutorials, each for one hour, and the reparation will take up to three hours, and you will still have plenty of time to work as a graduate researcher. It’s fun to do research as well. I am currently revising my PhD thesis and reorganising some chapters. I also hope to present some of my studies at conferences and publish them! Knowing which tasks to prioritise is the key to keeping the balance. While my research is mostly self-paced, I believe that teaching and grading should be student-centred.
Niles: It actually has been a challenge for me to balance teaching and research. It turns out to be more demanding than I expected. In the first semester, although I was familiar with the subject content, I wasn’t confident in teaching. So, I ended up spending more time than necessary. In the second semester, I’m not familiar with the materials and therefore need more time to do the readings. In addition, marking takes considerable time and comes in bulk. As full-time PhD students, we are supposed to devote 40 hours a week to research. To make up for the lost time, I have to work in the evenings and over the weekends. Additionally, planning is very important. Extra time should be set aside after each assignment is due.
Felicia: This is my second year in the PhD programme, so the bulk of my time is used for data collection. Since I was made aware of my role as a teaching fellow end of last year, I knew I had to try to complete as much of my data collection before the start of the semester. As cliché as it sounds, it’s really important to plan ahead like that. So I kind of completed most of my data collection before the semester starts to become busy.
After data collection, I had to transcribe the data, which was tedious and monotonous. I can’t sit down for the whole day transcribing, so what I did was to plan my day in multiple blocks, with each block dedicated to a different task. For example, I would use, perhaps, the first two hours reading some materials related to my research, then spend the next three hours transcribing my data, and then use another two hours reading materials related to my teaching. This not only ensures that I get some work done but it also helps me to remain focused. And when marking season is around the corner, I’d play around with the configuration of my day’s activities, but most probably the marking would be the priority given that there is a deadline.
If you want to know more about the Graduate Research Teaching Fellowship, click here or watch out for the Faculty’s follow-up notices.