How I Teach

I teach both undergraduate and graduate students. While there are differences in how I approach teaching at both levels, there are also common traits. I want to share a few of them below.

a) Deadline flexibility. I am always willing to give extension for assignments. As long as students notify me before the deadline, they can submit their work past the deadline. The reasons are not terribly relevant to me. What I keep in mind is that due to something that is important to them, they are not able to submit work on the deadline. Their reasons vary from distress about the family pet being put down to illness. What surprises me though is that the number of students who ask for extension in each course is very small. A couple of times, students emailed me to say that they, in fact, realized that they did not need the extension and would prefer to submit on the deadline. I think two things might be happening:

• Students realize that in the end, they will have to do the work. Therefore they might as well complete it as quickly as possible and move on to other assignments even under out-of-ordinary situations. Or

• Once the stress of the deadline is lifted, they can work efficiently even under less than ideal circumstance, which might have prompted them to ask for extension.

b) My students have a say on what and when stuff happens. I consult with them about setting deadlines for assignments, guest speaker topics, whether we should take a break during class etc. For instance, last semester, I polled my graduate class to select between what topic they would like a guest speaker on: Electric vehicle policy in Canada or how to do transportation planning. They chose the latter. To me their choices indicate what is important to them and would complement what they learn not only in my course, but also in other courses. They would have a more intimate knowledge of that than me.

When we set deadlines together, it gives me the opportunity to learn from them their concurrent other deadlines and help stagger mine to give them some respite. While meeting deadlines and stress are facts of life and the classroom is a training ground, I do not believe in the kind of intense stress, sleep deprivations etc. students go through at the end of semester. I am not sure that is a conducive environment for learning as a creative process – and living in general. For that reason, I set deadlines for final papers or assignments for after they finalize everything for other courses and had a couple of breathing days. A book (Why We Sleep) I read a few years ago had a big impact for why I do that. The book, written by the Founder and Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, talks about the health consequences of sleep deprivation. Specifically, the author, as a university professor, talks about the impact of end-of-semester sleep deprivation on students. If I can eliminate a little of the negative impact, I will gladly continue to do it.

So, there. These are some of the ways I teach.