So I think I had a serious ‘lightbulb’ moment today, actually it has been building all week and I’ll tell you why.
This is the first week I have taught into a university chemistry course – EVER! Luckily it is an introductory course – what some universities would call a ‘bridging’ course, designed to bring students up to speed who may not have studied chemistry in high school, but will need it for further tertiary study.
The class is large (compared to my other classes which verge on 15-30) and there is such a variety of students – young, old, some with a little background in the subject, some with none but who are able to apply themselves well and understand it. The level of chemistry covered is high school chemistry – the difference between these students and a lot of high school students is that they really want to learn.
This is when I had my ‘Eureka’ moment – I wouldn’t mind teaching high school level courses, but I’m not that fond of younger teens. In teaching bridging courses I can have the dedicated students but still teach fundamentals. So I learnt that there is also a maths course – I wouldn’t mind helping out there as well.
The reason being I often end up with students who are 2nd or 3rd year university students who have forgotten or didn’t know their fundamentals – particularly in maths, but things like chemistry and biology are also lumped under that. When learning about the sciences it is necessary to have a solid grounding in some or all of these basics and that is not there with some students.
I think sometimes it starts with the beginning when basic concepts are first being taught – so high school or even primary school in some cases (!) is where it should have started. I did have some interesting conversations where students mentioned that they just didn’t pay attention at school and never thought it would apply. Now they would like to study for a particular job – which requires chemistry and now their interest has peaked – they just needed longer to develop it.
I was lucky in that I love science – I had no idea what I would do after high school – just vaguely something scientific. ….and that is exactly what I do!
First task……approach bridging maths lecturer – this could be the start of something good for me – where I can use my skills to help others.
