My First Teaching Experience

Preparation

Full circle moment

During my undergraduate degree there were always a few PhD students alongside lecturers in the lab to help if we had questions. Often, we preferred to ask the PhD students as they were more approachable than some lecturers. When I got my blue lab demonstrator coat and went up to the teaching lab I smiled. When I was in my undergrad labs, I always wanted to be a PhD student helping out. It was nice to experience this full circle moment going from an undergraduate student asking for help to a PhD student helping others.

Answering questions and helping students

I really enjoyed explaining concepts to the students and then watching as they grew to understand, especially when it came to calculations associated with the lab. Talking through the calculation method was particularly rewarding when, during the following week, they could complete it without any help.

Also, don’t be afraid of not knowing all the answers. You can always find someone else within the demonstrating team to help either yourself or the students. It’s much better to double check than to tell a student an answer you’re unsure of.

Engaging with students

The Masters group I was helping were all quite intrigued by my PhD, with some of them asking about my experience. This reminded me of myself as I was always very keen to ask the PhD students about their research, how they got to where they are and if they would recommend a PhD. If you’re considering doctoral study, ask the demonstrators about their work and they’ll be happy to let you know what their PhD is like. Just make sure that you complete your lab work within the session!

Lessons learned

The lab block was five weeks and consisted of five full day lab sessions. Throughout, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience of teaching. I was able to adapt the way I explained things based on the students’ responses. It was also interesting to be on the other side of the dynamic as a demonstrator rather than a student. Here I was able to draw upon my personal experiences as an undergraduate to try and teach and support others in a way that I would have appreciated.

My first teaching experience was a good learning curve and made me want to further develop my teaching skills. I’ve gained an understanding of how to demonstrate, learned how to carry out some new experimental techniques and found helping students rewarding. I’d like to thank the staff members and demonstrators who helped me through my first teaching block as their advice and support was amazing. This experience has reinforced that I’d like to work towards an academic career hopefully lecturing one day and leading my own labs with PhD demonstrators. If you have the opportunity to demonstrate in teaching labs, I recommend the experience. Even if you discover that teaching is not for you this is still valuable to learn and take into consideration when looking at future careers.