Another demo

Looks like I'm being eyed to teach another course in Maths. I was asked to do a demo for Stats for Life Sciences on Wednesday. My name was forwarded to the course handler/lecturer after the demos I gave for Linear Algebra and Calculus. I'm not as experienced in Stats as in the other courses, so this makes me a bit nervous. I wouldn't mind not doing it, but the course handler knows me from the lab. It'll be embarrassing if I mess it up.

I'm grabbing a library book on the way home today to spruce up my Stats.

Maths demo tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the schedule I have for the tutorial demo at maths. If I do well, I can be looking at at least 4 hours a week of teaching.

I'm not sure I want the added workload, and I've been advised against it. Though I do need the money, and the diversion from thesis work can sometimes help. I also did note the last week that attempting to prepare a class lesson was enjoyable.

So here's hoping I do well. I can still decide not to push through with the gig should I get it. And there's also the chance I won't be given a schedule, or I'm not wanted at all.

Lecture and tutorial demos

This week there were lecture demos for the search for a replacement for boss M's position as Genetics lecturer. I went to sit for some. So I heard the sickle-cell and malaria example and Hardy-Weinberg law several times (as well as koalas, kookaburas and possums, very Australian hehe). Not bad, I need to be reminded about teaching styles as I might give demos in the next few weeks myself.

Yesterday afternoon I started to write up answers for sample problems for two undergraduate courses: Vector Calculus and Complex Variables. I found myself breezing through the first few problems, but later on got stumped on several ones. On some items I knew how to answer them, but the theory got lost.

Went to the library to harvest dusty textbooks to backtrack on theorems to justify my solutions in these problems. I suddenly felt nostalgic, felt how much I missed teaching, and the process of preparation for lectures.

I am certain I want to teach in a university again.

A blue form

So about item (3) in this list, I'm being summoned to the other school to fill out a blue form. Ok so that other school is the Maths and Stats school. It gets me excited to think that I can experience tutoring in an actual Maths school here. Two reasons:

(1) I'm not in a maths school at the moment. Though I am sorta doing maths-related research.
(2) I used to teach maths. In fact I taught maths for a while after graduating from a maths degree.

I'll stop counting eggs before they hatch for now. No jinxing!!