Teaching instructors for basic courses

[Roman]

At ETH most of the basic courses in the first two years of the Bachelor’s program are held by top-ranking scientists. In my point of view this isn’t an optimal arrangement due to the limited time a professor has. Besides the coordination of the research projects and the administrative issues in his lab each professor has to raise funds, coach his students and perhaps even holds a function in the department. Additionally, he has to prepare and hold his lectures, which in general don’t only consist of the basic courses but also some courses in the field of research of the professor.

From my experience an average professor gets more enthusiastic the more the subject of the lecture has in common with his field of research. Furthermore, I had the impression in my basic courses that understanding the simple problems of students gives a lot of trouble to most professors since for them the necessary steps are mostly obvious. This is especially the case at the beginning of the studies when the students learn the tools (as math, physics, chemistry, mechanics, …) which are used continuously in the study field. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that it would probably be best to employ professional instructors for these basic courses.

These instructors could completely focus on their courses and on the students needs to understand the topic. They could be subordinated to the professor which previously held the lecture and could also be supported by them in the case of advanced questions of students or to provide some insight in the research in this field. The instructor itself should have a technological background in the field of the lecture, but also have a strong didactic education.

In this way, the professors get relieved from the basic courses (if they want) and can put more effort in the coaching of their students and in the other lectures they hold in the upper classes. An important point to consider is, that not all the courses in the Bachelor’s program should be changed, since otherwise the students will never get to know the professors and their field of research. This would make it harder to decide where to do a project, where to write a thesis or even who to ask as tutor for the Master studies.

I’m aware that a similar project at ETH previously failed due to the resistance of the board of professors. Nevertheless, I think it would be really in the interest of many professors to be supported by an assistive teaching instructor. However, it has to be taken care of that every professor gets consolidated and on a voluntary basis has the possibility to work together with such an instructor. The professors may also not get the feeling of loosing control since otherwise they would hardly collaborate.

It would be great to get some feedback, what you think about this idea, how you experienced your first courses at ETH and how you think the quality of them could be improved.

[Karin BrownKeymaster]

That is a very interesting idea. I believe in some departments, this is the way they work. Would be interesting to have a look around at the various departments to compare practices.

[Author]

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