Teaching Experience and Responsibilities

For Graduate Assistants the Department has only a limited number of jobs which do not require classroom teaching. Thus most Graduate Assistants are required primarily to teach classes in order to fulfill the responsibilities of an assistantship. Currently, the teaching load for Graduate Assistants in Mathematics averages 4.5 hours of classroom teaching per week. This normally amounts to one three-hour course during one semester and two such courses for the other semester, or else one course each semester plus some other duties such as grading papers. To be the primary teacher of a credit-bearing course, the Graduate Assistant must first have at least 18 hours of graduate credit in Mathematics, either at LSU or elsewhere. New Graduate Assistants who are eligible to teach are assigned only one course to teach during the first semester so they can have a chance to get used to the demands of graduate study. All graduate assistants must be full-time students, which means taking at least nine hours of credit in each of the regular semesters (Fall and Spring) and at least six credit-hours during the Summer (if support is being provided during the Summer Term).

Board of Regents Fellowship holders are not required to teach. However, most of our students have an interest in careers in College or University teaching. Teaching experience, and strong teaching recommendations from the graduate institution, have become important criteria in winning an academic job. This is especially significant in today's competitive job market, about which much has been written in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. Thus it is appropriate for a Fellowship student to do some teaching as part of his or her graduate education. Fellows are permitted to teach, after the first full year of graduate study, if the Fellow requests a teaching assignment solely for his or her own educational benefit. There is one restriction: Board of Regents Graduate Fellows are allowed to teach one course per year. Be sure to discuss this with the Graduate Director in advance of the semester in which you would like to teach.

All first-year graduate students in Mathematics at LSU must participate for two semesters in the one-credit-hour per semester course Communicating Mathematics (Math 7001 and 7002). This course is designed to ease your transition into the role of teacher, and to insure that undergraduate students have a well-prepared teacher. Even if you have taught before at another university, you will be required to participate in this seminar to insure your familiarity with our institutional requirements and expectations. The course will also instruct you and provide practise in writing and speaking about mathematics at both an elementary and an advanced level. Each new graduate student in Mathematics is expected to take the two semesters of Communicating Mathematics during the first year of study.

The Department takes its instructional role very seriously, and it expects all graduate students who teach to do likewise. Most graduate students who teach in this Department do a very good job - sometimes a truly outstanding job. To recognize the teaching accomplishments of graduate students and to encourage excellence in teaching, the Department offers Graduate Student Teaching Awards and Certificates of Merit in Teaching for Graduate Students each year. Such awards and certificates are helpful when applying for an academic job in Mathematics. The photograph below shows recent winners of the Department's Graduate Teaching Awards, together with Prof. Oxley who serves often as Faculty Observer to assist new student teachers.

The Department has several resources to help you to be a good teacher. In addition to the instruction offered to you in the course Communicating Mathematics, the Associate Chair for Instruction and his administrative assistant are available to help and advise you in all teaching matters. Also, the Course Coordinators for each of the individual courses you may teach are available to help you, as is the Department's designated Faculty Observer. The Faculty Observer will visit your class to observe quietly from time to time, and will give you privately his reactions and suggestions. The Graduate Director is also available for help and advice. Occasionally a Teaching Assistant has some special problem with speech or with English as a second language. The Department can refer you for expert help in these matters as well.

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