[Air-L] query: topics that don't get talked about (enough) in academia?

[Christopher Richter]

Nancy,

I concur with Ted on pedagogy-- more emphasis on teaching.  All the rest of graduate school is about being  a researcher, teaching gets short shrift.  On a related note I would observe that most of your students, even from Berkeley, will end up at small to medium sized institutions where both the benefits and stresses can be a bit different from those at the large research institutions like Berkeley where most of us are trained.  So if you want to offer something of benefit to the majority, as opposed to just your superstars, additional topics that don't (usually) get talked about (enough) with graduate students who want to go on to careers in academia include balancing teaching, research and service, especially in an age of diminishing returns and increasingly scarce resources in academia (e.g. over-identifying with your undergraduates and taking on lots of teaching and advising challenges won't help you earn tenure, but concentrating on research at the expense of your undergraduates' education and an additional burden on colleagues who have to pick up the slack will not earn you friends, loyal colleagues, or scholarships named after you in 30 years); dealing not just with colleagues who are bullies, but with administrators who may be bullies or maybe just don't speak the same language as academics; and, related to both, and to the sentiment sometimes attributed to that s.o.b. Henry Kissinger that "academic politics are particularly vicious because the stakes are so low,"  developing a thick skin.  Sounds bleak, perhaps, but reflects a reality that I have found junior colleagues are often unprepared for. 

Christopher J. Richter
Associate Professor
Communication Studies
Hollins University
PO Box 9652
Roanoke, VA 24020
540-362-6358
________________________________________
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Ted Coopman [ted.coopman at gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 4:49 PM
To: Nancy Van House
Cc: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-L] query: topics that don't get talked about (enough) in      academia?

Nancy,

Considering a vast majority of Ph.D.s will wind up in teaching vs.
research positions (as much as everyone pretends otherwise) , I would
go with the mechanics of instructional design.

• how to create/meet learning objectives
• using ICTs to manage workload
• how to create assessment (assignments, quizzes, etc).
• grading
• basic pedagogy - what the research says about what works and what does not.
• time management
• creating systems and policies to manage students and deal with
typical conflicts and complaints.
[<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeSdC7lbAlA&feature=share> - I think
you all will appreciate this]

I have watched many new Ph.D.s walk into a 4/4 teaching load (with no
TA help) get crushed and the main reason is mistaken idea (SOP in most
grad programs) is if you have taken a course in a particular subject
or area you can teach it. Knowing it and teaching it effectively are
not the same thing.

-TED

On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 7:57 AM, Nancy Van House
<vanhouse at ischool.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Spring semester I'm teaching our on-going seminar for doctoral students that
> addresses various topics related to being a researcher and, to a lesser
> degree, teaching.
>
> My spring theme: topics that don't get talked about, or not enough, or not
> frankly enough.
>
> SUGGESTIONS WANTED!
>
> Some examples:
> -conflicts over co-authorship -- who's included, how names are ordered
> -conflicts among collaborators/co-authors
> -dealing with colleagues who are bullies
> -reviewing, and responding to reviewers
> -various problems with students, in class and out.  The ordinary ones; and
> the extraordinary (e.g., stalking)
>
> **What were YOU not sufficiently prepared to face when you first finished
> your PhD?** Or, as a PhD student, what would you want such a seminar to
> cover?
>
> --
>
> --
> ***********************************************************************************
> Nancy Van House
> Professor, School of Information
> 102 South Hall #4600
> University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-4600
> voice 510.642.0855   fax 510.642.5814
> http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/~vanhouse
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--
Ted M. Coopman Ph.D.
Lecturer
Department of Communication Studies
Radio, Television, and Film Program
San Jose State University
http://www.sjsu.edu/people/ted.coopman/
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