interview help needed: prepare 10 min sample lesson

[_Namkeen]

Re: interview help needed: prepare 10 min sample lesson

Thank you both for your input - it was very helpful. I also called the department and spoke briefly with the sec’y who set up my interview, and she gave me a few pointers… so i’m feeling more confident now.

@Lucid_Chaotic

That being said, you need to somehow stand out from others who may be presenting the content in a very traditional maths class… if possible, provide some context to your content… for example while talking about logarithmic functions, you can cite and possibly even include examples from mortgage calculations or its applications in music etc. - these are just suggestions though - you are the expert in the subject area, so you’ll know better. I remember that in my very first job talk, I did a lesson plan based on forecasting models using exponential smoothing and linear regression… but rather than delving into the technical aspects of these methods, I decided to talk with reference to a previous job as a Lead IT Analyst and how these models could be applied to forecast and handle help desk call volumes. The committee loved the applied nature of the talk and commented that other applicants had simply prepared examples from books or websites and were too general to spark their interest.

In teaching math/science, my own educational philosophy is to demonstrate the applied nature of the subject, so I’ll definitely take a few minutes to discuss context and practical applications. And as you said, it makes sense that the panel will assume that I have the technical abilities based on my credentials; what they really want to see is whether i can communicate/teach the stuff to a class of freshmen.

Well, I didn’t think I’d get an interview call because I don’t have an undergrad degree in math, which is one of the requirements - but since they want to meet me, I figured I’d put forth my best efforts. Thanks for your help, will keep you posted!