Possible Questions for Faculty Survey
From UCSB English Department Knowledge Base
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Based on the positive response to the interview with Sheridan Blau, we are planning to invite all of the faculty to respond to a similar set of questions. Ben has suggested asking faculty to limit their answers to each question to 250-300 words. Here are the questions from Sheridan's interview:
[edit] Pedagogy Questions
- If you had to name one thing that is most important for an instructor to say or do in order to ensure a productive discussion of a literary text in the classroom, what would it be? Why?
- I have one TA discussion section of only 50 minutes in length. Our lecture covered 200 pages of reading this week. How should I make the best use of my time?
- With the advent of electronic literature, which necessitates working in a lab or bringing computers into the classroom, how do you adjust your teaching strategies for the presence of the computer in the classroom?
- Given the brevity of most discussion sections, do you find it useful to assign in-class written work (group and/or individual)? Or should a TA concentrate on discussion alone?
- What stance do you take on holding students accountable for the reading on a week-to-week (or day-by-day) basis? What techniques do you use to check up on your students (reading quizzes, etc)? Do you find them effective?
- Do you have a favorite teaching moment? Why does it stand out for you?
[edit] DRAFT Questions About Research
- If you began in one field, but now work primarily in another, how did that happen? Were you always interested in both, or did the field you focus on now begin to pique yr interest later in your career? What led you to switch your academic focus? etc etc etc
- What do you find to be the most rewarding part of research? Do you love to see the finished book? Or to spend time looking at primary sources? Or do you love brainstorming best?
- For your field, what journal do you think is publishing the most interesting work? What conferences have you enjoyed the most that you have recently attended?
- How has teaching at a research university affected your own work? Have you taught at a more teaching-focused college, and if so, what is your experience of the difference in terms of your own research?
