College Teaching

by David Raouf
davidraouf@hqpublications.com
DegreestoSucceed.com Columnist

Individual teaching and learning styles are one of the things that make teaching so complicated. Teachers who have taught for any length of time begin to realize how hard it is to be all teachers to all students.

One job, many possibilities
College teaching staff are customarily organized into departments or divisions, based on academic subject or field. College teaching faculty usually teach several different related courses in their subject—algebra, calculus, and statistics, for example. They may instruct undergraduate or graduate students, or both. College teaching and university faculty may give lectures to several hundred students in large halls. College teachers may also lead small seminars or supervise students in laboratories. They prepare lectures and exercises. They set up laboratory experiments, grade exams and papers. College teaching faculty advise and work as well with students individually. In universities, they also supervise graduate students’ teaching and research. College teaching faculty work with an increasingly varied student population made up of growing shares of part-time, older, and culturally and racially diverse students.

With college teaching, always be up to date!
College teaching faculty keep abreast of developments in their field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences. They may also do their own research to expand knowledge in their field. They may perform experiments; collect and analyze data. College teaching faculty examines original documents, literature, and other source material. From this process, they arrive at conclusions, and publish their findings in scholarly journals, books, and electronic media.

Cutting edge technology for improved student-teacher communication
Most college teaching staff use computer technology extensively, including the Internet, electronic mail, software programs, and CD-ROMs. They may use computers in the classroom as teaching aids and may post course content, class notes, class schedules, and other information on the Internet. Some college teaching faculties are increasingly using sophisticated telecommunications and videoconferencing equipment and the Internet to teach courses to students at remote sites. The use of e-mail, chat rooms, and other techniques has greatly improved communications between students and teachers and among students.

College teaching: a diverse activity
The proportion of time spent on research, teaching, administrative, and other duties varies by individual circumstance and type of institution. College teaching staff at universities normally spend a significant part of their time doing research. In College teaching, the teaching load, often is heavier in 2-year colleges and somewhat lighter at 4-year institutions. Full professors usually spend a larger portion of their time conducting research than do assistant professors, instructors, and lecturers.

Flexible Working Conditions
College teachers usually have flexible schedules. They must be present for classes, usually 12 to 16 hours per week, and for faculty and committee meetings. Most establish regular office hours for student consultations, usually 3 to 6 hours per week. Otherwise, teachers are free to decide when and where they will work, and how much time to devote to course preparation, grading, study, research, graduate student supervision, and other activities.

Great employment opportunities in college teaching
Overall, employment of college teaching staff is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2012. A significant proportion of these new jobs will be part-time positions. In college teaching, good job opportunities are expected as retirements of current college teachers and continued increases in student enrollments create numerous openings for teachers at all types of postsecondary institutions.

Earn good money by doing what you like
Earnings for college teaching faculty vary according to rank and type of institution, geographic area, and field. According to a 2002-03 survey by the American Association of University Professors, salaries for full-time faculty averaged $64,455. By rank, the average was $86,437 for professors, $61,732 for associate professors, $51,545 for assistant professors, $37,737 for instructors, and $43,914 for lecturers. In fields with high-paying nonacademic alternatives—medicine, law, engineering, and business, among others—earnings exceed these averages. In others—such as the humanities and education—they are lower.

About the Author
David Raouf has been writing about career development in education for over 8 years. He advised number of students who are now confirmed professionals. David earned a bachelor degree in Communication in the field of education.