It is no secret that universities have produced plenty of PhDs in various fields in the last decade. This abundance has fundamentally changed how newly minted Ph.D. students perceive their careers to evolve in the future. Many Ph.D. researchers teach to earn money and gain valuable experience during their doctorate. Ph.D. teachers' primary responsibilities include conducting seminars, laboratory demonstrations, or supervision and marking assessments for undergraduates. This blog will describe what to expect from teaching as a Ph.D. researcher.
Is It A Compulsion To Teach During A Ph.D.?
Most universities in Europe offer opportunities for Ph.D. students to teach, but it is doubtful that this will include a compulsory part of your doctoral program. Instead, teaching is viewed more as a valuable extracurricular activity that gives doctoral candidates added weightage to their portfolios. Elsewhere globally, Ph.D. programs are more likely to include an obligatory teaching element, particularly in the USA. Ph.D. researchers usually entail some teaching responsibilities as they are treated as university employees in some places.
Teaching during a PhD
Teaching while pursuing a Ph.D. is an excellent way to grow your horizons as a doctoral candidate; it enables students to put their knowledge into practice in an unknown environment. Students definitely won't have to teach anyone until they are ready and will be provided with plenty of training and support before going ahead and teaching. For this reason, most Ph.D. teaching usually takes place from the second year onwards, so you'll already hold a year of doctoral experience by the time you take on additional responsibilities. As a Ph.D. researcher taking on the duties of a teacher, the responsibilities largely depend on your research specialism. So if your research specialism is in Art, Humanities or Social Sciences department, then you can anticipate to:
- Assign tasks and reading materials for the following week's seminars
- Lead undergraduate seminars and tutorials, allowing students to explore and discuss the assignment for a specific session
- Provide grades and feedback for essays and other assignments.
Suppose you're working in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). In that case, your teaching responsibilities are more likely to be:
- Laboratory-based
- Demonstrate scientific methods and techniques for undergraduate and Master's students in a supervisory role.
- Establishes clear objectives for all lessons, curricular units, and projects and communicates them to the students.
- Regularly assess the accomplishments of students in a variety of ways.
It is unlikely you will be expected to give any lectures whatever your specialism.
Teaching opportunities for Ph.D. researchers
When you are trying to gain teaching experience, try and get some teaching in your department. If teaching isn't offered to PhDs, you can always request your supervisor if you can follow them for a few classes. Try to conduct one or two tutorials or give a lecture. If your university doesn't permit teaching, you could also ask neighboring universities if they seek someone to teach.
Attend training seminars hosted by your university as teaching opportunities usually are advertised within various doctorate departments. Universities may promote teaching opportunities in other departments you wish to be considered for, depending on your experience and research area. This process can differ across departments, so contacting your relevant teaching coordinator may be worth getting. There are prospects for Ph.D. researchers to participate in various teaching activities within the university, including leading seminars and tutorials and a laboratory demonstration.
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