Class Teaching

xfordhysics

The Fourth Year Major OptionsC1 Astrophysics – Julien Devriende

C2 Laser Science & Quantum Information Processing – Chris Foot

C3 Condensed Matter Physics – Andrew Boothroyd

C4 Particle Physics – Hans Kraus

C5 Physics of Atmospheres and Oceans – Don Grainger/ Anu Dudhia

C6 Theoretical Physics – Fabian Essler

C7 Biophysics – Stephen Tucker

The Third Year CourseI: Fluids, Chaos and Biophysics II: Special Relativity and SymmetryV: General Relativity and Cosmology

The Department organises on behalf of the Colleges tutors for classes on three sections of the third year course and for all the fourth year Major Options

Third Year Classes

These classes take place in Colleges and are generally the whole year group, typically 5-6 students

There are about 5 classes in MT for sections I and II, five classes in HT for section V, and one revision class for each section in TT

Classes are 1.5 - 2 hours long

Class tutors report directly to the College tutors

What a Major Option entails

~42 lectures delivered across the 4th year, but most in the first term so ~20 in Michaelmas Term, ~14 in Hilary Term and ~8 in Trinity Term

Projects are undertaken in Michaelmas & Hilary terms and the final exam is at the end of Trinity Term

Each Option course is supported by 8 classes – the likely pattern is MT 4/, HT 2/3, TT 2

Each class has about 8 students, but may depend on the number taking the option

Each Option is examined by a 3-hour paper, answer 4 questions from a choice of 8

Major Option Organisation

Each Option has a coordinator who:– organises the lecturing team– organises the class teaching teams and assigns students to classes– with the lecturers and teaching teams provides the problem sets for

the classes– liaises with the Faculty Office on reporting and payments– liaises with the Chairman of the Finals Examiners on providing the

exam questions for the option paper Major Option classes are organised by the Department, but

paid for by Colleges Classes involve 6-8 students and last for 1.5 hours and

occur every two-three weeks in MT & HT

Some generalities for Major Option Classes

Class style varies from one Option (s/dept) to another – some have small groups with a tutor who also marks work – others have larger groups but tutor/marker pairs– some keep class and tutors together for the year– others get a small number of ‘experts’ to teach all groups a particular

topic (efficient but means that students may have many different tutors over a year)

An important point in the Oxford context is that students may find the transition from the ‘familiar’ College tutorial (with College peers and tutors of 3 years standing) to a larger class with unfamiliar company a shock – so it is good to acknowledge this at the start and get people to introduce themselves and generally break the ice

Class teaching - minimum

Be in command of the material that the classes will cover– it may be helpful to see how the lecturer is covering the topic

(notes may be on the option website or ask the coordinator or lecturer for any notes or handouts)

Even though answers to the problems are likely to be provided, it is advisable to do the problems yourself – you may well prefer your own approach- so that you can give insights

All work handed in should be marked and a record kept In the class go over the concepts and the problems for the

topics under consideration

Class teaching

The problem set will have been handed out either at the lectures or the previous class

Work will have been handed in for marking a few days before the class

It is important that the work is marked and comments written on the students work to help them with their individual difficulties (there won’t be time to deal with every problem or person)

Take an overview of what the class can and can’t do and spend the time on the latter

Leave time for questions and discussion

Class teaching – Major Options

If you are in a tutor/marker team then it is essential that you get together well before the class so that the tutor knows what needs to be covered and also gets a feeling for the sorts of problems that have arisen

For some options the coordinator will try to get all class teams together to see if there are common difficulties or themes for that week or problem set

For a team it may be worthwhile sharing the exposition – especially if the marker has expertise or direct involvement in a topic – apart from the variety, hearing things ‘from the horse’s mouth’ is usually educational

Class teaching – engaging the audience

Engaging the whole class is highly desirable – but hard as a class is neither a lecture nor a tutorial

None the less, it is very important to try to keep everyone involved, at least most of the time

It is very easy, as class tutor, to do all the talking – especially as you may feel under pressure to get through a lot in the time available

Ask or invite questions – try to develop a culture that encourages interruptions and questions

More on engagement

Should students be asked to present a solution ? Clearly that student is then fully engaged – but it is risky because the student may take too long to get to the point – also to be fair everyone should be given the opportunity (but not necessarily in each class)

Maybe approach this by discussing the idea early on with the class – only pursue it if the students are willing to volunteer topics at some point during the year or agree to being given a topic that they have understood (or all agree to the character forming ‘call to the blackboard’ on unseen topics)

Amount of material

Classes are concentrated! It will usually not be possible or necessary to cover everything

Spend time on getting across understanding of what are often difficult concepts – mathematical details can be covered in a handout

In fact it is probably a good idea to give out notes on the answers – sometimes this will be organised by the option coordinator

A good suggestion for the class is to consider meeting by themselves – as a self-help group - in weeks when the option class is not scheduled

Reporting to Colleges

If a student does not attend a class or does not hand in work inform the College tutor and if a Major Option class the option coordinator immediately – don’t leave it until the end of term

At the end of term the class tutor must prepare a report on each student to be sent to the college senior tutor

Remember that Colleges have the responsibility for undergraduate progression and are paying for the classes

There is an online interactive database OXCORT that makes reporting straightforward

Sources of Information

Option Coordinator Physics website – Major Options page www.physics.ox.ac.uk/Teach/Major_Options/default.htm Pages on each option being developed – syllabus – problems - etc more general info

www.physics.ox.ac.uk/teach Teaching guide www.physics.ox.ac.uk/academic/T-guide/Tguide-top.htm Undergraduate Course Handbook

www.physics.ox.ac.uk/teach/UGhandbooks/Course.pdf

Handbooks

Course HandbookEverything you need toknow about the course Lectures Reading Lists Exams

Other HandbooksPhysics & Philosophy Practical Course Projects – MPhys – BA

Summary

Third year classes and the Major Option classes are important components of the degree courses

It is challenging but rewarding work– for the Major Options students have chosen their options and usually work hard at them

The quality of students is high and many of them will continue into research – you have the chance to communicate your enthusiasm for physics

Class teaching – as tutor or marker for a Major Option – is a useful transferable skill