How much teaching experience?

[fallen625]

How much teaching experience would you recommend in grad school to be competitive at R1-R3 universities? I am currently teaching one course, but I didn't know if another one or two would be helpful.

The one issue that I have is that teaching would take away time from pubs, but I am pretty comfortable with my research experience (have grant funding and a good amount of high-quality pubs), and not as comfortable with my teaching experience.

Also, are online courses (at a local university, not shady online universities) frowned upon? I was given the option to teach another semester of the course I am currently teaching face-to-face online (but could ask for face-to-face if that's better), and was thinking online might be a good experience.

And finally, would you recommend variety (teaching several different courses)? I am currently teaching research methods and it would be easiest to keep teaching the same course, but I didn't know if I needed experience with more courses (I heard stats and intro are good ones to have under your belt)

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[Ollie123]

I would say two different courses (i.e. independent preps - not multiple sections of the same course) is probably fine for most universities. As teaching-focus goes up, you'll want more but its not like you need to have taught a dozen courses to have a chance. Even my friends who got hired at teaching universities were usually only primary instructor for 3-4 different courses. Plenty of people get hired at R1's having never been more than a TA (not that I'd recommend it if the goal is to be as competitive as possible).

Online instruction experience is probably a pro as long as you have classroom experience too.

Places love having someone who can/wants to teach methods and stats. These are usually the assignments people avoid. Definitely good things to have experience doing.

 

[Justanothergrad]

There is a pretty big difference in terms of where to put your energy depending on if you want to go R1 or R3. R1 teaching some classes is good because it makes you a better presenter (if you use the opportunity to develop), but that won't walk you in the door for the job. R3 is going to value it way more; they're likely going to ask for teaching evaluations in the application whereas R1s are more likely not to and will generally want publication reprints. If you want R1, I would spend my free time publishing and just GTA/cover courses to get more familiar with teaching.

Personally, teaching a variety of courses is probably less important developmentally than learning good techniques to engage students, deal with classroom management, etc. Those skills transfer far more broadly and can be developed in any course. Online is a good experience, but it doesn't develop those skills nearly the same. It develops others- that's a given, but those core skills are the first step to make sure you have down.

 

[calimich]

Short answer -- it depends.

For non-R1 environments, teaching experience is more important. However, quality is more important than quantity, and thoughtfully explaining your teaching philosophy is very helpful. When applying you will likely be asked to submit copies of student evaluations and a written explanation of your pedagogical approach.

Regarding online and different courses, yes, experience with both will be helpful. Most colleges have online offerings and being able to speak about your experience/familiarity with certain platforms is a plus. Because teaching different courses (stats vs. into) often requires modifications in techniques, you'd be able to demonstrate flexibility in techniques within your pedagogical philosophy. Something else to consider, experience with different student populations (lower/upper division, undergrad/grad, 4 year/2 year) can also help you demonstrate flexibility/creativity within a pedagogical framework.

I agree with Ollie's comment about number of courses and experience with intro/stats.