new to adjuncting - advice?

[JeyRo]

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Looking into a way to make a little extra money and bolster my CV via adjunct instructor stuff at a local community college. I've been with the VA for 5+ years, have a variety (although not an enormous amount) of publications, and I enjoy teaching, although I have no formal experience yet - just supervising students for a few years and doing trainings with healthcare staff and community presentations.

The pay actually looks half decent (not lucrative by any means, but reasonable). What should I know going in?

 

[irish80122]

A few things that come to mind:

1. If possible, get a copy of the evaluation form that the students complete at the end before the start of the semester. This will help give you an idea of what things to focus on. For instance, our evals have an overall score that is an average of the sub-scores, and one sub-score is how quickly I return tests. By being very quick on returning tests, and also mentioning that I am faster than most professors, I usually can ensure that 1/12 of my evals will be stellar.

2. Be strict on the rules in the beginning, then ease as you go on in the semester. Much harder to tighten things up than it is to loosen things up.

3. Remember that some students just want a C or a D. I remember that that was an adjustment when I first started teaching, as I always wanted an A. Giving a student a D doesn't mean they will be unhappy. In fact, you will get far more complaints about grades from your A & B students than your D & F students.

 

[PHD12]

What is class size? Maximum class size? Will you get any assistance with answering emails from students and grading papers/exams (can be an issue if class size is huge)? What are requirements regarding holding "office hours" and meeting with students outside of class?

Can you post information about pay as an adjunct at a community college? I'm curious how it compared to colleges/universities.

 

[Pragma]

Have fun with it - I thought adjuncting was awesome when I did it outside of a full time clinical job. Depending what you are teaching, I am sure you can use some examples from your work.

I recommend compartmentalizing the work to the extent you are able to. For example, I always prepped/graded on Saturdays, taught one of the weeknights, and really only answered emails outside of those two days. If that works for you, it is a good way to keep the teaching from interfering with other (more important) things you have going on.

Also just keep an open mind about the students. CC students vary a lot and even coming in knowing that, you may be a little surprised. My guess is that caliber of student will vary a ton.

I'd also note that unless you have been given materials already, it can take awhile with a new prep. My estimate is that I needed about 5 hours of prep time per 90 minutes of class the first time around. It's easier if there are materials you can use already (e.g., powerpoints, videos, etc).

 

[cara susanna]

Keep in mind that a lot of these students are taking classes after a long break from school or coming right out of HS so they may not have great study skills yet.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Have fun with it - I thought adjuncting was awesome when I did it outside of a full time clinical job. Depending what you are teaching, I am sure you can use some examples from your work.

I recommend compartmentalizing the work to the extent you are able to. For example, I always prepped/graded on Saturdays, taught one of the weeknights, and really only answered emails outside of those two days. If that works for you, it is a good way to keep the teaching from interfering with other (more important) things you have going on.

Also just keep an open mind about the students. CC students vary a lot and even coming in knowing that, you may be a little surprised. My guess is that caliber of student will vary a ton.

I'd also note that unless you have been given materials already, it can take awhile with a new prep. My estimate is that I needed about 5 hours of prep time per 90 minutes of class the first time around. It's easier if there are materials you can use already (e.g., powerpoints, videos, etc).

Very much agreed. I spent probably 3 or 4:1 ratio of prep time to lecture time for the first prep of a course. After that, it gets significantly shorter (around 1:1), with the time generally being spent tweaking and improving (which I found to be much more enjoyable).

A couple other things (particularly if you haven't taught before, although you might have, and thus might already know this stuff):

1) Be very explicit in your syllabus, which includes being explicit/specific about your expectations, and stick to it as much as possible. Think of the syllabus as a contract with your students. You don't want to come up with additional rules partway through the semester to curtail situations you hadn't thought of ahead of time.

2) Build in a good 2-3 "extra" days into your schedule. These can later be set as study sessions before the final if needed (or outright gifted to the students), but in a pinch, they'll allow you to make up material if a particular lecture or two runs longer than you'd anticipated.

 

[PHD12]

Very much agreed. I spent probably 3 or 4:1 ratio of prep time to lecture time for the first prep of a course. After that, it gets significantly shorter (around 1:1), with the time generally being spent tweaking and improving (which I found to be much more enjoyable).

There is a popular movement in massive open coursework at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT these days. You can go to their websites and get a hold of lectures and syllabi for specific courses that are taught by renowned psychologists. This may help with the initial preparation.

 

[Ollie123]

Agree with not underestimating the time commitment. First time teaching a course, I'd think 10 hours a week is the minimum unless you are handed an absolutely fantastic prep for a course on a topic you know extremely well with an accompanying book you've practically memorized.

Students will vary widely. As others have said, some are happy to do mediocre. Some are even fine with failing. That said, stick to your guns and don't let sob stories lead to bumped up grades.

Think carefully about your class size when planning. I hate MC exams and don't think they should be used, but I typically have 100-200 students per semester. The only writing I have them do is extra credit stuff (so not all of them do it) or is graded very loosely (i.e. response essays where if they turned it in and showed some effort they get a point).

This is sort of taboo to bring up, but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyways. If you are hoping to turn this into a long-term gig, they are probably going to want to see good teaching evals. Being a better teacher does not always mean better evals (see above about sticking to your guns), but there is a bit of "gaming the system" you can do to help it out. I always try to make sure to schedule the super-fun-highly-interactive-activity around eval time, preferably on the same day if possible. I know another professor who always plans to cancel class on the Wednesday before thanksgiving, but doesn't tell anyone and has the class "vote" to do so to create the illusion of control. I'd wager at least half the students care more about how entertained they are than how much they learn (and are better able to judge the former too), so you might consider sacrificing some material for more "fun time".

These are not exactly things I'm proud of having done and I think its VERY important to draw lines and not take it too far, but as with most jobs, a little politicking and "working the system" can go a long way.