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  1. These remarks, slightly updated from those prepared for RPI teaching luncheon, 4/28/2016, are online at http://wrfranklin.org/Main/TeachingTechniques2016 .

Context

  1. I've been teaching ECSE-4750 Computer Graphics since 1982.
  2. For F2016, 62 students preregistered; largest ECSE-4xxx section by 20 students.
  3. Fall 2014 student eval: 4.46/5, 4.46/5

Techniques

  1. Course wiki summarizing each lecture, with old exams and homeworks with answers.
  2. Organization, organization, organization.
  3. A lot of time (really: too much time) spent.
  4. Good text book.
  5. Up to date material, including latest material from news.
  6. Creative destruction of course computing material every 5 years (but keep the math).
  7. Iclickers.
  8. Knowitall points awarded for correcting me.
  9. In class notes written on tablet, and uploaded to wiki.
  10. Complaints internalized.
  11. Student feedback solicited on how to improve course.

Biggest problems

  1. Impossibility of finding knowledgeable TAs.

What more I could do

  1. More student interaction in class.
  2. More iclicker questions.

What more RPI should do

  1. Reward instructors according to tuition generated.
  2. Allow competition in courses between RPI and other colleges and within RPI...
  3. while encouraging coordination between overlapping curricula.