Courses taught:
at Rutgers University:
at University of Illinois at Chicago:
- MCS 401: Computer Algorithms I (grader) [Fall 2018, Fall&Spring 2019,Fall&Spring 2020]
- MCS 275: Programming Tools and File Management (with Python) [Spring 2020]
- MATH 310: Applied Linear Algebra (grader) [Fall 2016]
- Math 180: Calculus I [Fall 2020] Evaluation 1 Evaluation 2
- Math 121: Precalculus [Fall 2018] Evaluation
- Math 118: Mathematical Reasoning [Fall 2016] Evaluation
- Math 110: College Algebra [Spring 2017] Evaluation
- Math 090: Intermediate Algebra [Fall 2015, Spring 2016] Evaluation 1 Evaluation 2 Evaluation 3
- STAT 101: Introduction to Statistics [Spring 2021] Evaluation
at Sofia University:
- Discrete Mathematics
- Probability and Statistics
- Information Theory
- Design and Analysis of Algorithms
- Calculus I
Teaching thoughts:
I am listing some general (and hopefully not obvious) thoughts and conclusions on teaching below:
- [teaching helps research]
Teaching helps you to develop as a researcher in at least two ways. First, it helps you to present and communicate your math thoughts better. Second, it helps you to understand some foundational concepts better.
- [toss the right questions]
The mastery in teaching is to toss the right questions, uncovering the key ideas, in the right order.
- Sidenote 1: See My Research page on why this skill is crucial in Research, as well!
- Sidenote 2: This observation is the center of the Inquire-Based Learning approach and the Moore method [1].
- [motivate your questions]
Don’t forget to motivate these questions, before asking them! Often experienced lecturers need to learn more about the motivation themselves.
- [show excitement]
You should show excitement, when motivating a question! The other such place is when you are showing an important idea leading to an answer of the asked question.
- [look at your pauses]
The pauses you make are crucial. Frequent changes in the pace help to keep the audience listening.
- [always prepare]
Even the most experienced lecturer needs to recall some key points in advance. Focusing on small number of important points is a must for a good lecture.
- [put yourself in the student’s shoes]
This was confirmed by Paul Halmos [4], who says:
“For teaching you must understand what kinds of obstacles learners are likely to place before themselves”.
Here, one could transfer what he learned from the time he has given private lessons!
[1]
Moore Method and Inquiry-Based Learning
[2] Halmos, P. R. (2013). I want to be a mathematician: An automathography.
[3] Bressoud, D. (2011). The worst way to teach. MAA Launchings Column.