After the first class period ended I was tell having a few worries of what our second lecture would be like. However, I am proud to report that after the week came to a close both Dr. Gurung and his TA’s are settling into teaching/lecturing very well.
When comparing the first day to the second day there were comparable differences. The most notable difference was seen in the amount of names Dr. Gurung knew. For a professor to learn 30+ names between two class periods amazed me (although we learned Dr. G’s techniques), that takes a lot of dedication and shows that he wants to make the students feel comfortable and let them know he is interested in knowing them and getting them involved with the lectures. I personally feel that the more comfortable a student is with the professor the more likely they are to get involved and learning students names is the easiest step a professor can do. A second noticeable difference was the amount of time Dr. Gurung spent in the front of the class. Unlike the first day, where he allotted a good amount of time to walking around the room, he spent most of his time in the front of the class during our second meeting. I do feel this was okay to do because he knew more of the student’s names and could keep the attention of individual sections of the class when calling on students in those areas.
Another thing I noticed during the second class was how Dr. Gurung uses different techniques while teaching the same material; this allows students to learn it in the best possible way for themselves. At our meeting Dr. Gurung mentioned how he introduces something, followed by something else (I cannot recall it at the moment), then he does a follow through to make sure students have ample time to learn course concepts. For example, Dr. Gurung has used videos to show conformity along with a class demonstration to illustrate sensitivity. By using a variety of teaching techniques it allows students to better grasp and comprehend course material.
Finally, we completed our first group engagement activity during Thursday’s class. Overall the activity went smoothly once the students got into groups. I feel once the students get a few more of these activities under their belts, forming the groups will get easier since there was slight confusion since it was the first time.