Question the pace by Nicole

Nicoleof Iowa City's entry into Varsity Tutor's August 2017 scholarship contest

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Nicole of Iowa City, IA
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Question the pace by Nicole - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

Being a professor in college is very difficult. Especially if the professor is passionate and wants his students to feel the same about the course. If I were a college professor I would teach statistics. I believe it is one of the hardest classes to take freshman year of college. I struggled so much in the beginning of the class, I almost gave up. The professor woulds sometimes go too fast through the examples it would frustrate me. I understand they couldn't wait just for me but there were other students around me who were struggling as well.
If I were teaching statistics, I would pay attention to what my students needed. I would do a handful of examples, step by step. I believe that examples are the best way to teach a student anything because they get to see step by step how to solve a problem and later apply the steps to any other problem. I would ask students before going to the next problem if they had written all the steps down or if they needed more time. Learning should not be rushed because then students only learn to memorize the questions instead of how and why things are done. Once I have done the examples I would allow them to do some by themselves, to see if they can or know how to apply the steps.
In addition, I would not only follow the book, but try to make the steps more simpler or try to take out unnecessary steps that will not confuse the students. Since I took the course, I know how frustrating it is to struggle on a question after repeatedly trying different ways to solve it. I would try my best to find better and clearer ways to solve a problem. Look for more than one way to solve a problem, so that it help students who see things differently or find one way harder than another.
In the end, I would try my best to be disposable after class. I would have office hours, but also allow my students to schedule appointments when it fits them the students best. I want the students to feel comfortable emailing me whenever. I want a them to feel comfortable in order for them to feel safe asking questions and having no doubt that I will not help them. It is sometimes hard for students to connect or feel comfortable asking questions to professors because of being rejected or thinking their question is not smart. Being a student is scary because they do not want to feel less than their peers. But as a professor I would encourage them to do it, even if it is after class because it will allow them more than they did before.

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