‘You Have a Chance to Become a Better Version of Yourself’: Tips from HSE Lecturers

What approaches do HSE’s best lecturers take when it comes to teaching? Is it important to maintain a clear hierarchy in a class? How does one develop working relationships with his or her students? Is there a perfect student? The winners of the HSE University Best Teachers competition discuss these questions and more.

Alexander Demin, Lecturer, HSE School of Logistics

There seems to be a set of qualities that allow teachers to succeed in class. These are honesty, empathy, and flexibility.

First of all, you have to be as honest as possible with your students. As a professor or lecturer at HSE, your professional qualifications go without saying, and, consequently, are of little interest. However, allowing your students to see you as a human being is an entirely different matter. When this happens, students begin to want to understand what you – as a person, not simply their teacher – are trying to convey to them. The material under study is therefore better comprehended, their exam results improve, and they get more satisfaction from the course. Second, it is crucial to have a feel for your audience. When I was a student, I thought that teaching four classes with the same material would be the same thing as teaching four identical classes. Actually, it turns out that each group of students has its own character and values, and you need to recognize that in order to succeed.

Third, it is important to adapt to students' needs. I'm not saying that a lecturer is expected to abandon his or her syllabus or bow to students and give them inflated grades. A lecturer's self-discipline, just like his or her knowledge of the material, is a must-have; that goes without saying. However, I think that to promote students' engagement with the process, it's important to be on the same page with them emotionally. This means being more serious or more cheerful, giving a pat on the back at the end of a day, or giving them some time to wake up during the first class in the morning and, basically, ensuring that they are in good mood and know that they are seen and heard.

When  teaching subjects that involve math, it's important that you have the students go to the board and work out their answers there, because it really ensures a better understanding of the material. I'm delighted when a student has a chance to go to the front of the class and actually learn the material and be able to explain it to his fellow classmates. I remember being a student and explaining things to my own classmates. It is thanks to daily communication that we are able to better understand our colleagues. It's always easier to explain something to people you know well. 

Students are also interested in the practical side of the things. ‘Why is math so hard? What do I need it for?’ However, when you give an example illustrating how various tasks may be solved using these models or even more complicated derivatives, students becomemore motivated. I'm sure that it's essential to let students know that the things they are studying are providing them an important foundation. Students’ ability to independently dig deeper into all aspects of something are limitless; and when they realize this, they want to get the basics and to find something of their own, too.

I like to spend as little time as possible on enforcing a hierarchy in a class. It is critical that a teacher respects his or her students and that the students respect him or her. Moreover, it's clear that any attempts to maintain a rock-solid hierarchy with people a couple years younger than you would most probably be unnatural and not work.. I approach communication with my students on an ‘I-can-help-you-understand-something-that-you-find-difficult-to-comprehend’ basis rather than on an ‘I'm-above-you’ basis. I believe a lecturer is supposed to take on the role of a person assisting students in studying as if you were like-minded enthusiasts learning something new together.

A perfect student is one who is not afraid to make mistakes. Such students are rather independent and eager to work without assistance. They could probably learn everything on their own, but they still trust you as a teacher. Students who have this quality are also sincere, compassionate, and flexible, because university studies require essentially the same qualities from every party involved. These students are open-minded, and their real-life communication skills facilitate both academic and personal growth.

Anastasia Kapuza, Lecturer at HSE Institute of Education

If you look at the best teachers list, you'll see no consistent pattern there—I see colleagues who use a more conventional approach, and colleagues who use the flipped classroom approach and emphasize open discussions. It seems like students elect lecturers who set up clear rules and follow them. I never thought that I would make it onto the top teachers list: I've only been working as a lecturer here for a year; for the two years before this I was a teaching assistant. And before that, not too long ago, I was a graduate student myself, so I can still remember  the kinds of expectations I had of my instructors and professors—namely, the opportunity to ask questions, talk them over, and figure some things out on my own. I also strive to get feedback from my students; sometimes it's not really nice to read their comments; sometimes they even contradict each other, but I think that having  dialogue is essential. And it's equally important to demonstrate that you, as their teacher, value it.

Most likely, I still have a lot to learn teaching-wise, but what I do have (at least for now) is enthusiasm and a willingness to try something interesting. For instance, I like introducing a competitive element into the learning process. I often begin my classes by asking my students to answer questions using apps such as Kahoot. Everyone registers on the app on their mobile phones, then a set of questions is projected onto the screen, and the students answer them. The quicker you give the right answer, the more points you get. Then, we discuss wrong and right answers. I encourage discussion and debate during my classes, but in this case, I need to play a moderator's role and keep track of the time. Certainly, a greater deal of information may be shared in a conventional lecture format: when you give a lecture, everyone takes notes, and you check if they are right or wrong. Nevertheless, I believe it's important to consolidate knowledge even if we have to discuss and analyze it dozens of times. With the basics in mind, it's not that hard to master more complicated things. This year, I'd like to try the  flipped classroom approach and dedicate more time to discussing and cracking various cases and tasks.

I teach small groups of graduate students, so there is no clear hierarchy—in fact, quite the opposite. It feels more like a discussion club. The main principle I stick to in my work is ‘my students aren’t here for me, I’m here  for my students’. It is them who are supposed to demand material from me, not the other way round. It is their knowledge, their future careers and degrees. As soon as they join my class, they agree that they are willing to learn new things and that they trust me. In turn, I will do everything to help them succeed, but unfortunately I can't make them study. Doing homework is a student's personal responsibility.

A perfect student is an engaged student, one who knows what he or she's doing in a specific course and why.

Victor Gorbatov, Lecturer at HSE School of Philosophy

I can hardly say that I did something special or followed some kind of a special algorithm.  What bother? Getting into the top teachers list is a formal measure in itself. When a lecturer strives to assess himself using formal measures of assessment, it's hard to become the best, because you end up setting the wrong goals. It is a real paradox.  . However, I must have done something that brought me closer to the desired result. At some point a long time ago, I chose philosophy and logic as my majors. I am lucky, since these are objectively the most fascinating subjects. How can one give a dull philosophy lecture or hold a boring logic seminar? Try it, and you'll see it's impossible.

I love using a diverse range of methodologies. I'm not willing to settle for a traditional approach—giving lectures and listening to student seminar presentations. I really enjoy logical and argumentative games, debates, and slow collective readings. However, there is no ‘silver bullet’ in  teaching—there is no all-purpose methodological template that would be 100% effective in all cases. It's trite to say so but it's not worth adopting new fancy educational methods just because they seem to be effective and popular. It's not tools and methods that define a lecturer; it’s the targets and goals that dictate the tools and approaches he uses. For example, if I need to get my students to talk, I choose debates. If I need to get their minds warmed up, I have them do mental experiments and put their logic into use (it's essential not only to know formulae, but to try walking in Sherlock Holmes' shoes), and we play Eleusis or Resistance. Different students have different needs and objectives. They all have their own ‘zone of proximal development’. It is not uncommon to have two completely different groups of students who are both from the same cohort.

I have one terrible professional flaw—I have a really hard time remembering students' names. I only remember the ones who manage to surprise me  with an unexpected question, an original response, or sophisticated reasoning. For a long time, I tried to understand why this is, and I came up with the following hypothesis: it seems that, for me, the students exist within my dialogue with them. This is our intellectual meeting place. I can see you once you are there. The moment you leave, that’s it, you're gone. We don’t interact in a classroom with walls and a ceiling. We meet in some other dimension—a dimension of questions and answers, of joint search for comprehension. This is where all our obligations are stemming from—to come to this primary place of collaboration and to work conscientiously. Everything that serves this end well is good. Everything that does harm to it is bad. Nobody owes anything to anyone. For instance, I don't get why students are supposed to stand up when a lecturer enters the room. Honestly, I don't get it. I’d rather they used their brains to answer my questions, instead of exercising their glutei maximi to get off their butts for the sake of preserving  some form of traditional greeting. I don’t mind if they drink coffee during a lecture. I myself can't think clearly without a cup of coffee. I can't assure that this format would suit every lecturer but I sorted out my priorities a long time ago.

A perfect student for me is someone who can challenge me. You're getting ready for a class and all of a sudden you realize that last time an Ivan Petrov asked you a very tricky question, noticed an error on a slide, or cited an unknown fact for you. It means that you need to do your best specifically for this Ivan. You have a chance of becoming a better version of yourself while he's still on your mind.

 Andrey Vinogradov, Senior Lecturer at HSE School of Logistics

I believe that the most crucial thing is to treat your students with respect and help them unleash their potential. This means encouraging students to speak up and take part in discussions with their fellow students and the lecturer. It also means creating a free, creative atmosphere where no one feels hindered.

Moreover, to engage the students' interest, the lecturer himself should be interested in the subject he is teaching. A genuine interest in the subject requires familiarizing yourself with a wide range of sources that go beyond conventional textbooks and expanding your knowledge. It's really useful for a lecturer to participate in professional conferences and share experience with fellow educators and people in the field.

In my opinion, one of the most effective learning tools is studying practical cases based, first and foremost, on Russian experience. I prefer to arrange case analyses in mini-groups with further presentations and discussions of the results obtained. This approach allows putting the theoretical knowledge gained into immediate practice, which increases students' motivation and allows  them to develop valuable teamwork skills.

In the educational process, I treat students like partners. I offer them my knowledge and experience, and they can take that and add their own experience, which I find interesting as well. However, I believe there should be a certain distance between a teacher and his students in a classroom. Otherwise, the students won't take you seriously. The kind of communication style you develop with your students depends on the type of class. For example, I usually take on the role of mediator in my seminars when we have group discussions and case studies. Of course, my interaction with a student is not limited to the classroom.  Students can always come to me with questions in person or via e-mail and count on a meaningful and quick response.

I suppose that not only a perfect student, but also regular decent students should have an internal locus of control dominating the external one. They are expected to have a desire for knowledge, search for additional sources of information on the subject at hand, always raise questions, and participate in discussions. Such students are supposed to be explorers by nature, absorbing knowledge and trying to apply it in real life. They shouldn’t just learn facts mechanically and render thoughts they got from books, notes, lecturers, and seminars. Hard work, responsibility, and prioritizing skills are no less important qualities of a perfect student.

Sergey Shershakov, Lecturer at HSE Faculty of Computer Science

I didn't really do anything special.  In fact, when I first learned I had been awarded  my first Best Teacher Award back in 2013/14, my first full year as a lecturer here at HSE, it was by accident—a colleague wrote me a letter of congratulations. At that time, I was holding programming workshops for first-year students.

Teaching freshmen is always a bit of a special task. They are straight out of high school, and you can feel it in the way they think and act. They know that it's time to grow up both professionally and personally, but they don't quite get how to do it right. There are times when the biggest goal for a freshman is simply not to flunk out. They need help, but they should gain results on their own and not merely ‘pass to the next round with a penalty point’.

I always try to turn my class into something like a performance, an act joined by the students. It allows me to maintain their attention without them or me have to exert too much effort to keep from dozing off. This approach is based on holding a series of group seminars: there may be ten classes in a row on the same topic. It's absolutely impossible to give the same lecture multiple times; I'd say it’s even harmful. I always want to find something special, something clear and obvious for the students I’m teaching; therefore, I need to have a sense of and understand their state of mind, and tailor our class discussions accordingly. It's more complicated with lectures... It is really challenging to maintain students’ attention in a lecture.

Everything else is simply the usual methods: discipline, work, carrot and stick.

Yes, I have to give bad marks, sometimes even on exams. So then why do students vote for me? I chalk it up to a sort of Stockholm syndrome.

With every new cohort of students, the age gap between me and my students gets bigger and bigger, but I still treat them like younger siblings. Usually, students do feel like we all have the same rights, but they are also well aware of who is in charge. There is no need to remind them of that. Trying to briefly describe my role during a class, I would say I'm an initiator and a moderator of a meaningful discussion.

I don't have an idea of a perfect student. I have met a lot of various students, and all of them are the best. It's important for a student to be communicative, ready to work, and be a little disciplined. This makes a perfect student.

 

January 15, 2020