How to engage your students and teach effectively

From ScienceMag:

For the many graduate students and postdocs who find themselves in front of a classroom, the transition from student to teacher can be abrupt—and the new responsibilities overwhelming. That was the case for Endy Lopes Kailer the first time she taught college undergrads when she was beginning her master’s degree program. Despite previous experience teaching English and tutoring high school students, she felt “very nervous and intimidated,” she recalls. “I wanted to connect with my students and show [them from] day one that they could rely on me and that I truly cared about their learning experience.”

She committed to preparing, down to writing some jokes to break the ice. “Only two people laughed,” she says. “That crushed my confidence, but also taught me that it takes time for students to open up and connect.”

During the following 6 years, Kailer—now a graduate research assistant in agronomy and soil science at Kansas State University—honed her skills to effectively engage and teach her students. “I have been able to replace the anxiety and insecurity for excitement when I step into a new classroom,” she says. Soon enough, students started to show their appreciation in positive feedback about her teaching style.

To help readers on their own teaching journeys, Science Careers asked Kailer and other researchers with recognized teaching experience to share their insights and approaches. The responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: How did you get into teaching, and what was your first experience like? Was it difficult to transition from student to teacher?

Jack-William Barotta, Ph.D. candidate in fluid mechanics at Brown University: Teaching has always been a passion of mine. I started out as a tutor during my freshman year of college and later volunteered for office hours and exam reviews. I quickly realized the importance of supporting students’ unique approaches, and that it’s OK to be human and make mistakes. The first time I taught a dedicated course, I didn’t get through as much of the content as I had planned because we ended up diving into a beneficial discussion about a related concept. This experience taught me the value of overpreparing for lectures while remaining flexible about the exact content covered.

Evangelia Gazaki, associate professor in mathematics at the University of Virginia: I started as a teaching assistant in my second year of grad school, and in my third year I started teaching my own calculus class for nonscience majors. I was definitely excited going in, and also definitely nervous. The challenges were plenty, partly because I was an international student with no experience with the U.S. college system and an accent. But what I was most unprepared for was the level of the students in my class. A very large portion of them thought they were terrible at math, and I had to work hard to build their confidence.

Cel Welch, postdoc in chemical engineering at Stanford University: My first teaching assignment was in the first year of my Ph.D. as a [teaching assistant ] of an executive master’s in a science and technology leadership program. I mainly took this position because starting grad school had depleted my financial resources. I also wanted to help my [principal investigator], who was managing the course. I was skeptical about TAing 40- to 70-year-old business professionals as a young grad student with a biomedical engineering background, but the professor and I collaborated to make interesting resources for the class that leveraged my perspective. It definitely opened my eyes to how teaching can be creative and enjoyable. Shortly after, I TAed my first engineering course, an entirely different experience that made me realize it is one thing to understand, and another to teach content.

William Kelton, senior lecturer in biomedical sciences at the University of Waikato: While working in industry, I actively sought out opportunities to give guest lectures at a local university, as I was considering a move back to academia. Upon taking my academic position, I was tasked with developing a series of master’s level workshops. It quickly became apparent there was a great deal of preparation required for each class that I clearly hadn’t fully appreciated as a student. Our university’s rapid switch to online learning during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic presented additional challenges for a new lecturer grappling with unfamiliar learning platforms. I distinctly remember being relieved after delivering the first workshop and realizing I had an excellent cohort of understanding students to thank for making the experience positive.

Angelika Lahnsteiner, postdoc in molecular biology at the University of Salzburg: I started teaching during my first year as a Ph.D. student, and I quickly developed a passion for education. But it took me several years, and several moments of “I will quit this job,” to learn how I can deal with challenging situations. Sometimes, students will ask why someone receives extra time for exams without realizing this student has a disability, or they may feel they have been treated unfairly after failing a class. I try to stay as calm as possible and explain the situation clearly to them, seeking guidance from more experienced colleagues or the legal department if needed. I’ve also learned to accept that I will never reach every student—not all students will like me as a person or my teaching style—and that’s OK.

Florian Golemo, postdoc in robotics and 3D perception at McGill University: My teaching responsibilities and independence gradually increased over time. Being part of a team teaching a large undergraduate class during my Ph.D. felt like an apprenticeship, allowing me to observe experienced instructors and learn the ropes, from classroom management to assignment design. My first solo flight came during my postdoc, teaching cognitive science to 200 students with backgrounds ranging from psychology and philosophy to computer science. I vividly recall the sinking feeling of seeing some students disengaged while others struggled. That first experience really shaped me into the teacher I am today: one who values continuous improvement and believes learning is a collaborative journey.

Q: What is your teaching approach or philosophy, and how do you measure success toward your goals?

Golemo: Effective teaching is about more than content delivery; it’s about creating an inclusive environment where every student feels seen. I immediately asked my diverse class for feedback, inquiring about prior knowledge, adequate pacing, and how I could better meet their needs. The course improved significantly as a result, and I discovered the power of student collaboration in shaping learning. Since then, my teaching philosophy has centered on adaptability and responsiveness—listening to students, understanding their perspectives, and adjusting my approach.

Kailer: I have made it my life’s mission to make learning fun and accessible to others who, like 7-year-old me, had to work against the odds to access education. Teaching is also caring, helping students get back on the horse when things get difficult and creating a safe space for every student. By the end of the semester, I always know each of them, their struggles, their strengths, and how I can take those aspects on board to benefit their learning process.

Welch: I personally thrive when making conventionally difficult or disliked content digestible. The best way for me to get a pulse on the class not just once it is over (as in course evaluations) but while it is happening is having anonymous forms after each lecture where students tell me if they found a concept or problem confusing. In terms of student interaction, I just aim to be myself and to be open. I will never be the person who tells a student they should give up, but I will hold them to a high standard and connect them to the resources they need to succeed.

Barotta: I don’t want to be seen as an all-knowing figure at the front of the class; rather, I aim to create a learning community where we all learn from each other—including me. I want my students to feel excited about the content, engage deeply with it, and understand that it’s OK not to grasp everything immediately. For me, success is measured by my students’ growth as problem solvers, their willingness to explore unconventional approaches, and their ability to recognize their own worth.

Gazaki: My favorite motto is “Don’t be afraid of the math, get your hands dirty!” During my postdoc years, I taught inquiry-based learning classes, where students work in groups on worksheets and the instructor serves more as a moderator (also known as the flipped classroom experience). To this day, I make my lectures very interactive, encouraging students’ participation by constantly having Q&A times. I also have large groups of students working on problems on the blackboard during office hours. Besides getting energetically involved with the material, this approach helps them build community.

Kelton: I think it’s important that students learn to apply key theoretical concepts to solve problems, thus avoiding the rote learning that can pervade some fields. Rather than prioritizing detailed memorization, I’ve adopted a real focus on flipped learning with practical lab sessions and workshops. I think this approach is all the more important these days, considering the rise of artificial intelligence tools. Beyond tracking pass rates and gathering feedback at the end of the course, I’ve begun to implement online polls during the course to understand how the students see themselves as learners and whether they have any subjects of particular interest that I could cover.

Q: How do you go about preparing and delivering the course material? What professional training or resources did you have access to?

Kailer: It takes a lot of research and reading to create a great set of slides for a lecture and be prepared to answer questions. I always try to show that complex topics can be easily understood if presented in a more digestible manner, often bringing soil samples, live plants, and organisms preserved in resin blocks for the students to observe and interact with. I find this hands-on approach especially valuable to support students who may find it challenging to focus during traditional lectures, especially students with ADHD, as it makes learning much more memorable and exciting than simply viewing pictures. I also try to connect course material to current events to help students understand the relevance and practical application of what they are learning in class. To help me develop my teaching skills, I watched YouTube videos and read open-access books developed by my and other universities. I recommend asking former teaching assistants about their experiences with the course and inviting the main professor to attend some of your lectures to provide feedback. Critically observing great professors and other role models will also help you in your learning process.

Welch: I use a similar approach to teaching as I do when writing a grant or research paper and preparing talk slides. First, I set aside some time to abstractedly think about the topic and the main things that must be touched on. Then, I scaffold an outline of how I will address these concepts. I flesh it out with specific pieces of information, review, and modify (time permitting). For grading, at first I was giving overly detailed comments, taking twice the time or more than I do now. I started striving for efficiency once I realized the students didn’t necessarily care. In terms of training, I was able to pursue three teaching certifications as a Ph.D. student, which taught me a lot of skills. Then as a postdoc I completed a mentorship certificate, which made me aware of the pitfalls in my style and how to correct them.

Barotta: Typically, I first go through material from several textbooks and online resources from other instructors or organizations to gain different perspectives on the topic. I then focus on creating in-depth, applicable problems that complement the material, with the lecture content structured around these examples. I like to start by presenting a key concept and showing how tackling a related phenomenon or application will be achievable by the end of the lecture. The final example or content point usually ties back to this initial concept, creating a full-circle moment. I also make an effort to keep the lectures interactive by incorporating numerous questions and activities. My formal pedagogical training has been incredibly helpful in this regard, as I’ve been exposed to various forms of active learning that I am now implementing, such as debates and discussions, Think-Pair-Share moments, and case studies. Then, setting up asynchronous communication channels, such as Slack, has been useful for students to continue conversations outside of class or form problem solving groups.

Kelton: I’ve joined a group of academics from both the education and science fields that has been a great forum to share ideas, resources, and most importantly, come to grips with simple practical steps you can take to improve your teaching. For example, I now quite often use short, prerecorded videos to deliver content ahead of class, allowing more time for interactive workshop style learning. Developing classroom strategies has been a learning process with some trial and error. In my classes, I’ve found that simply posing a question and waiting for the class to answer is an effective tool to drive engagement. I also try to pace content and avoid the temptation to include too much material.

Golemo: It’s a little bit more preparation, but I generally gear the lecture for the slower students and have optional further resources for the more advanced students to keep them engaged. As for course materials, traditionally in the department there are a lot of classic experiment papers to read as homework. But I’d argue that it’s faster and more effective to discuss them in a lecture so I can make sure directly that the students pick up on the (modern) criticism surrounding some of these classic experiments. Meanwhile, I like to give the students more contemporary and diverse materials to explore between lectures, like podcasts, book excerpts, and TV shows. There are Star Trek episodes that do a better job exploring the nature of intelligence than some papers do.

Lahnsteiner: Several days before the lecture, I send students videos and learning materials to allow class time to be dedicated to discussions and collaborative problem solving. To help students track their own learning progress, I prepare ungraded quizzes for each lecture on our learning platform, where they receive automated feedback. Then, in a final workshop, I ask students to prepare in small groups some posters about key epigenetic mechanisms and present them to classmates. I also created a board game about these mechanisms for student teams. While these activities may seem playful, I have found that active engagement significantly improves learning outcomes. I learned some of these teaching approaches in a three-semester course I recently completed. As part of the program, I also took a voice training class to control my breathing and manage nervousness, which significantly increased my self-confidence.

Q: What do you find are the most enjoyable or valuable aspects of teaching? What has proved more challenging for you?

Golemo: I’ve always loved teaching, and witnessing a handful of students getting motivated to do a summer boot camp on AI following last year’s cognitive science class has made me really excited for becoming a professor. Still, I have a little bit of stage fright. I’ve been building confidence over the years, but when I step into the big auditorium in front of 200 people, it’s daunting for the first couple minutes. Today, the feeling will naturally fade once I settle in, but what helped me in the early days was a saying from one of my role models: “The worst day of teaching is still better than the worst day without teaching.” As for balancing teaching, research, and free time, that’s tough. The silver lining is that it gets a lot easier over time. With practice, you become better at prioritizing different tasks and gauging how much time some topic will take to prepare for a given class. And then, creating a whole course for the first time is a massive time sink; updating and adjusting one that you’ve already taught is a walk in the park!

Kailer: It is so fulfilling to see a student that used to struggle with a subject to not only learn it effectively but also enjoy it. And certainly, teaching has indirectly benefited my research by helping me gain strong communication skills. However, whereas students have the option to not show up when life happens, the instructors have to be there, consistently, so organization and planning skills are key.

Kelton: Marking has been a real challenge time-wise, and I’ve been working on strategies to reduce this burden while still achieving quality assessment. Then, having to adapt to the widespread use of AI tools has further changed the nature of assessment. I’ve found individual or group presentations with question-and-answer sessions to be a good way to gauge the depth of student understanding. For me, the most rewarding part of teaching is seeing students really grasp a concept. Teaching has also been an amazing tool to connect with and recruit enthusiastic students, which makes growing a research team significantly easier and more enjoyable.

Barotta: It is thrilling to have a say not only in how the content of a course is taught, but also in shaping the content itself. But the teaching moments that truly stand out for me are the discussions with students that take place after class or during office hours. The most challenging aspect has been figuring out how to ensure that my teaching style is accessible to students with different learning preferences. Balancing teaching and research has been deeply rewarding for me, as I’ve found my research has informed my teaching and vice versa.

Lahnsteiner: The communication skills I have developed through teaching have been invaluable in my research collaborations and grant writing. And I really enjoy being reminded that I’ve made a positive impact by following the progress of my students over the years. However, it’s easy to spend countless hours, even on weekends, preparing lectures and research materials. Finding a healthy balance between work and life is essential—not only to stay motivated but also to generate fresh ideas for both teaching and research.

Welch: Teaching helps my research by engaging another part of my brain and increasing my overall life satisfaction (it is very rewarding to help students!). However, it is not always perceived as high value in academia, so I have had to be wary of my time spent.

Gazaki: Having students tell you this was the most fun math class they’d taken or share with you their successes have been truly rewarding moments for me. Still, even years after moving to the United States, I sometimes feel significant cultural differences with my students. It took several years until a friend told me that I can come across as very blunt when telling students how I see things. Now that I know about this, during one-on-one office hours I explain what my feedback means and that it’s only meant for them to grow and succeed in the class. This feeds into another challenge: having a positive impact on all students. No matter how much I try, there are always students who might need a different approach. But it’s not always easy to figure out how to help them, nor do I always have the patience. I’ve made numerous mistakes over the years, but I hope that every mistake I make also helps me grow as a teacher.

Q: Any misconceptions you would warn against, or final words of advice?

Kailer: When I started teaching, I believed that I only needed to reserve the timeslots for my lectures; I had no idea of how much time I would need to prepare the course material and grade or to help students outside of class. Be aware of these “invisible” responsibilities, and make sure to ask the professor responsible for the course what are the expectations and time commitment.

Kelton: For me, the realization that lecturers don’t always need to provide immediate answers has been particularly helpful. Initially, I found this concept uncomfortable given the expectation of lecturers as subject matter experts. But I learned you can use these questions to create deeper discussion with the class, or tell the students you will get back to them after doing some more reading. Then, enthusiasm is contagious, so try to bring energy to your classes. But remember it’s perfectly normal to have days where your teaching doesn’t go to plan or feels a bit flat.

Welch: Do not go into teaching thinking that since you aced the class years ago or are a great researcher you will automatically be great at it. If half of your class is confused, that’s a good sign that it’s not the students’ fault. Many researchers see teaching as a burden or a distraction, but it can genuinely help you grow, so keep an open mind.

Lahnsteiner: Start teaching early. When I applied for my second postdoc position, I was explicitly asked about my teaching experience, and my 5 years gave me an advantage that many others were only beginning to develop. Also, be patient; many skills develop with experience. Confidence and authenticity are key; be yourself and don’t try to fit a mold. Then, it’s easy to blame students for an apparent lack of interest, but it’s our responsibility to make learning exciting and meaningful.

Gazaki: During grad school, I thought I had everything figured out for a course I had already taught once. I was obsessively working on my thesis, and I postponed preparing a midterm exam until late the night before. I ended up making a typo in a problem that made it impossible to solve. Most embarrassingly, I did not catch the error until after I started grading. The moral of the story is that we are not perfect. But if we build a relationship of trust with our students and we show them that we care, they can be very grateful and forgiving even when we mess up.

Read More