Supervisions Information
IMPORTANT for 2020/21 Supervisions: the University are trying to encourage as much face to face teaching as possible, Supervisions and Tutorials are one way we have to achieve this. For supervisions held face to face all supervisees will be expected to wear face masks, supervisor will wear a face shield and have access to their own board rubber, chalk, and wipes. Many supervision areas are unsuitable for social distancing and so are replaced by other areas in the department such as lecture theatres, seminar rooms, UG workroom and Staff common room. As part of the application process you will be asked if you are prepared to deliver face to face supervisions or not: there will be limited scope for online supervisions for supervisees who have deferred coming to campus, and others who have good reason.
In any case, you should all be prepared to be conducting supervisions online at some stage during the term.
Also note that for 2020/21 first year maths students will only be receiving one supervision a week, not two, with the slack taken up by Personal Tutors (supervisors will still do all the marking, with contracts set up to reflect this).
Graduate and MMath Students form an essential and respected part of the undergraduate teaching force at Warwick. Our students are of the highest calibre: most have 3 or 4 A’s at A-level and STEP. They expect and deserve good teaching. They also need the support and encouragement of people who vividly remember how challenging undergraduate mathematics can be.
What do supervisors do?
Supervisors meet groups of 5 students once a week to answer questions, discuss assignment problems, and stimulate participation and debate. You will typically be asked to mark three assignments per student per week. This must be done responsibly and promptly, as in most subjects assessed work is worth 15% of the final mark. At the end of each term you will be expected to complete a student report form on each of your students.
What’s in it for me?
• The rate per contact hour varies depending on the course the students are on to cover differences in marking (typically an hour contact and two to three hours marking/prep at approximately £14 per hour).
• You gain teaching experience and some valuable lines on your CV.
• You have the satisfaction of helping others learn a subject you love.
• You learn while you teach – not just about teaching, but about mathematics too.
Whom will I teach?
MMath students are only given first year students to supervise, although this includes joint degree students from stats, physics and computer science. For all students this year due to Covid changes, they will be in groups of 5 and you will meet them, either online or face to face, once a week. If you have maths students, and we go ahead with term 3 supervisions (to be decided) you will be given the option not to supervise in the third term at a later date.
What will I teach?
Supervisors teach first year students who take courses in Foundations, Analysis, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Geometry and Motion. Some revision supervisions, or supervisions for students who need extra help, may be arranged at the discretion of the Supervisions Coordinator (currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies). You may be asked to help with Probability A and B by your supervisees, but you would be under no obligation to do so and should concentrate on the core maths modules first.
How much will I teach?
There is a menu on the form for you to specify your preferred number of (contact) hours a week, you should remember that there is marking on top of this. This year there are many unknowns, so we cannot guarantee that everyone will be allocated supervisions, if so selection may be made on the basis of your grades last year, for want of any other way of selection (on the basis that those close to a borderline may be better served concentrating on their own degrees). Of course, things may go the other way and we need you to take on more due to the overshoots we have had to absorb.
Please note:
We only give supervision groups to 3rd year MMath students in exceptional circumstances and whilst we value applications from 4th year students from other departments, MMath students and mathematics postgraduates will take priority when allocations are made.
You should not make any financial decisions based on being given supervisions.
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