I assume that you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to learn some stuff. If you have no interest in the subject of this course, find something else to study - life's WAY too short to put up with what I will want from you if you don't even like this stuff.
SO, it is important to understand that novices (that's you) don't always know what they don't know, and sometimes they also don't know what they need to know. I don't always know either, but I've been at this a while, and I've been paying attention.
Also, the way you are accustomed to being taught may not always be the most effective way to teach something.
I want all my students to succeed. (really) I am not here to “weed” anyone out. On the other hand, I will not knowingly give marks to someone who has not earned them. University degrees are NOT bought, they are EARNED. I also won't let you pass if you don't have what you need to succeed - no matter what your reasons for wanting or needing to pass.
That having been said, I see my role as teacher/professor/instructor as that of 'facilitator'. In case your image of 'facilitator' is one of those “lifestyle coaches” who tells you things you already know, and acts like it's profound, permit me to explain. I'm here to guide you through the material in the courses I teach; to explain some of the trickier bits, and to help you find out where to look for the information you need (and what to do with it once you've found it). My job is to help you get what you need in order to succeed: in the course, and in the program. What I bring to the table is a considerable amount of experience and a sincere desire to see you all win: I was a student once too (and I sometimes still am). I've also done teaching, programming, and even consulting for money. Part of my job is to share some of that with you (not the money part though). I've been at this long enough to have learned that people do not all learn the same way and the 'one-size-fits-all' approach to teaching only works for some of us. I am always willing to try new approaches and hear new ideas. Talk to me.
My preferred style is to provide my students with the resources you will need to succeed, give you some interesting or worthwhile problems to solve, and then help you solve them. Notice I said HELP YOU. I won't tell you how to do it. I won't necessarily even give you all the information you need to complete the task before you begin. Most disciplines will require you to learn new stuff throughout your entire working career, so I want you to learn how to do that while there's still someone here to coach you along.
I am not interested in how well you can memorize and repeat facts - I am interested in helping you acquire the tools and tricks of the trade so you can use them to solve brand new problems. This way I get to learn new stuff too. It's one of the reasons I like teaching so much.
I will try to keep you informed about the course outlines and schedules. However, if I detect that the class could benefit from a different approach or a change in the order of topics I reserve the right to change the schedule on the fly. On occasion I have even changed gears in the middle of a lecture. Please let me know when you need something other than what I'm doing.
Feedback from you is very valuable to me. I am always happy to deal with questions. If you don't understand something TELL ME. I will try to find another way to approach it. If I hear nothing from anyone I have no choice but to assume you understand and I will go on. From this side, there is no easily detectable difference between the look of boredom and the look of confusion.
If my style of teaching does not mesh with your style of learning, I apologize. I respect your ability to recognize what's best for you and encourage you to ask for it. I may not be able to match your personal style but I am certainly willing to help you find resources that will. Let me know.
On the other hand, I do NOT apologize for setting a high standard or for expecting you to work hard. If you are looking for an easy 'A' or someone who hand feed you, you'll have to look elsewhere. I will attempt to challenge you and stretch your abilities because I know from experience this will help prepare you for your future. Life is messy and complicated. Simplifying complex concepts and processes or trying to make wicked problems neat and tidy does not do you any favours in the long run. Looking at real problems and dealing with whole systems is the way to prepare for life. It is actually more work for me too (just in case you think I'm trying to make you do all the work).
I encourage people to ask “What is this good for?” and “Why are we learning this?” I suggest you ask these questions of all your teachers. Informatics (of which Computer Science is a part) is largely an applied discipline - if you can't apply what you are learning then it's probably a waste of time. I put a great deal of effort into organizing material so one bit relates to the rest. Before I ask you to learn something I actually think about whether it's worth your time and what you might be able to do with this knowledge. I am able to justify my pedagogical and topical choices. Feel free to ask.
I Receive on My Student Reviews (and what I have to say about them…)
Exams are supposed to assess your mastery of the subject matter. My exams present a random sample of the total material covered in the course. Some exams you may have written are very superficial and ask shallow questions about many topics. My exams tend to ask fewer, but deeper questions. My exams tend to test your ability to solve problems rather than how well you can recite what I said. I can guarantee I will not ask you a question that I have not prepared you for. My exams rarely ask you to regurgitate material. They test your comprehension by asking novel questions that require you to apply the knowledge you have gained.
I always have specific goals in mind for each assignment. Assignments should be designed to help you learn the course material. My assignments are created with that in mind. If you do them and understand them, you can be pretty sure you have learned what you needed to. Often, my assignments deal with realistic problems that don't fit nicely into a single category or topic. It may not be easy to list what you learned from doing my assignments, but you can be sure that later course material (and even some real life material) will be easier to handle as a result.
My preference is to provide assignment details (as well as all other course elements) at the start of a term (actually, I like to have this stuff available when people are deciding what courses to register for in the first place). That way people can make informed decisions about planning their term, scheduling tasks, and organizing their time.
What follows is a variation on: Walpole, S. (2004) Designing Games for the Wage Slave, Gamedev.net This is a wonderful article, easily applied to learning, teaching, software design, you name it. The following is a summary of the main points, only applied to teaching and learning. The parts in BLUE are bits I have modified and added to fit the current context. A bit of latitude is necessary, as there is still a difference between playing a game for entertainment, and taking a class to learn something or earn a degree or certificate. The latter cannot always be expected to be “fun”. It CAN however, be expected to be relevant. (I hope Stuart Walpole doesn't mind.)