“Charles uses good methodology in the learning process. He teaches you step by step, prepares different exercises with real situations, and explains if you have any doubts or questions. We admire his attitude and respect for students, which makes us feel comfortable. He pushes me to do my best. He is prepared and knowledgeable with a practical approach, doing more than theory. He challenged us to improve our results with cordiality and charisma.”
Charles is a very new faculty member in the Accounting and Finance program at Camosun College who, last April, received a Teacher Recognition award. I wanted to talk to him about his experiences as a new instructor and find out more about what brought him here.
Charles, while born in Vancouver, considers Victoria home. He studied economics at the University of Alberta, then came back to Victoria to become an accountant and CPA. “I completed my pre-requisites for the CPA program at Camosun in the evenings after returning to Victoria in 2011, including my first accounting class. I had a great instructor and looked at him as a role model for who I’d like to be one day.” In fact, after that first accounting course, Charles began to think about becoming an instructor himself one day. “Almost 15 years later, I reached out to the Accounting department here to check for available teaching opportunities, and there just happened to be one last summer, so I jumped at the chance.” Up to now, Charles has taught Financial Management and Financial Accounting 1, all in person courses. But at the time of this interview, he was preparing for a condensed seven-week fully online version of Financial Accounting 2 for the summer.
Charles told me how well he has been supported since starting to teach here. “The accounting faculty has been incredibly helpful, going above and beyond to answer my questions. With that said, term faculty members need to be adaptable and flexible. The biggest challenge for me so far has been that for each of the two terms I’ve taught, I’ve only had a week’s notice to get myself up to speed with the content, create a D2L site, and plan the entire semester. Each week, I go into the lecture with a plan, but sometimes topics or examples I thought students would understand are more challenging than I thought they would be.” This means Charles has learned to be open to student feedback and to adapting and learning as he goes. In addition, as a new instructor, Charles says “I’d be the first to say I’m still learning too. I’m learning as much from students as they are from me, and I try to be mindful about that.”
I asked Charles what he enjoys most about being an instructor. “It’s a cliche, but I enjoy seeing those aha moments when something clicks in a student’s mind. I’m not all that far removed from being in their shoes so I remember clearly what a big difference an instructor who cares and puts in the effort can make. So, if I can inspire any of the students I’m in front of, that makes a huge difference to me.”
I asked Charles if he has pulled stories from his past experiences as a student in his classes. “In addition to bringing in real-world examples for students from my work experience, I draw on my own experiences as a student – what did or didn’t work for me and what engaged me the most or least. One thing that sticks with me is that in classroom settings not everyone is going to raise their hand to speak up or ask questions, but that doesn’t mean students aren’t engaging or paying attention. We need to accept those students who are more passive learners, preferring to be quiet and just take it all in.”
The moments that stay with Charles are when students share feedback with him about their time in his classes. “I already knew that I loved teaching, but feedback from the students makes me feel that what I am doing is worthwhile. And knowing I’m now giving back as an instructor feels really good.”
I wondered how Charles was feeling about the upcoming challenge of teaching his first online class. “Since it will be a first for me and probably for several of the students, I need to make sure to remain flexible. I’m not going into it with preset expectations. Instead, I’ll use what I think will work and be received well, but I will adapt throughout the semester based on the feedback from the students.” The biggest challenge though, is the condensed nature of the course. “Courses like the one I will be teaching this summer establish building blocks during the first few weeks. If students don’t stay on top of the content, they can easily fall behind making it difficult to catch up, and this is magnified in a seven-week course. I will need to underscore that in different ways at the outset and throughout the first few weeks, to stress the importance of keeping on top of things, especially in a practical course like accounting.”
Charles already knows he will be teaching Financial Accounting 2 again in the fall, saying, “I’ll be able to roll into the fall semester with my new learnings from the summer semester.” But as to what the future holds, Charles comments, “I’m so new to teaching it’s difficult for me to say because everything can change very quickly. So, I’m only looking one semester ahead at a time right now.”
I did wonder if Charles had any advice for a new instructor at Camosun, since he himself is still so new. “At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would double down on being flexible and adaptable, and not clinging to any preconceived or fixed ideas you have going in. I prepared for my first semester as much as I could, and I thought I was ready. But feedback from students, how they’re progressing and what their specific needs are, can change your plans even early in the semester. In addition, make yourself available to your students as much as you can because that’s going to matter as much as or more than your lectures in the classroom.”