1. Teaching Philosophy, Methodology and Results
Michael Fuchs Department of Applied Mathematics

2. Short CV Born in Austria
Master (2000) and Ph.-D. (2002) from the Technical University of Vienna
Postdoc at the Institute of Statistical Sciences, Academia Sinica from 2002 to 2004
Assistant Professor at NCTU from 2004 to 2008
Associate Professor at NCTU since 2008

3. Courses Taught Since 2006 2006 Fall Calculus I Probability Theory
Spring
Calculus II
Stochastic Processes
2007
Analysis of Algorithms
2008
Cryptography
Analytic Combinatorics
2009
Complex Analysis

4. Teaching Philosophy Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
“If you want to build a ship,
don’t drum up the men
to gather wood, divide the
work and give orders.
Instead, teach them to yearn
for the vast and endless sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

5. Teaching Philosophy (con’t)

6. Teaching Philosophy (con’t)
Motivating students
Understanding limitations “We can only bring the horse to the river, but we cannot force the horse to drink”.
Long-term learning goals

7. Teaching/Learning in English
Understanding problems student face
Creating a learning environment in which students feel comfortable
Gathering feedback

8. Course Statistic
Enrollment
Student Evaluation

9. Beginning of the Course
Explaining what is expected from the students
Telling students how and where to find help
How to learn mathematics Difference of high school mathematics and university mathematics

10. Mathematics is not a spectator sport

11. Blackboard vs. Powerpoint

12. Course’s Webpage

13. Homework and Exams
It is not that we understand mathematics, rather mathematics just becomes familiar with practice.

14. Homework and Exams (con’t)
Weekly assignments Examples not just chosen from the textbook, but carefully selected from many sources
Weekly quizzes
Midterm and Final which mainly check understanding

15. Teaching Assistants TAs play a crucial role in the teaching
Weekly meetings with TAs
Weekly meetings of students and TAs

16. Achievements
English Calculus Program Since 6 years; NCTU is the only university in Taiwan which has such a program
Large database of examples for Calculus
Lecture notes for most of the courses

17. Thanks for Your Attention And Thanks to All My Students!