Question

One of my former supervisors is upset about student feedback for her lectures. There are two problems:

1 If she provides complete slides with information, students complain that she reads from the slides.
2 If she doesn't provide complete slides with information, students complain that her slides are incomplete.
And
1 If she provides webcasts of her lectures, students don't turn up to lectures.
2 If she doesn't provide webcasts of her lectures, students complain she's a bad lecturer.
I know she's upset + it's directly impacting her medium-term happiness based on what she wrote on social media. However I have not talked to her about it. Should I? If so, what can I say? Both problems look generic enough that other lecturers must've dealt with them before. How?

Answer 1

If you're concerned about your supervisor's well-being, it would be helpful to have a conversation with her to offer support and discuss potential strategies to address the issues. Emphasize providing clear explanations and examples during lectures, rather than fully relying on the slides or webcasts. Remind her to seek assistance from colleagues or attend professional development workshops for further improvement.

Step-by-step explanation:

It's understandable that your supervisor is upset about the conflicting feedback. Many instructors face similar challenges when it comes to meeting student expectations. If you're concerned about your supervisor's well-being, it would be helpful to have a conversation with her to offer support and discuss potential strategies to address the issues.

When approaching the conversation, emphasize that you understand her frustration and acknowledge the difficulty of finding a balance.

Encourage her to focus on providing clear explanations and examples during lectures, rather than fully relying on the slides or webcasts. Suggest exploring other teaching strategies, such as interactive activities or discussions, to enhance student engagement.

Remind her that it's impossible to please everyone, and feedback should be taken into consideration, but not become the sole determinant of her teaching effectiveness.

Encourage her to seek assistance from colleagues or attend professional development workshops on effective lecture delivery and student engagement to further improve her skills.