FIRST SEMESTER AS A UNIVERSITY LECTURER

In April 2013 I was given a part-time job as a university lecturer at the Centre for Security Studies of Mzuzu University to teach Human Resource Management (SSHR2405) to second year undergraduates. This is consistent with my long-term employability goal of going into higher education on retirement from the police in the future. Meanwhile, I just finished marking an end-of-semester examination last week and I think this is the right time for me to reflect on the extent to which I have been a good university lecturer. My reflections will inform my performance in the next semester which opens in August. In this post I examine my coverage of the syllabus, the extent to which learners demonstrated an understanding of the subject and the extent to which I satisfied the assessment criteria. In each case problem areas are highlighted and future lessons are drawn.

During the semester I covered eight of the ten topics that I was required to teach over the period of fourteen weeks. This represents an 80% coverage of the syllabus. The failure to complete the syllabus can be attributed to two major reasons: Firstly, it was because of my many other commitments as a police manager and as a University of Leicester student. As a police manager, I coordinate a number of projects which take up a significant proportion of my time, making it difficult for me to travel to Mzuzu for classes sometimes. Secondly, it was because of the long distance between my city of residence and the city where the university is located. Because of the distance it was necessary for me to travel down to Mzuzu every two weeks and spend at least a week. This sometimes brought serious conflicts with my work schedule as I was required to be in my office to sign some things off and to provide direction in other things. The 800 kilometre return journey also presented some logistical challenges in terms of travel expenses and subsistence which the university must meet.

But covering the syllabus alone is not very useful if students do not demonstrate to have understood the material. For this purpose the university required me to administer at least two continuous assessment assignments and an end-of-semester examination. In this respect I am glad to have beaten this minimum performance standard by administering three assignments: an essay, a group presentation and a mid semester examination. Although all the twenty one students passed the subject some of them had serious problems writing an essay. For instance, when marking I discovered that two students had presented the same essay as their own work. I disqualified the essay and demanded that they both resubmit, which they did. In addition, most students were overly descriptive in their essays and little care was given to referencing. Some copied whole chunks of my powerpoint class notes and presented them as their work without proper acknowledgement.

The next semester opens in August 2013 and there is a need for me to make some improvements based on the lessons that I have learned in my first semester as a university lecturer. In order to complete the syllabus I have produced a calendar of my engagements with the Centre for Security Studies which I will present to the University and possibly resources can be made available in advance. In addition, I have given more autonomy to superintendents in my office in order to empower them so that they can more easily cover up for my absences, which have become frequent. In order for me to complete my multiple tasks, time management is of the essence. I will draw up a time table and keep to it and I will learn to work with more speed. I will also provide more guidance to my students regarding essay writing. My learning experience with the University of Leicester will be useful for this purpose. I will warn the learners sternly against plagiarism and all academic malpractices and provide more comprehensive feedback on their work.

On the whole, I think I have had an enjoyable experience as a university lecturer and I look forward to a more exciting time in the next semester. I would want to use my experience with Mzuzu University as a spring board to a career with bigger universities. South Africa and Europe are my dream destinations. In sum, I think my post-policing employability objectives are on course.