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The Complete Guide to Becoming A Mathematical Science Teacher, Postsecondary
The real pay, the real path, and the real day-to-day of teaching math at the college level — before you spend a decade preparing for it
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Mathematical Science Teacher, Postsecondary Actually Do?
The title "Mathematical Science Teacher, Postsecondary" might sound like a single, straightforward job, but the reality is that it's a job that can look very different depending on where you work. A professor at a large research university might spend most of their week on advanced research, while a teacher at a small community college might spend their entire day with students in introductory algebra. But before we get into the variations, let's start with what's true across almost all of these roles. At its core, this is a job about two primary things: helping people understand mathematics, and meeting the administrative and academic obligations of your institution. The balance between those two extremes, and how you are evaluated, are what will define your working life.
Let's start with teaching, which is the most visible part of the job and, for most people, the reason they are drawn to it. For a typical full-time postsecondary math teacher, a standard teaching load is around four courses per semester at a community college or teaching-focused institution. At a research university, that load usually drops to two or three courses per year, which is a significant difference you'll need to weigh. A "course" isn't just the hour or three you spend in front of a room lecturing. Each course requires significant preparation time, especially when you're teaching it for the first time or when you're updating the material to a new textbook