Student leads double life

It's 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and Bob Hull is still on campus working away on some math problems. It's beginning to look like he'll be burning the midnight oil, because when he is finished, Bob will be rushing home to start working on his own homework.

You see, Bob is not only a graduate student in mathematics, he also teaches two math courses at Cal State Long Beach. The math problems he is trying to solve are for an upcoming exam he is going to give his students.

Hull has a unique perspective of CSULB due to the fact that he is directly involved with both sides of the classroom. Part of the week he sits behind a desk as a student, while the rest of the week, he is a teaching assistant lecturing on math in front of the class.

For the most part, Hull has his study and work schedule balanced out nicely. But there are times when the two worlds collide. He explains that his most difficult time is when the two activities overlap, for example, when he has to prepare a lesson for his class as well as study for his own courses. "The fun part is trying to figure out which one I have to spend more time and prioritize," said Hull. He works hard at trying to balance out the two in order not to short change one or the other.

Recently, Hull found himself accidentally mixing both worlds together. Rushing to create an exam for his math classes, he somehow mixed together his homework assignment papers with those of the exam he was preparing. What resulted as an interesting test for his students.

He explains, "I try to create problems that work out nicely for the students. One night I mixed my homework assignment papers with the test I was preparing, and my math students ended up with some strange math problems on the exam. Luckily for all of us, they weren't too bad, just a little more challenging."

Teaching math brings a certain air of excitement to Hull. He enjoys knowing that students, who previously had no understanding of mathematical ideas, leave with some appreciation of the subject. He compares the experience to that of teaching someone to swim for the first time. "At first, students fear the unknown waters, then the next thing you know, they're paddling away," Hull explained.

Because he is now in front of a class, Hull has more sympathy for the professors on campus. He is able to understand the reasoning behind the lectures and why tests are set up they way they are. "As a student, one hopes the professor will make tests easy. But from a professor's point-of-view, you want to challenge the student and see whether or not they understood what you taught them," Hull said.

On the other hand, because Hull is also a student, he feels he has better insight into what to teach students as well as what students want to gain from a course. "I try to teach them the same way I want to be taught. I will lecture on things that I, as a student, think are important and would want to know."

He continued to explain, "As a student, you want the bottom line." With this in mind, he makes it a point to lecture only on what is necessary. He takes the time to explain to his students which parts of the lecture will be included as part of each exam and which parts are presented for the sole reason of enrichment.

Hull finds the tough part of teaching his peers is the fact that sometimes they question his ability to instruct. He claims that the majority of his students respect his knowledge of the subject matter but on some occasions, he will get someone who will challenge him in front of the class.

Because of his age, which he declined to reveal, Hull feels some of his older students may not take him seriously even though he has nothing but respect for them. He gives them that extra respect because he feels that they have earned it by coming back to school. But he still draws the line with the fact that they're still his students and will grade them according to performance.

He has discovered that students will try to take advantage of his easy-going attitude. Drawing from his experience as a student, Hull tends to be harder on students when it comes to excuses. "I understand that there are situations that arise, but I also know that students try to get away with a lot." He knows that from either the student's or teacher's view, students who use the most excuses and try to manipulate the instructor are usually the ones that are doing poorly in the course.

Being on both sides has given him a wealth of experience. As a teaching assistant, the position has not only allowed Hull an opportunity to earn extra money to pay for his education, but has also provided him with a valuable learning experience in order to determine where to go with his future master's degree.