How many classes do professors teach a semester?

Research versus teaching Faculty at teaching oriented schools typically teach four courses per semester. At research focused institutions, professors may teach only two courses, but will be expected to produce significant research.

How many classes do professors teach at a time?

In theory, four classes per semester is considered full time, and most “full time” (tenured or tenure-track) professors have some of those teaching units substituted with research or administrative expectations. The provost might teach one class a year, or every other year, if at all.

Do professors teach multiple classes?

Yes. Many faculty teach part-time at multiple schools. If a faculty member is qualified in different subjects, then they can teach multiple subjects.

Do all professors have to teach?

Unfortunately (for the professors and their students), success in those two roles is mutually exclusive. Students are usually unaware that college professors are not trained teachers. Ironically, while students think that “all profs do is teach,” teaching is where professors receive the least training, if any at all.

What is a 5’5 teaching load?

So, what did the 5/5 class-load mean for me? Depending on the school, class sizes tend to be capped somewhere between 25–35 students, so I taught roughly 150–175 students per semester at the low end. These five courses will typically be sections of two to four different classes.

What is a 4 4 teaching schedule?

A 4-4 load indicates an exclusively teaching assignment and would be most common for instructors, lecturers, and other non-tenure earning positions. There would be little to no expectation for research or service for anyone teaching a 4-4.

What is a 4 4 load?

So 4/4 is an abbreviated way of saying “I teach four sections in the fall, and I teach four sections in the spring on a semester schedule.” (If one were on quarters, one would describe her teaching load with 2 slashes, so, for example, a 3/3/2 load) There are “4/4” loads, and then there are “4/4” loads.

What is a 4 4 faculty load?

While many community college instructors will teach a higher 5-5 load, a 4-4 is the highest you tend to find in a four-year institution. A 4-4 load indicates an exclusively teaching assignment and would be most common for instructors, lecturers, and other non-tenure earning positions.

What is a 3 3 course load?

A 3:3 load with two preps means that you teach 3 sections per semester but two sections are of the same course. For example, you might teach two sections of Calculus I and one section of ordinary differential equations for a 3 course load with two preps.