Germanic and Slavic Languages & Literature Department
Rudolf Michaeli enrolled in the Germanic and Slavic Department’s PhD program in January 1999. Initially he served as a Teaching Assistant in the Department’s undergraduate programs. The Department soon became aware of his excellent teaching skills and entrusted him not only with first year language courses which TAs normally teach, but also with second and third year courses.
Rudolf used weekly quizzes in his first-year language courses. Each Friday the students were quizzed on what they had learned. Prior to every quiz, Rudolf took time to answer questions concerning the material. Immediately following each quiz, he asked whether there were any difficulties with how the quiz was constructed. The students commented that “our concerns were never taken lightly, and always taken into consideration”. The students always had a sense of their marks. Throughout the term, Rudolf held individual meetings with students. During these meetings, the students would be given their current grades, both verbally and textually. Rudolf would comment on their progress, offering encouragement, assurance or suggestions for improvements.
Rudolf understands that life does not always provide ideal conditions for academic performance. He tried patiently to make things easier for his students through flexibility, adaptability and ways of lessening pressure so that the students could meet his expectations. This was appreciated by his students. As one student says “I must admit that I was none too impressed when I learned that the Faculty of Arts requires two language credits. I walked into German 101 with quite the attitude, resenting the subject, dying to leave. On the last day of classes, I left very sorry to be leaving. And I signed up not only for German 102, but for Dutch 101 as well.”