Provide information on what to do in recitation sections. First-time TAs typically are anxious about their ability to teach. The degree of flexibility and freedom that TAs are allowed in planning their own recitations will vary from subject to subject. Yet in talking to many MIT TAs over the past few years, the sense I get is they are usually looking for more, not less, direction about how to structure that hour class period.
In giving TAs guidelines for leading sections, include such things as a summary of the main concepts presented in class that week, an overview of common errors students make or common misunderstandings they have, sample problems to work, or points for discussion. There are several ways you can help your TAs to deal with this problem: organize meetings during the semester so they can share ideas about encouraging participation; give each of your TAs a copy of The Torch or the Firehose: A Guide to Section Teaching by Professor Arthur Mattuck, which has much good advice on fostering interaction; arrange to have a member of the Teaching and Learning Laboratory facilitate our workshop "Leading Recitations"; or organize a microteaching workshop where participants can experiment with different tactics to get students to become active learners.
The TAs who are most successful in engaging students are those who are enthusiastic and energetic in class themselves, and who make the classroom a safe place for students to take risks. For example, in a TA workshop associated with "Introduction to Psychology" 9. Dean Perelman brought in a group of essays for the TAs to grade. After each participant graded the samples individually, the group as a whole discussed the grade each paper should receive and why. In a discussion on "how it is going" at a TA meeting midway through this past semester, one TA told us that a student had revealed to him that she was a lesbian.
The TA wanted to talk about how he should have responded. The group discussed the situation, and finally decided there was no one right way to handle it. There is no way that you can prepare your TAs for every situation they will meet in the classroom. Teaching means dealing with the gamut of human situations. What you can do is alert your TAs to the range of possible problems, make it clear that you are available to help them handle anything that arises, and make other resources available to them including other TAs.
Instead, they relied on indirect feedback to get a sense of how they were doing. As one TA explained, in a comment that Duba-Biedermann cites as representative of many others:. And then there was the smile ratio. I mean [feedback] was pretty subtle. You had to sort of pick up on it.
What kind of assistance should I give? Will I be holding review sessions? Obtaining and keeping track of supplies and materials? Designing or revising experiments? Giving demonstrations? In case of emergency, what do I do? Do I need to hold office hours? If so, how many hours per week? Should they be coordinated with the instructor's?
Do I need to attend class? Do I need to proctor the exams? What are the criteria for assignment grades? Will I be furnished with an answer key, or will I have to prepare one? Are there any special instructions for the material that I am grading?
Can we discuss grading after I receive the first assignment? Can I penalize students for sloppy work? What do I do about grade protests? I am applying Early Decision to Rice. Can I apply Early Action to other colleges? Find your best fit college and track your favorite colleges. HS students! Just one more step to start saving colleges! Sign up for an account or login to start your college list. Login Sign Up. Be on the lookout for our next newsletter. What do TAs do at a college?
Question: What do TAs do at a college? Written by. The class is expected to enroll engineering students, so the electrical engineering department set up six sections of recitation and six sections of circuits lab. The department assigned her two graduate students, Jan and YanLin, to run these sections. Recalling the departmental convention, she assumes that being a TA for this class means running the recitation section, grading homework, running the lab section, and holding office hours.
This class is the first time Kimberly has used TAs. She's a bit worried because she has heard some faculty complain about their TAs and she recalls ineffective TAs who taught when she was a student. When picturing the complexity of working with TAs, many questions come up for her. How do they set standards for fair and consistent grading?
Should the TAs independently prepare the lab activities? Should she expect the TAs to attend every lecture? Also, YanLin is a native Chinese speaker whose accent is often difficult to understand.
0コメント