UC Santa Barbara Campus-Wide Orientation For New TAs and Readers Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Michael Georgescu
ME Department Lead TA 2013-2014 Office: Engineering II 2211 Email: mvgeorge@engineering.ucsb.edu
Tuesday September 24th, 2013

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Outline for Workshop

What is a TA? Responsibilities and Duties - Description of Duties - Workload How to navigate Office Hours Discussion Sections Homework & Grading Academic Dishonesty Your Concerns

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

What is a TA? (University Definition)

A teaching assistant is a registered graduate student in full-time residence, chosen for excellent scholarship and forpromise as a teacher, and serving an apprenticeship under the active tutelage and supervision of a regular faculty member. All candidates for appointment and reappointment should be subjected to careful review and recommendation, either by the department as a whole or by a responsible committee.

What is a TA? (According to your Description of Duties)

A grader and recorder, an exam proctor, an office hour holder Limited review process (if any) - there is room for improvement here

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

What is a TA? (other thoughts)

As Teaching Assistants we are the meat shield that isolates the professor and the students.
At face value we are basically graders and office hour holders, but Our dedication and enthusiasm can help set the tone for the course (we pick up slack). We are in a position to motivate students and help them enjoy not only the specific course material but the entire realm of mechanical engineering we are in a position to aid in their success. (Like it or not, you are a role model) We have a responsibility to our profession. Consider the ASME code of ethics... Fundamental Canon #3: Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers and shall provide opportunities for the professional and ethical development of those engineers under their supervision.

We have a responsibility to the Students, the Department, the University, and to the state of California to help produce the finest engineers possible.

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Where do you fit in

Find out about your department who do you need to know. In ME department chair graduate program coordinator & assistant

undergraduate program coordinator & assistant

course instructor

lead TA (if any)

experienced TAs

new TAs

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

TA Responsibilities & Duties

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Understanding our responsibilities/duties

According to the UC Academic Personnel Manual The teaching assistant is responsible only for the conduction of recitation, laboratory or quiz sections under the active direction and supervision of a regular member of the faculty to whom final responsibility for the courses entire instruction, including the performance of his [or her] teaching assistants, has been assigned. This boils down to. Description of Duties document lets review! Knowing what you are not responsible for equally important.

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Description of Duties
Generic document filled out by the instructor of record. Contains course appointment details (course/instructor info).
Course/instructor information

List of your specific duties for the quarter (may vary between TAs due to appointment or experience level).
Does not contain specifics regarding which assignments to grade or when OH will be held. - this will generally be covered in meetings with the instructor

Detailed list of your specific duties for the quarter!

Check your department mailbox if you do not already have this!

Workload information

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Description of Duties and Workload

Understanding your appointment
(check your Teaching Assistant Appointment Notification Letter visit your mailbox!)

50% appointment = 0.50 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) 25% appointment = 0.25 FTE (Full Time Equivalent)
Please be sure to check your first paystub to see that the monthly salary and type of pay hrs/pct is correct.

How does your appointment translate into hours? There is no timecard system, but Quarterly workload = 220 hours Average weekly workload = 20 hours Maximum weekly workload = 40 hours Maximum daily workload = 8 hours
This is a lot of your time!

You set your schedule manage your time appropriately!

Plan ahead and keep track of your hours Realize that things will vary from week to week and from quarter to quarter

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Description of Duties and Workload (contd)

How does your appointment translate into hours? There is no timecard system, but Quarterly workload = 220 hours Average weekly workload = 20 hours Maximum weekly workload = 40 hours Maximum daily workload = 8 hours
This is a lot of your time!

You set your schedule manage your time appropriately!

Plan ahead and keep track of your hours Realize that things will vary from week to week and from quarter to quarter

Very Important!
Your appointment begins the first day of the quarter and ends when grades are due to the registrarthis is AFTER the end of finals week
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

What are your not responsible for?

According to the UC Academic Personnel Manual A teaching assistant is not responsible for the instructional content of a course, for selection of student assignments, for planning of examinations, or for determining the term grade for students.

You are not responsible for However, you may be asked to Instructional content develop final copies of assignments and exams based on rough drafts developed by the instructor provide input with regard to student performance

Selection of assignments
Planning of exam Determining term grades

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours Perhaps the most regular and effective interaction you will have with students will be during office hours Why? - limited time for comments during grading of homework/exams - you may not have a lab & discussion section The Basics: Scheduling Preparedness Running the Show

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Scheduling

Your thoughts?

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Scheduling

Its all about compromise
Work them into your schedule - try not to schedule immediately before/after your own classes (you will want time to prepare) Keep in mind the needs of the students - dont offer MON 7am or FRI 5pm hours - consider surveying the class about when it is most convenient for them (this limits their ability to complain about OH attendance) Keep in mind the needs of your office mates! - if you are going to offer OH in your office, check the schedules of those around you and ask them if it would be inconvenient for them - consider using a classroom, conference room, or study room if possible.

Strive for professionalism - maintain regular office hours.

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Preparing

Your thoughts?

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Preparing

Before Office Hours Begin

Common sense look over problem sets and solutions before hand!
- this is especially important if you are not in charge of solutions that week - have the solutions handy (your own, the book, etc) - consider multiple approaches to solving the problem

Try to anticipate students questions - this will help you formulate explanations - talk to your fellow TAs, what have been regular questions this week? - talk to the instructor, have there been questions during lecture? Be proactive ask students to submit questions prior to office hours - gets students thinking about questions (and looking at them) early - allows you more time to consider problems

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Running the Show

Your thoughts?

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Running the Show

Get to know the students - find out their names and try to remember them, once you know them use them - get a sense of who they are (background & engineering interests), this might help if they are struggling (direction for review, examples, etc) Dont just be a checker - try to let the students explain where they are having trouble, dont silently survey their work until you find the problem.

Be inquisitive - ask them to explain what they have tried, talk out the approach, assess whether there is a problem with the big picture - question their approach (even if correct), get them to think about what they are doing

Before your first office hours, brainstorm how you might interact with a student:

- are there any key questions or phrases that you could ask? - think about how you might guide a student through a problem?
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Office Hours: Running the Show

Make students use the board & get groups of students involved Allow them to make mistakes, and help direct them to the correct approach Stress the approach, not just the answer - let them write out everything and try to reinforce good homework and problem solving practices be a stickler for the basics

From Preface To the Student in Statics (J. L. Meriam) Success in analysis depends to a surprisingly large degree on a welldisciplined method of attack from hypothesis to conclusion where a straight path of rigorous application of principles has been followed. The student is urged to develop ability to represent his work in a clear, logical, and neat manner. From the Preface in Statics (J. L. Meriam & L. G. Kraige) The experience of formulating problems, where reason and judgment are developed, is vastly more important for the student than is the manipulative exercise in carrying out the solution.
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Discussion Sections

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Discussion Sections Content

Communicate with the instructor and find out how much control you have over the discussion section - are there specific problems to cover or concepts - will you use the instructors solutions or your own Plan your section dont assume that since you have a solution in front of you everything will be OK. succeeding as a TA can be as easy as PIE. (TA Handbook) Plan: What will the objectives be? How will they be achieved? Implement: Performing in the classroom. Evaluate: generally taken care of by exams

Communicate and Plan early you and your students will benefit
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Discussion Sections (contd)

Choose your own style but do a good job choosing
Set the tone for your session through your attitude and actions Any ideas?

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Discussion Sections (contd)

Choose your own style but do a good job choosing
Set the tone for your session through your attitude and actions Be punctual to your session (just as you would OH) Take roll and learn student names Make eye contact and call on students Move around, use the space available to you Be audible, speak clearly, project to the students Never be dismissive encourage discussion and questions Be confident

You will find that this practice will be invaluable when you start to give conference talks
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Discussion Sections (contd)

Choose your own style but do a good job choosing
Strive to improve your board work skills success as a TA is as easy as walrus qe (Hans Mayer)

write legibly allow time to copy lend some background/insight return to your writing use consistent notation stay organized question the students
- let/make them help

emphasize important points

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Homework and Exam Grading

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Grading Homework & Exams

What you will find is that there is a range of responsibility when it comes to grading.
least work
answer key/rubric provided develop answer key/rubric with help from instructor It will depend on the instructor

most work
develop answer key/rubric

Before you put pen to paper (students papers). Solve the problem on your own even if you have been provided with a solution Break down the solution into important parts - Can we quickly brainstorm what we might consider to be important pieces of a solution that we will look for? Discuss grading criteria with the instructor what do they want to emphasize Draft an answer key/rubric

Start by grading a handful of assignments to assess how well the key/rubric fits - Use pencil so that you can modify if necessary - Are there common errors that will require you to modify the key/rubric?
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Grading Homework & Exams (contd)

When you are grading

Be as consistent as possible
- answer one question at a time - try to grade blind - check your work and refer back to your key/rubric often Add helpful comments - your comments should be legible - they should help student understand where they went wrong (and why they didnt get full credit) - dont write a novelconsider your time - if there is a very common issue, consider addressing it using a Gauchospace, website, or in-class announcement When you are done grading

Keep your rubric you may have to use it again! (e.g. dissatisfied students)
Respect the privacy of students
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Grading Homework & Exams (contd)

Example Rubric

Provided by previous Lead TA (Trevor Marks now a Development Engineer)

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Grading Homework & Exams (contd)

Or be picky about the details

+1

+1 +1

+1 +1 +1 +1 +5
Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Academic Dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, etc)

It is ultimately the job of the instructor to pursue academic dishonesty cases once they have been reportedbut there is a lot you can do. Talk to the instructor ahead of time regarding their take on cheating and plagiarism. What do they want you to look for on homework and exam solutions.

Be diligent in your observations and take precautions: - watch carefully during exams - cross out blank spots on homeworks and exams to prevent writing after work is handed back Tell students what is not acceptable at the start of the quarter, and tell them you are looking for copied solutions, etc. But, tell them why it doesnt benefit them to do it.
Try to prevent it provide them with a level of help they cannot get from a solutions manual.

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Concerns?

Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections