The University and the Department place great emphasis on excellence in teaching. We believe, and hope you will agree, that it is to your advantage, as well as to that of your students, that you learn good teaching methods. During the course of your education you will be required to take oral exams and will probably present papers at professional conferences. Oral communication skills form an essential part of almost any research or academic position. Therefore, it is in your interest to be able to explain things clearly and to learn to think on your feet. It should also be pointed out that, as part of a desire to encourage teaching excellence, the University awards an annual prize for teaching, and some departments also award (or are planning to institute) their own yearly teaching prizes.
This handout describes teaching guidelines and procedures which will help you teach more effectively. These guidelines have been found to work in the past. Some may seem obvious, but they are all important parts of good teaching. Note that many of the guidelines work not only in class situations, but also in one-on-one interactions during office hours.
Preparation for Recitations and Lab Sessions:
At the beginning of the semester you should make up a handout sheet
giving your name, office number, telephone number (if any), office hours and
any other pertinent information about the recitation or lab that you are
teaching.
You should prepare for each recitation and lab section in advance.
Nothing is worse than an instructor who leafs through the textbook or stands
at the board saying,"Um...um." This is obviously an embarrassing situation
because you look like you don't know what you are doing and you are definitely
wasting the students' time. It is also undesirable for you to solve problems
or present material using any techniques or theory with which the students are
unfamiliar. It is important for you to use concepts and mathematics that the
students are familiar with. You should prepare for each recitation by working
out all of the problems in advance. This should be done regardless of how
good you are at the subject because you must plan and organize a coherent
presentation. It also clues you in to what the students are working on and
where they might have problems.
You should prepare for each lab by doing the lab (including analysis
and write-up), and prepare a brief review of the principles and procedures of
the experiment. Your report can be used as an "answer key" when you grade the
students' papers. Because you have done the lab you can warn the students of
some of the problems you have encountered or of any inconsistencies in the lab
manual. For example: "Be careful that the treadly doesn't go out on the
spriget", or "Don't short out the $1000 power supply."
Lab instructors should make a sample lab report available to the
students for inspection. This is particularly important because the grading
of lab reports is very subjective, and the students have a right to know what
is expected of them.
Conducting a Lab or Recitation
You should come to the recitation or lab room a few minutes early to
check that everything is in order: the blackboard is erased, all the lights
are on, the lab equipment is set up, etc.
There are certain obvious do's and don't's which we sometimes forget.
Speak slowly and clearly. As is true for all public speaking, you should
always speak more slowly than you think you need to. Look at the students
when you speak, not at the blackboard. Do not be afraid to stop and think;
you don't have to vocalize to fill up silences. Write legibly, even if it
means writing slower. Be sure to write large enough so that everyone in the
room can see what you are writing, and keep your blackboard organized. If you
have to draw diagrams, it might be a good idea to bring a ruler to class.
Never make partial erasures to manipulate equations; students like to be able
to see every step. Stand aside from your board work while you explain, so
that students can see what you are doing.
Recitation is not lecture. The purpose of recitation is to help the
students learn how to apply the information they have learned in lecture. You
can help by giving insights into the reasoning that you have used to arrive at
the solution. The students must be more than just spectators, that is, it is
important to get them involved. While one hopes that this will happen
naturally, sometimes students will sit in their seats comatose. This is a
signal that things are not well and that the students are either bored or
confused or both. You may not be at fault, but you can help combat this by
asking questions. Be patient in waiting for answers and give hints if
necessary. If a student gets stumped in giving an answer, try to help him or
her get to the answer. However, if the student is really stumped, don't
persist. Acknowledge individual students for their correct contributions, but
never embarrass a student who cannot get the answer. You may also ask
students to come up to the board to work out a problem.
In lab, it is important to circulate among the groups to make sure that
all equipment is functioning properly, and to correct minor errors before they
turn into disasters. If you notice any problems or misunderstandings, offer
assistance.
Advice to TA's Regarding Students Working Together:
Students should be told that some cooperation in work and study with
other students is important in the learning process. In today's research
world, we rarely find individually authored papers. People working together
can learn faster and can check on each others mistakes. Talking about
homework problems with other people is fun and makes learning more efficient.
Even when people work and study together, however, they should write up
their own homework. It is better if people of similar levels in the course
work together. The situation where one student just copies from another is
not helpful to learning. TA's should understand, and make it clear to the
students, the difference between copying and working together.
Not all studying should be done in a group. The basics are probably
best learned alone. Also, homework should be attempted alone at first. After
a student has already spent some time trying to understand the problem and
finding difficulties, seeking advice from other students can be helpful. The
more difficult problems, which provide more challenge and require many steps,
are sometimes more fun to work on with other people. In such cases, the
chances are lower that misconceptions will be propagated along the many steps.
In a laboratory, students work with partners. Again, it is best if the
students are at a similar level. Having a team in which one partner is far
ahead of the other is usually not helpful, but fortunately it doesn't occur
too often. Of course, you as the TA don't know much about the students at
first, and they may not know much about each other. This guideline is
something to keep in mind if you notice an unbalanced team.
Advice Regarding Communication Difficulties:
Some TA's find it difficult to speak to a class. Some speak very
softly or feel nervous, and foreign-born TA's may find that the students have
difficulty understanding their accents, pronunciation or notation. In
general, many TA's find that it is best to acknowledge the problem to the
class and ask for their help. For example, you might tell the class "I tend
to speak too softly, so please remind me to speak louder." Or, "Please stop
me if you do not understand my accent and ask me to repeat."
Some Important Items that Even Experienced Teachers Forget:
The following list summarizes several general techniques in interacting
with students both during classroom periods as well as during office hours.
Be certain to stay in frequent contact with the professor in charge of
the course so that you stay informed about what is being covered in the
lecture and what the students are expected to know.
Keep your office hours! It is your responsibility to be in your office
when you promise to be there. You should be willing to add extra office hours
before exams, and perhaps even a review session.
Get to know your students so that you can serve them better. You can
so this by taking attendance, or by handing homework back individually.
If you follow these tips and use your common sense, your teaching
experience should be both enjoyable and beneficial. Good Luck!
Reference:
Foreign students should also request a special manual for foreign TA's
(Manual for Foreign Teaching Assistants, second edition, by Gary Althen,
University of Iowa, 1988). This short and concise manual is available either
from the University of Rochester Physics Department office or the Office of
Foreign Student Affairs, or by prepaid order ($2.50 check to the University of
Iowa) from OIES, 120 International Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA,
52242. A much longer and very comprehensive publicaton is The Foreign
Teaching Assistants Manual, by Patricia Byrd, Janet C. Constantinides,
and Martha C. Pennington (Collier Macmillan, New York).
Additional information on teaching techniques and examples applicable
in specific subfields of physics (e.g., mechanics, electricity and magnetism)
may be found in A Guide to Introductory Physics Teaching, by Arnold
B. Arons
(John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1990); and in How to Solve Problems, by Donald
Scarl (Dosoris Press, Glen Cove, 1993).
Outside the Classroom:
CHECKLIST OF CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES
A. General Classroom Environment
B. Speech
C. The Blackboard
D. Content
E. Student Interaction
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