TA training and P597 - teaching and research seminar
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Rochester
TA training
Each year we have an intense two day training session for incoming science, engineering, and math graduate teaching assistants as well as undergraduate physics and astronomy teaching interns. The days consist of a series of talks filled with experienced advice about teaching techniques that work and don't work, as well as frank discussion about what they may expect to see in the classroom. In addition, we schedule group workshops on some of the sociological issues often confronted in the classroom. To top it off, we videotape incoming physics and astronomy TA's as they struggle through a recitation with other TA's and faculty acting as a rather difficult class. Afterwards, faculty members review the tapes with the students and discuss what went right and what could be done better.
The August 26-27, 1999 TA/TI training session - follow this link for the schedule of the 1999 training session and links to the actual talks.
For the 1999 session, 62 students attended:38 physics (TA’s, RA’s, TI’s)
For the 2000 session, 47 students attended:
28 physics (TA's, RA's, TI's)
7 biology 2 math 10 engineering
The August 30-31, 2001 TA/TI training session -
follow this link for the schedule of the 2001 training session.For the 2001 session, 52 students attended:
- 35 physics (TA's, RA's, TI's)
- 1 CHE
- 8 ECE
- 7 MTH
- 1 OPT
The August 28-29, 2003 TA/TA training session schedule
P597
The training doesn't stop after the two day session. We continue to meet weekly with the physics and astronomy TA's and TI's through P597 - Research and Teaching Seminar. Here we discuss issues concerning the sections after they have met, mid-term evaluations, and teaching techniques. We also fit in a few seminars by faculty on research. During the spring semester, we stick mostly to the research seminars.
Talks scheduled for 2003-2004 are below. The talks are typically in B+L 208 at noon on Fridays.
Fall 2003 seminars:
Spring 2004 seminars: