taing engineering sections

7/27/2019 TAing Engineering Sections

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Workshop: TAing Engineering Sections

Michael GeorgescuME Department Lead TA 2013-2014

Office: Engineering II 2211

Email: [email protected]

Tuesday September 24th, 2013

UC Santa BarbaraCampus-Wide Orientation For New TAs and Readers

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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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



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What is a TA? (University Definition)

A teaching assistant is a registered graduate student in full-time residence, chosenfor 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



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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.

We have a responsibility to the Students, the Department, the University, and to the state

of California to help produce the finest engineers possible.

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.



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Where do you fit in

Find out about yourdepartment who do you need to know.

department chair

graduate program

coordinator & assistant

undergraduate program

coordinator & assistant

new TAslead TA (if any) experienced TAs

In ME

course instructor



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TA Responsibilities & Duties



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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 notresponsible for equally important.



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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)

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

You set your schedule manage your time appropriately!

Please be sure to check your first paystub to see that the monthly salary

and type of pay hrs/pct is correct.

Plan ahead and keep track of your hours

Realize that things will vary from week to week and from quarter to quarter

This is a lot of your time!



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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

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

This is a lot of your time!

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



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What are your notresponsible 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

Instructional content

Selection of assignments

Planning of exam

Determining term grades

However, you may be asked to

develop final copies of assignments and exams

based on rough drafts developed by the

instructor

provide input with regard to studentperformance



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Office Hours



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Office Hours

Perhaps the most regular and effective interaction you will have withstudents 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



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Office Hours: Scheduling

Your thoughts?



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Office Hours: Scheduling

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.

Its all about compromise



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Office Hours: Preparing

Your thoughts?



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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



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Office Hours: Running the Show

Your thoughts?


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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?


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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 well-

disciplined 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.


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Discussion Sections



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Discussion Sections Content

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)

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: 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



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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?



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Set the tone for your session through your attitude and actions

You will find that this practice will be invaluable when you start to give

conference talks

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



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Strive to improve your board work skills

write legibly

allow time to copylend some background/insight

return to your writing

use consistent notation

stay organized

question the students- let/make them help

emphasize important points

success as a TA is as easy as

walrus qe (Hans Mayer)



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Homework and Exam Grading



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Grading Homework & Exams

What you will find is that there is a range of responsibility when it comes to grading.

It will depend on the instructor

answer key/rubric

provided

develop answer key/rubric

with help from instructor

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?

least work most work



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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



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

Example Rubric



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Or be picky about the details

+1

+1

+1+1

+1

+1

+1

+5



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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.



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Concerns?

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