Month: January 2010

Wednesday evening I received an e-mail from a student that I had spoke with before class… she e-mailed asking a question about learn smart – and I KNEW THE ANSWER!!!  I was so excited and eager to answer, that I’m almost positive my over a paragraph response was a bit of overkill, but I wanted to be extra thorough.  Whether or not the response was overkill, I went to bed feeling pretty darn good.

Thursday was met with more questions from students during the group activity, all of which I knew the answer to, but tried not to give it away.  When a student asked if the reason Chmura sexually assaulted the 17yr old girl was biological or behavioral, I answered with, “It depends on what explanation you think is correct, do you think he did it because or an excess of testosterone or because he learned to behave that way?”   I feel like that didn’t lay it out, but I think I may have gotten a little carried away with the answer.  I wish I would have said, “It depends on why you think he did it.”  But I feel like if I would have answered with that then those students wouldn’t have thought I wasn’t very intelligent.  It is a difficult balance to strike, but I have a feeling it just takes time.

During Thursday’s class I sat in the back of the classroom, which was definitely a different perspective to take!  I felt like the excitement level about the material wasn’t as high as it was on the first day, but still for the most part I felt like the students were paying attention for the majority of class.  Once Dr. Gurung stated that they should write down notes in their own words rather than frantically copy notes from the power point it seemed as though students were more active with their note taking.  An especially entertaining part of class that helped lighten the mood of the class room to take a mental break from everything was the part of class where Dr. Gurung tested sensitivity on one of the students.  I think these activities where we take a break from just straight up lecturing students are much more attentive afterwards there are more heads up, and less fidgeting afterwards.

Overall, aside from nearly tripping on the stairs in my still unfamiliar heels, all was very exciting the second day of class.  I think the most exciting part was getting to answer questions about psychology.

Outside of class I’ve been reading the Teaching Tips book, and I just finished reading about a really fascinating topic.  Student growth over the course of their college career.  It dawned on me, not only how much my critical thinking skills have changed over the past 2 and a half years, but that this course will affect not only the students GPAs but their life.  This course will help them develop not  only as students or as future professionals, but as people.  I know it’s true.  But how?  And what can the professor do to help ensure this, and what can I do as a TA to help ensure that development is fostered?  I look back and I can’t pin point any one class or professor that helped me make the transition from high-school graduate to college student.  I know the transition happened, but how?  Is it one course or all combined?  Can it be one course?  Would this development happen naturally with time?  Does it depend on the subject?  A fascinating thought process that really had me wondering about this class and how it is/will affect the students.

Until next week!

The first week went by in a flash, but was exciting! The whole TA experience is new, but definitely something I’m enjoying. Today I got to sit in the front (facing the class), which felt somewhat odd. I was not worried about what everyone was looking at, but instead, I felt out of place, because I’m not used to watching the students and sitting alone/excluded from others. Today’s class was interesting, especially because I am not used to teachers using their students to exemplify what they are teaching. During his lecture, Prof. Gurung, used one guy to show Weber’s Sense of Locality experiment with a male student and four students to do introspection of taste to exemplify structuralism (i.e,. structures of the mind/mental processes). The students found this entertaining and most likely helped them better understand the psychology concepts. At noon, Prof. Gurung handed out the in-class assignment, which all of the TA’s had to walk around the room to help with. Most of the students didn’t need help, but I think that they developed more trust in the TA’s because we were showing the students that we care about them. Then we went over the assignment after everyone was finished, which is better than going over it during Tuesday’s class, when the material may have not been as fresh in their minds. The prof. did a very good job.

Nothing appeared to go wrong in the second class. No students sat on the floor this time, and I saw no students on their cell phones throughout the 80 minutes. The only thing that could have been done differently was the counting off of groups of five for the in-class assignment. Prof. Gurung,’s idea was definitely interesting, but I feel that it may have taken up more time than needed, and that groups may have been more even. A suggestion for a different way of counting would be to count off one to five, up or down rows, or by the TA’s counting off five students around each other randomly.

After the second class, students appeared to become more comfortable. I think that it is a good idea that the Prof. calls on random students sometimes to answer questions, because in many of my classes, I notice the same students are the only ones willing to answer questions. This way, students will be more motivated to answer questions that they know, instead of worrying if they are going to be called on for a question they do not know or are not sure of.

I’m thankful for Prof. Gurung’s address to the TA’s who are on a tight schedule before/after his class, and am willing to talk to other TA’s throughout the day, to see if I missed any important information.

From the second class, I learned that the students are not afraid/annoyed to just chat with the TA’s. In the previous classes that I had TA’s, they never came up to the students to talk about the class or just get to know the students. I found out that the students are happy that you are interested in them, and are more likely to come up to you in and out of class to chat or ask questions. I am still observing Prof. Gurung’s teaching methods, and hope to apply them to my own.

From “McKeachie’s Teaching Tips,” on page 18, on the “Choosing Appropriete Teaching Methods,” it is mentioned that the most successful teachers probobly vary their teaching methods. I believe this is true.  Over the first two classes, professor Gurung has used lectures, in-class assignment/discussion, student experiments, online LEARNMART, and more. I find that not using the same teaching method/technique throughout the class keeps the students’ attention and helps express his material in objective ways.

Week two is on it’s way and I hope it goes just as well as the first!

The first day of class went relatively smooth. Professor Gurung had everything very organized. He had the introductions, intro to the class, and the syllabus description done in a nice and orderly fashion. He kept the attention of mostly all of the students, by being creative, honest, and of good spirits (humorous). The techniques he used worked well with the class. Related to the reading, he broke the ice, by immediately going into class participation. He did this by asking students for examples (e.g., what are some reasons why women would be better judges of cuteness), and also with the ASCH conformity experiment. Doing this opened the door for trust and ease in approaching or talking to the prof./TA’s. Also, he was not laid back in his demands for what he wanted from the students in this course. He exemplified high expectations for and belief in his students.

In the case of things that went wrong or should be done differently, I found very few exceptions. One thing that went was was the ASCH experiment. At the beginning of class, Prof. Gurung approached the first student who arrived, and asked her to answer wrong to the ASCH test, and hand out a paper advising the next five students who arrive to do the same. For one reason or another, only she answered wrong (maybe others were afraid of looking “dumb” or something). But in response, Prof. Gurung continued the lecture, and did not let it spoil anything. The projector had a purple hue to it, but I think that will be fixed. Also, some students were on their cell phones (hiding them well from the front of the room only!), and students arriving late sat behind the back rows on the floor. With these issues, the TA’s can just find seats for the people who are seated on the floor, and find out the names of what student(s) are on cell phones during class.

The students responded to the first class with enthusiasm, but still need a little time to become more confortable and expressive. Otherwise, they appeared attentive and interested. The idea of having all quizes and exams online seems appealing to the students. From previous classes that I had with online quizes/exams, I found it useful, because then I had more time to prepare myself and take the exam, in relation to my busy schedule.

One thing that did not work for me was coming to class early and staying after for a while to chat. I have a class beforehand that ends at 10:50AM and another class after that starts at 12:30PM. I really do not want to miss important information that the TA’s and professor need to discuss, but I also do not want to miss my other courses. Plus, no one ever knows how many students are going to want to talk with the Prof. after class.

From the first day, I learned that running and teaching such a big class of students is harder than it looks. I give props to the Prof. for doing such a good opening class. In the upcoming classes, I want to learn how to work with the students face-to-face (which we will be doing in Thursday’s class), and also observe Prof. Gurung’s teaching methods so I can improve my own teaching skills.

In relation to our reading “McKeachie’s Teaching Tips,” Prof. Gurung focused part of the lecture on learning outside of class, where the majority of learning actually takes place at. He addressed D2L, CONNECT, and LEARNSMART. Also relating to the reading, Prof. Gurung was very explicit and detailed about what he expects and wants from the students. This will help eliminate uncertainty, over studying, and confusion. Finally, from the reading, on page 10 (FIGURE 2.1), there is a circle graph about Course Preparation Components that affect student learning. The seven different components are goals, textbooks, the syllabus, lesson plans, technology, student activities, and the teaching method. All of these components affect each other, the students, TA’s, professor, and how, what, and to what extent the students learn. These components have been set, but can definetly change, be modified, utilized, and observed.

So far, I feel comfortable as a TA, feel that the team of TA’s is going to work very well together and with the Professor, and am looking forward to the upcoming classes!

So today was the first day of class, and it was at once everything I expected, and nothing like I expected.  I expected it to look like there was more people, and to be a bundle of nerves while introducing myself neither of which were true.  Turns out public speaking in front of 260 people doesn’t make me as nervous as I thought it would, despite only being an introduction, today was a bit of a confidence booster.

Class was very fun today!  I felt like when students were filing in before class they were thinking and acting like, another day, another class 13 more weeks til I am on summer vacation.  People who weren’t talking with others, were not smiling, having rather vacant expressions, not really excited.  When the music began I felt like there was some life brought into the class room, students seemed to perk up and chatter a bit more. 

Then when class began students seemed to really listen, there was no texting that I observed, and everyone seemed to pay attention.  Starting off with the definition and importance of psychology seems cliche, but in reality, crucial.  It’s important for the students to know, why am I sitting here?  What will I get out of this?  How does this apply to the “real” world?  In the first 30 minutes of class this question was explored, and defined clearly for the students.  Also moments of humor such as the example of Dr. Gurung’s kids seemed to really lighten the mood and keep students attention.  A well placed joke can be a life-saver for keeping attention.

Also the note card activity where students took a moment to reflect on what they wanted to learn, and get out of the class was crucial.  It’s not only important to have the information, but to create meaning for the information that was given.

I like that the syllabus was given out towards the end of class too!  I feel like students weren’t spending time writing all the important dates in their assignment notes books, like they were actually paying attention to what Dr. Gurung was saying.

Overall the first day felt like not only an audition for the professor and TA’s but for psychology as a subject, because for the majority of the students in the class, this is their first exposure to psychology.  It either makes of breaks the subject for them.  When I asked my freshmen room mate who wanted to be a counselor why she was a social work major instead of a psychology major, she replied, “Because I had a bad teacher.”  I’ve heard this from other people as well.  For me, I can relate, if the professor turns me off or presents information poorly I am likely to avoid that topic.  Today was an audition of sorts because today sets the tone for the rest of the semester aside from a few technical issues with attendance, passing out papers, collecting note cards, I can’t think of any way the audition could’ve been improved.

As far as what I noticed on the student side of things, I only noticed one girl that was texting nearly the whole class period.  Other than that I couldn’t see any other forms of boredom.  I know for me, even though I wasn’t fully paying attention to the lecture, I was paying most attention to the students, the hour and twenty minutes flew by!

Today was fascinating, to watch the reactions and feel the atmosphere change with small, but significant parts of the lecture.  At first I wasn’t sure about having to be a TA for this large of a class, but after today I wouldn’t have it any other way.  It is a unique and challenging environment for the students, the professor, and the TA’s.   But exciting!

All in all, other than painful new shoes, today was simply amazing!