Month: February 2009

There were a lot of examples used in today’s lecture on research.  The examples were on varying topics and had the students partcipate in varying ways.  I think that because of this variance, the students kept their focus and remained engaged.  Personally, I’m not sure what the point of too many examples would be.  It is always a beneficial way to check your understanding of a topic and can help you to realize things you hadn’t thought of prior to that example.  Not all of the students got the group activity correct.  So clearly there was some confusion on applying what had been discussed that day.  I think if you had 100 percent understanding then there may have been enough examples.  Applications and examples can also be beneficial ways to review a topic later on. 

Two more things:

Online Connections:

I plan on emailing my pod once a week.  I’m going to send them reminders of study tables and review session times.  I think it will be a way to keep encouraging participation.   However, I don’t want to bombard the students with emails, I think there could be a point where they may get annoyed with the emails.   The discussion boards on D2L can really provide an outlet for students who want to debate topics in psychology, discuss research, etc.  We could also set up a separate part of the discussion board for questions specifically relating to the class or the tests/materials.  I think the Facebook group is a good idea.  As people join, we can put faces with names and so can fellow classmates.  I think that the online connections will help bring the class together.  It will be especially helpful to students who are shy and less outgoing.  It has also become an outlet for those with a little more to say. 

Blogs:

I have really liked using the blogs.  I like being able to see what the other TA’s have going on in their heads and their reactions to the experiences.  I also really like being able to see Dr. G’s reactions and thoughts on the class.

I think that overall the TA’s had a very successful class period.  We worked well together and were able to discuss what was going on and make decisions together.  So kudos to everyone for that!

We weren’t exactly sure how we should handle the questions…during our meeting Dr. Gurung had said we could leave them up for the entire class period.  I thought that that might be distracting to the students.  We also ended up getting the questions on both projectors because the students in the back couldn’t see.  We put the questions up at the beginning of class and then put them back up for a little bit during the movie.  I think that this ended up being a distraction.  At this point, we had both projectors up and it was really bright.  We left the q’s up for a little bit and then shut the projectors back off until the end of the class.  We then put the questions back up and asked them to finish their cards.  I think we should have either left a projector on the whole time or waited until the end of the movie.  I feel like it just would have flowed better.

The students were really engaged in the movie.  At the end of class, Mandy asked how many of them had seen it and most had.  For that many of the students having seen the movie they stayed really focused.  They were reacting to the movie a lot as well.  I had forgotten that Sodexho is featured in the movie and I think most of them had too because the all got a kick out of that! 

I think this is an excellent movie to show as part of this class.  It can be used to discuss many topics valid to psychology and can really help to connect psychology to life.

The class on Tuesday included  some very key lessons on expectations for this class.  I thought the mini-study review session was and excellent way to begin class.  It not only reviewed what had been covered so far but aslo explained what sort of information would be on a test.  I think that it was effective for Dr. Gurung to label that set as such because it made clear what this portion of class would be preparing you for.  I also thought it was nice to have study tips not only coming from the professor but from the TA’s as well.  Some students may feel that the professor has been away from studying for such too long of a time and are distanced from remembering what it is like to study.  The TA’s can provide a connection there that the professor might not be able to. 

I’m glad that Dr. Gurung shared the general consensus from the notecards with the class.  This can allow students to feel connected with each other (especially in such a large class).  I also thought was nice of Dr. Gurung to reinforce that the concerns they have are the same ones he has for them and for the class.  This shows that he is actively thinking about their needs and working to minimize their concerns.

• I think the times quizzes will truly help students stay on track in regard to class materials.  I support.
• Cute Baby Study- What impression did this study give to the students regarding Psychology?  Did it make students think Psych studies re “wishy/washy” or substantial?  The introduction to presenting a scientific study was good and it was smoothly correlated to introducing Dr. Gurung’s own children.  Relevance was there.
• I really like the music at the start of class.  It eazes everyone in and gives a good vibe for a morning class.
• I think it may have been better for time purposes if the TA’s too the student photos.  Students photos and identification was an awesome addition to the first portion of the first class.
• The abbreviated syllabus handout was a good idea.  Reminding students that the complete version is on D2L.
• Professor visibility and movement was great!  Minimizes student texting in class and keeps everyone intrigued on the topic at hand.
• The conformity set piece was effective and the video evoked student emotion in relation to the topic.  In the future, if time is a concern the video could be shown w/o the in-class demonstration.
• Index cards were forgotten.
• TA introductions and overhead pics were a very good way for all of us to get involved immediately and take a first step towards building student rapor especially in a large class. 
• Calling out students for walking in late set the tone for student expectations and I think that’s crucial for this size class.

The struggle!

            This second day of the first week was a struggle for me; a struggle in the sense that I have felt the intensity of this enormous class.  I am not necessarily overwhelmed with this feeling; I am more or less intrigued to be experiencing such a struggle. I struggle to find the optimal level of focus for this particular class. I have duties to assume being one of six TAs and yet I seem to struggle with finding that particular role. I found myself sitting in class, looking around, and thinking, “Who are all these students?” As a Peer Mentor, I was able to recall a name for every face I saw after the first week, while they were watching me and my actions. In this introductory course I feel as if I am a new person in a new country. I miss my community but I do realize that there is a new community to be built. This is the time for me to go out and meet some neighbors and experience a culture different from what I know.

Class introduction to the History (and application) of Psychology:

            After these thoughts soon exited my mind, I started to descend back to Rose Hall 250. The class was yet again, intrigued, engaged, and having complete focus with the content at hand. They really enjoyed the “connect the dots” game between Dr. Gurung and Wolf (yet another cleverly well-done in-class exercise). The class was focused during the entirety of the class despite the content being on the history of psychology which can be rather dry. With having such a lecture, facilitating any kind of active learning or discussion can be very difficult. The “Teaching Tips” can only serve as a handbook in educating the reader about the techniques and strategies of active learning but, it is not until you are in the class environment do you see these tips and techniques play out. You can read about the ideal techniques you want to use in order to facilitate group discussion and about the problems at hand, but you cannot always guarantee the goals will be met. My past experiences with group discussion have never been too favorable and my experience with this class today, I could not see going any better. As soon as the phrase was mentioned, “Get into groups of 3-5,” I assumed there would be immediate chaos of people sitting, standing, talking, walking, finding, and complaining about not being a part of a group. This class seemed to have done well with this perceived simple task and took on the challenge at hand. As I was walking around, observing, and listening to the groups around me, I saw the miraculous connection of the class material to the group work problem, and the applications of the content. It was truly exciting to see the groups working together, discussing the different fields and their applications to this particular problem. The students remained focus at the task at hand up until it was time to hand in their work. The entire process just went so smoothly and without complete silence or chaos.

Devil’s Advocate:

            I am going to assume a rather, “darker” perspective for a few sentences here so, bear with me please. I respected the first group work assignment and enjoyed how well the experience was but I did not find it favorable of finding out about the group work just as the students were being asked to complete it. I would have liked to have had the time to see the assignment ahead of time in order to understand the task in-side and out. I felt as if I knew what the assignment was looking for and testing with the method used in class but I feel like I could have been utilized more as a source had I known what the assignment was ahead of time. I was able to answer the questions that were being asked by the students, I felt as if I could have been the one asking the group questions and facilitating the connection between the case problem and class material. I trust that the students were able to make a connection on their own but I would have liked to have them think more in depth about the connections through more application of the material. My opinion could very well be something that is not recommended, expected, or wanted of me to do and that is understandable. I know that sometimes I can get carried away and analyze my role and expectations on an unnecessary level. If this happens, I asked to be brought back down and put back into line.

Making Connections:

            Overall it was another successful and proud day and week of class; ended on a good note. I enjoyed the students during, before, and after class. I was excited to have a student feel a connection with me on the second day of class and I was happy to engage and encourage such communication with this particular student. I want to apologize for getting caught up in the conversation and I know we as a team understand the importance of this vital communication between fronts but, I did miss out what was happening after class with the Team. I missed out on the explanations of the work to be done for the weekend and I cannot help but feel as if I had dropped the ball. I understood the fact that I could have been easily caught up through an email but I still felt out of the loop until that email was reached to me. If this situation occurred again, I of course would continue the conversation with the student but had I know that I was missing out on information, I would have shorten the conversation and joined the team huddle. It is a rough situation in the means of finding a good balance but at that point, I felt as if I made the right choice in continuing the conversation with the student and being caught up later (right?).