first week (more specific)

I believe the first impression of the instructor was one of organization, enthusiasm, expertise and authority. There was a bit of a “rockstar” quality the first day and felt much like a performance would be organized. 

McKeachie described four objectives for the first day of class and I’ll take a moment to describe how those objectives were met in Intro to Psychology.

1. An idea of where the class is going and how it will get there.  The goals of that day of class were clearly posted on the screen before class so students had an opportunity to keep track of what was happening. During the class, the goals of the course were clearly referred to and were consistently reworded, rephrased and summarized. Key points at the end of class brought all the information together. and saving syllabus for the end of class kept students attention and summarized the course nicely. 
2. A feeling is created so that students feel like they are not in the room with strangers and it’s safe to participate. Anonymity was removed immediately by having the students put their name on a small sign. Not only were the TA’s and instructor able to begin learning their names, but they had an opportunity to see their peers. Taking photographs took the name thing a step further, proving a level of dedication and setting a tone of accountability. 
3. Creating a feeling that the instructor cares about their learning and the class will be fair. Students were invited to participate early and often, positive reinforcement and validation of participation seemed to remove any “threat” of speaking up. By involving the students in mini-experiments, it made the material real. The instructor’s enthusiasm for the topic and conversational style seemed to bring the gap between “untouchable professor figure” and “insignificant student in a very large class. ”
4. The class will be valuable and fun. Expectations of the class were clear and techniques were demystified. The “why” of class was as important as the “what.” The experiments and examples were also relevant to students’ experience and the level of engagement showed that they thought it was fun as well. Fun was also introduced with the utilization of multiple forms of media like photos, video, enactment of experiments that have actually been conducted. 

     The other thing I had not considered before our meeting was the use of students as confederates in the conformity experiment. Upon reflection, this was a great idea which will hopefully be revisited when research methods are discussed. Not only was the experiment demonstrated as effective, but they were shown how experiments can be manipulated. Using confederates in class was directly parallel to the video of the experiment that also used confederates. 

     (T minus 5) Again, I didn’t feel sure about what I was supposed to do or talk to students about and I’m hoping we can discuss this more in our next TA meeting. We went into class knowing that a group activity was going to happen, but not what we were going to be expected to do. Also, the students I did get a chance to talk to were asking questions related to the material that they’d read or questions about what was on the quiz. I did not have a chance to read what they read or take the quiz that they took and I’m beginning to think that’s an important part of our job. Yes, we sort of know the material because we’re psych majors, but I was uncomfortable with the questions that I got. 

     There were definitely less students in class.

     Class started with questions from the students. There were lots of hands up which demonstrates that they are not afraid to ask questions. I think the goal of making the large class seem less anonymous was effective. 

     After questions, there was a brief review of what happened the previous class and the goals of that class. Felt a lot like a continuing TV series that gives the viewer a synopsis of “previously in Intro to Psych” and moved nicely into the next part of the storyline. Students were asked to participate in the review and when they answered, the instructor repeated what the student said so the rest of the class could hear and affirmed their answers. This technique will help students recall the important pieces of information. 

Thus began a lecture on the history of psychology. I thought that bringing in the connection with cultures of the middle east and Asia was particularly interesting as well as the contributions of women and the social/ cultural context in which these developments in the field were occurring. Inviting students to answer questions about what they read was also interesting for two reasons. First, it demonstrated to the students that this is not going to be a passive class. They are not only being asked to read material, they are being held accountable. Second, it was obvious that many students did not read what they were supposed to. My guess is that many of them are of the opinion that they can skip the quizzes and just cram before the exam and do well enough to pass. As TA’s we may be able to coach them in this area.

     The demonstration of the first experiment was very interesting. It showed how simple an experiment can be and how psychology has evolved since then. Same thing with the introspection demonstration. I would have given them more opportunities to give descriptors instead of just one word. Perhaps giving each student 30 seconds to reflect upon what they have in their mouth as opposed to having them each say one word would be more effective. The overall technique of telling the story of psychology made it more interesting than a chronology of names, dates and places. The instructor talked more about the significance of events and the effect they had on the field. I’m not sure, however, that students understand how to take notes on the more abstract concepts. Several times during the lecture, the instructor mentioned needing to know the different areas of psychology and how they explain behavior, but I was getting questions about names and dates before the group work started. I think we need to figure out how to explain to students what they should be learning.  

     I noticed the information was presented in chunks with brief recaps between each. TA’s may be able to teach students how to pay attention to these chunks as effective ways of taking notes. 

I also thought the examples for how psychology is used today (Microsoft, career options, etc.) gave students some things to think about.

     I wasn’t ready for the group exercise. I knew it was going to happen, but found it difficult to help students arrange into their groups. Eventually it worked itself out, but I think the time that it took to form the groups left less time for them to work on the questions. It also felt like there wasn’t enough time for them to really get into all the questions. I noticed many of them hurrying through the last question. Not knowing the questions or the material the questions would be using in advance, I found it hard to answer their questions. I’m sure they didn’t know that I felt unknowledgeable. 

     I sat in the front of the class with Caitlin and I noticed quite a few students staring at us with confused looks on their faces, as if asking, “what the heck are you there for?” Could we be a distraction? Might we take some time throughout the semester to talk about what a TA does? 

     There was more chatting in class during the lecture, particularly when the instructor would climb the stairs. Activity in the opposite part of the hall would pick up because it was a little harder to hear what he was saying. Perhaps this is where the microphone will be helpful. 

     I felt the need to take notes in class so that I would know the material and how to talk to students about it. Not only the need to take notes to learn the material, but I found myself engaged in the material and not looking for teaching techniques or observing students. I’ve never attended such a dynamic class before and it was easy to get sucked in.