Author: MARTHA DAVIS

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!

In becoming a TA, I am looking forward to working with students and helping them learn something. Even though I am not going into eduction/teaching, I still feel that psychologists, counselors, etc. have to help connect to and teach their clients something. As a TA, I also hope to improve my leadership and speaking skills. I am not afraid of public speaking, but I think that there is definitely room for improvement. Contributing ideas to Professor Gurung’s exploration into creating a more appealing/informative Psychology book is also something I am looking forward to!

The things I am worried about, relating to becoming a TA, are keeping the students’ attention (i.e., leading) and if I will be able to contribute something important to the class (i.e., students and teacher). I am worried, because I have not had a lot of practice in teaching, that I may not be able to lead the class in a way that will not bore them, and that they will not learn, or take something important, from my lecture, etc. Also, I am worried that I will not be able to contribute more to the class as others, or at all. I know that I will be observing the class, but I also want to incorporate ideas/participation into the lecture.

Overall, I am looking forward to becoming a TA, working with the other TA’s and Professor Gurung, and learning/teaching with the class!