TA Experience

I was completely in charge of class today because Dr. Gurung had meetings all day.  I arrived to the classroom 45 minutes early to get everything set up. First, I had the students come up and grab a tee shirt for the Walk To School Day; an organization in conjunction with ‘LIVE 54218’. There were some problems that arose, some included students never receiving emails, shirts that were the wrong size, and some confusion on the time and school they were suppose to report to. However, we were able to resolve these problems.

After settling the Walk to School Day questions and concerns, I pulled up the list of assigned groups on the projector for the students to see their group-mates. The class worked in their small groups on their presentations for the remainder of the class period. Though they were allowed to use the computer labs around campus, every group decided to stay in the classroom to work on their presentations.  At first, there were so many questions that I felt like I, myself, needed a TA. I was busy running around trying to answer all of the students’ questions. At the beginning, when I did not know an answer, I would immediately email Dr. Gurung and hope for a quick response. As class progressed, and as I became more comfortable in my role, I gave solid and definitive answers.

The students were given a worksheet to help them organize their ideas and plan for their presentation. I felt the worksheet was a key player in keeping the students on task. Though I do give a lot of credit to the students, I’m not sure they would have taken the time to sort out when specific aspects of the presentation should be done, or who would be responsible for certain aspects of the presentation. I’m sure that eventually they would have come to these conclusions, but the worksheet helped speed up that process and really aid in the students’ organization of the presentation. There is another in-class group work day on October 11^th, and I would really like students to refer back to this worksheet on that day to double check that deadlines have been met.

Leading up to today, I was very nervous about answering students’ questions and being able to keep students on task. However, students stayed on task the entire class period, and I was very impressed. It was also fun and exciting to feel myself becoming more confident in answering questions and helping students. I am sure I made some mistakes, but nothing too grave and irreversible.

Class started by handing back the first assignment, providing feedback on that assignment, as well as discussing future quizzes. I also passed a sheet around the class for students to write down a topic of their choice, which will later be formally presented to the class. Based on their preferred topic, I assigned them into groups of four or five. I wanted to make the class happy by assigning group partners that had similar interests as themselves. Due to the size of the class and the plethora of available topics in Health Psychology, this was more difficult than I had originally anticipated.

During the lecture, there was one student who was extremely talkative, and continued to engage in conversation with me. I did not know how to handle this situation. When it first started happening, I would respond, as I did not want to seem rude or unapproachable. However, as the student continued to talk, my vague responses turned into just nods, in an attempt to stop the conversation. I decided that if this happens again with a student, I will say that I would love to talk more after class. This way, I can still be personable and approachable, without being disruptive to other students.

McDonald’s has recently announced that they will be cutting calories in their fast food. We discussed this news in class, and it was a successful attempt to relate what is happening in the country to what is being taught in the classroom. It is important to bring real-world issues into lectures, as it helps students understand that the information they learn in Health Psychology is applicable outside of the classroom.

I am still noticing that there are a select few students who are always raising their hand and answering questions. I would like to see more students participating in discussion, and hopefully that will happen as students become more comfortable with each other as the semester continues. On a bright note, we are almost a month into the semester, and only one person was absent from class today. I think this is pretty good proof that the class is stimulating and students have an appreciation for the subject material.

Another week has come and gone. Since the beginning of the semester, Dr. Gurung and I have been brainstorming about how to get the students to read assigned chapters from the book outside of class, and come to class prepared to go into a discussion. This is so students arrive with an understanding of the concepts, and class time can be reserved strictly for discussion and clarification of key ideas, which hopefully will enhance their learning experience. Today was the first day that this was truly accomplished. For the most part, students were engaged, curious, and talkative about the content that was being discussed. This is especially nice, since the content was on evolutionary psychology and physiology: two areas of psychology that many students do not look forward to studying. Additionally, students had their textbooks open to refer back to graphs for further clarification. We even heard from students who have been quiet thus far in the semester. Hopefully, as the semester continues, this can stay the trend.

Dr. Gurung uses time management very effectively. I feel that he spends an appropriate amount of time on each slide, a little less for graphs and charts that are available in the book, and a little more on difficult concepts. He also seems to know when to push students to answer questions, and when to pull back. Today, he asked a student a simple question about the minimum amount of time a woman has to invest in having a baby. After she didn’t answer “nine months”, Dr. Gurung rephrased the question at least five different ways, until he moved onto another student who was able to answer the question. He wanted to demonstrate that there is an incomplete evolutionary analysis, and that is because women have different stressors than men. I’m bringing up this example to illustrate two things. First, Dr. Gurung always engages the class when he is making a point. I think this is a good teaching tool because it gives quieter students the chance to be involved, while also keeping the other students on their toes during discussions. Second, it is always interesting when a student does not know how to answer a seemingly simple question. I think the reason for this particular student’s indecision was because she was caught off guard, and thinking too hard on a simple answer. Which leads me back to my first point on the importance of keeping students on their toes.

Dr. Gurung ended class today, as he ends all of his classes, on a cliffhanger. This demonstrates time-management skills of knowing what he wants to say, what he wants to get through, and how much time he wants to spend on each topic in class. The cliffhanger is never something anyone would lose sleep over, but it is enough to keep the students interested even after a Packer game.

It was the second day of class today in Health Psychology. On the first day of class, we had some technical difficulties with the music. (Dr. Gurung likes to start class with some music, which he later ties into class material). Today, however, it was up and running.

Yesterday, the class was asked to write down a number between 1-10 of how healthy they felt they were. Today, we came back to that. Most of the class used exercise and diet to gauge how healthy they felt they were. The class’ take-home message was that health is best viewed as a continuum.

Another activity that the class participated in dealt with healthy behaviors and life expectancy. The class was instructed to give themselves one point for every healthy behavior they engaged in. This included sleeping 7-8 hours per day, daily physical activity, et cetera. The results showed that the number of healthy behaviors practiced directly correlated with life expectancy.
While discussing the history of health psychology, Dr. Gurung presented seven jumbled photographs on a PowerPoint slide. The class took a couple of minutes to decide where the photographs stood on a historical timeline. He used this activity to show that historical information on health and medicine is important in understanding current health theories, research methods, and how western medicine uses evidence-based practices. In order to understand where health psychology and medicine stand today, it is vital that we understand what health psychology has developed from. I found using scattered photographs and asking students to create a historical timeline is a great teaching technique, because when students place a photo with a historical event, it is likely they will have a better retrieval process when trying to recall the information in the future.

Dr. Gurung was also able to get the students to use their critical thinking skills today, by incorporating the documentary Supersize Me into class. The students viewed a short clip of the documentary, and then were asked to evaluate the research methods used in the film. Additionally, the class was instructed to determine the independent and dependent variables, what controls were needed, and what problems occurred with the study. This activity allowed students to brush up on their knowledge about research methods and designs.

Finally, I would like to do a little follow-up on the first day of class, including some similarities and differences between other ‘first days’. Like Dr. Gurung, the majority of professors that I have had always start off class with some sort of icebreaker. Usually, professors have students go around the room and say aloud fun facts about themselves, what year they are in school, et cetera. Dr. Gurung has his students write this information on a card, which he reviews later. I think this option may be the better of the two, because it saves some valuable class time, and it is still an efficient way to get to know the students.
Many professors have their students make name pyramids; a sheet of loose leaf paper that consists of a student’s name in big, bold letters, which folds and sits on the table in front of the student. This helps professors match a name with a face. Dr. Gurung always takes it one step further, and takes a picture of the class holding their name cards. This may be why Dr. Gurung can learn names so quickly.

Students like to know what is expected of them in the class, including learning objectives, grading requirements, and when papers and exams will take place. Professors usually spend a good deal of the first day going over the syllabus with the class. Many professors will even end class after the syllabus overview has finished. Dr. Gurung also spends some time on the syllabus, but he also dives into some class material on the first day, rather than cutting class short. I think it is smart to start class material on the first day, as it prepares and sets the tone for the rest of the semester.

Today was the first day of my Health Psychology Teaching Assistantship with Dr. Gurung. I am looking forward to this upcoming semester, as this is a rare, and also exciting opportunity to be a TA in an upper level class.

The first day of class is always interesting, as students have been on break for much of the summer vacation. Today was no exception, as it was Dr. Gurung’s first day back since he finished his sabbatical in New Zeeland. Despite his absence from the classroom, he began class upbeat and enthusiastically. Students were asked to make a name card to help both Dr. Gurung and me learn their names. Students were also asked to fill out a card with information about themselves, including a topic in Health Psychology that he or she would like to learn more about. I think these two activities are important as first day “ice breakers” because not only does knowing the names of the students help build rapport and positive relationships (both of which are important aspects in health psychology), but it also may allow Dr. Gurung to guide topics of the lectures into areas that may be more interesting to students.

Dr. Gurung has also been working on upgrading the typical syllabus. This version is unlike the standard syllabus in numerous ways, including the actual format and how information is presented. The new syllabus has been cut down and condensed, leaving only necessary information available. With clear-cut learning outcomes and class requirements directed towards the student, I imagine we will see some long-term improvements in regards to the usage.