The next two workshops will both be during the week of Oct 31st. Having seen what the workshop leaders have in store I'm super excited to announce,
CREATING INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS FOR ALL STUDENTS
Date: Tuesday, Nov 1st
Time: 4:00 - 6:00pm
Place: 1360 Surge III
As educators, our ability to effectively improve the lives of our students is connected to our ability to establish a learning environment that is simultaneously challenging, supportive and inclusive. Creating such an environment for all students requires sensitivity to societal subtleties that are often unseen. This workshop is designed to increase our self awareness, positively contribute to our ability to effect change in the classroom, and augment our lives and the lives of our students through cultural awareness.
Presented by:
Jeff Anderson, Mathematics
Matt Nesvet, Anthropology
EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY: THE OLD, THE NEW, AND THE UGLY
Date: Friday, Nov 4th
Time: 1:10 - 3:10pm
Place: 27 Olson Hall
What role does technology play in your classroom? From gizmos to gadgets, advancements in the tech world have made their way into our curriculums, affecting the way we teach and the way our students learn. This workshop will provide creative tools to enhance your knowledge about productive (and not-so-productive) uses of classroom technology. With hands-on demonstrations, we aim to minimize the TA/faculty workload and enrich student learning at the same time. Expect to gain skills in streamlining your use of SmartSite tools, creating more effective PowerPoint presentations, and mastering online tools like blogs and wikis.
Presented by:
Jamiella Brooks, French
Erin Hendel, English
Henry Yeung, Nutrition
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Life of a TAC - Professional Development
For those of you interested in becoming a TAC or in what we do, we're going to start writing about what happens in our weekly TAC meetings. For those of you who don't already know, as TACs we meet once a week for two hours to train on how to do consultations, plan workshops for the UCD graduate student and post-doc community, and have professional development. After new TACs have learned the ropes, the program likes to give each TAC a chance to lead meetings through professional development.
Professional development can take the form of philosophical discussions, education videos, team building exercises, or reading a relevant paper. This week's professional development was lead by Jamiella Brooks. Jamiella is active in various campus groups and was developing a workshop for undergraduates on how to stay focused and not procrastinate. Jamiella ran a condensed version of the workshop for us.
We started the workshop by thinking about and discussing what causes us to lose focus. For our group specifically, there was often an emotional component of either dreading the thing we were suppose to do, or wanting it to be so perfect that we don't want to start (i.e. writing our theses, which I'm also currently procrastinating doing by writing this blog post).
We also talked about the myth of multitasking. Jamiella demonstrated this the best by having Henry Yeung try to send a text, draw a cow, and stomp his foot every two seconds all at the same time. We talked about how each of the things Henry was doing suffered from distraction (he never sent the text, and the cow looked like a chicken with spots). And we discussed if there was ever anytime multitasking does work.
We then talked about what we do to avoid the work we should be doing, and what helps us do the things we are avoiding. For our group it seemed the internet was the biggest distraction. To prevent that distraction, Jamiella showed us some software that will lock out specific webpages for a set amount of time. Erin Hendel offered up the tip to set the lock out when you go to bed so that when you wake up you can only visit websites you need to do your work. I don't know that I have the willpower to do it, but I gotta admit I'm glad the programs are there.
Professional development can take the form of philosophical discussions, education videos, team building exercises, or reading a relevant paper. This week's professional development was lead by Jamiella Brooks. Jamiella is active in various campus groups and was developing a workshop for undergraduates on how to stay focused and not procrastinate. Jamiella ran a condensed version of the workshop for us.
We started the workshop by thinking about and discussing what causes us to lose focus. For our group specifically, there was often an emotional component of either dreading the thing we were suppose to do, or wanting it to be so perfect that we don't want to start (i.e. writing our theses, which I'm also currently procrastinating doing by writing this blog post).
We also talked about the myth of multitasking. Jamiella demonstrated this the best by having Henry Yeung try to send a text, draw a cow, and stomp his foot every two seconds all at the same time. We talked about how each of the things Henry was doing suffered from distraction (he never sent the text, and the cow looked like a chicken with spots). And we discussed if there was ever anytime multitasking does work.
We then talked about what we do to avoid the work we should be doing, and what helps us do the things we are avoiding. For our group it seemed the internet was the biggest distraction. To prevent that distraction, Jamiella showed us some software that will lock out specific webpages for a set amount of time. Erin Hendel offered up the tip to set the lock out when you go to bed so that when you wake up you can only visit websites you need to do your work. I don't know that I have the willpower to do it, but I gotta admit I'm glad the programs are there.
**Update** The the suggestion for minimizing internet distractions that Jamiella suggested can now be found at the bottom of this post. Thanks Jamiella!Jamiella's professional development was only 30 minutes, but I wished I could be a participant for a longer amount of time. Maybe come up with some tips that don't involve getting rid of the internet? Who knows, maybe this will become a future TAC workshop! But in the mean time feel free to offer your tips to avoid procrastination in the comment section.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Workshop 1 - Community in the Classroom: How to make connections in the classroom to improve student learning
We are excited to present our first of three individual Fall Workshops!
Community in the Classroom: How to make connections in the classroom to improve student learning
Date: Monday, Oct 24th
Time: 2:30-4:30 pm
Place: 2342 Storer Hall
Time: 2:30-4:30 pm
Place: 2342 Storer Hall
Description: Remember that great TA or professor you had as an undergraduate, the one who inspired you to enter your field? Want to connect to your students like they did to you? Want to create a classroom where students learn from each other? Research shows that students’ learning is affected by their relationships with the instructor and other students in the classroom. Come to this workshop for tips on building a positive learning community and leave a lasting impact through stronger connections.
This workshop will be presented by:
- Heather Dwyer, TA Consultant, Ecology
- Ann Chang, TA Consultant, Ecology
- Dalia Magana, TA Consultant, Spanish
Henry's Blog!
Hi All,
I am excited to be part of the TAC team. As a fourth year nutritional biology graduate student I've TAed in four different departments and 11 different courses. I enjoy teaching and learning from my students. Through my experience with other TACs, I"ve became more aware of my teaching style and have worked hard to improve my adaptability to the different learning capabilities of my students. This is currently my first year in the TAC program. I believe it is one of the most creative and inclusive of the numerous on-campus programs I've been involved with.
As a graduate student, I would say academics and research occupies a majority of my life. However, outside of this bubble, I enjoy doing outdoor activities (such as white water rafting, backpacking, and going to the ARC) and social hobbies (such as going out to the bars, restaurant hunting, and playing IM sports). Thanks to the TAC program, I have improved my networking skills and ability to generating discussion which have made a significant impact in my life outside of academia.
In the future, the skills I've acquired from the TAC programs will be very useful whether I decide to work for industry, stay in academia, or better yet ... going on vacation.
Cheers,
-Henry
Friday, September 30, 2011
Fall Workshops Preview
The TACs are busily working away at planning the Fall workshops. We'll be offering three stand-alone workshops this quarter. Those workshops will broadly cover
- Technology
- Inclusivity, and
- Connecting with our students
Saturday, September 24, 2011
TA Consultants are Open for Fall 2011 Business
The Fall 2011 TA Consultants
The TA Consultants (TAC) are back from summer break. We just finished the annual TA Orientation and are now ready for our normal in quarter services. To reacquaint you the current TACs, we are:
We offer two main types of classroom visits that can be requested at any time free of charge. They are:
- Mid Quarter Interviews - for those of you who want to know if you're connecting to and getting information to your students.
- Video Taping - for those of you interested in your presentation styles.
This Fall we will also be offering three individual workshops (i.e. not a series). There will be more on the specific topics in the weeks to come, so stay tuned!
We look forward to working with you!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Distressed and Distressing Students
A few days ago, nineteen people, including graduate students, TA consultants, and a CAPS (counseling and psychological services) staff psychologist met to discuss Teaching a Distressed or Distressing Student. The event, a TA Consultant Open Office Hours that we co-hosted with CAPS, addressed how TAs can identify and give support to distressed and distressing students. Dr. Thomas Roe led what was an informative talk followed by informal discussion. Dr. Roe, the TA consultants and the other graduate students who attended made a number of useful suggestions. First: that when students' work changes without any explanation (from high grade to very low grades on assignments, for instance, or regular to only sporadic attendance), something may be wrong. Second, it is a good idea to communicate with students to find out what's happening with their work, and if they are having problems that they'd like help dealing with, there are a number of places on campus TAs can refer them to (CAPS, the WRRC, and others). CETL can also speak with TAs about the challenges particular students may be facing, and can offer written materials and advice about when it's a good idea to refer the students to CAPS. One attendee told the story of her student at another university who was experiencing a great number of problems; she had personally walked that student to (that campus' version of) CAPS to help her connect with staff there. We also discussed distressing students, especially those who cheat. One thing that came up in the discussion is, cheating is not just a moral failing - there are reasons why students cheat. Usually, because they procrastinate. One way to address this with a cheating student is to ask them to complete and submit assignments one step at a time rather than all at once. This may discourage them from waiting until the last moment, when they may find that all they can do is cheat - or not complete their work. Lastly, we discussed how TAs themselves encounter a number of different teaching-related stresses; Dr. Thomas emphasized that he and CAPS are available to all graduate students for group and individual meetings. The event was informative, and 14 of 19 who attended stayed for more than an hour. Thanks, CAPS! T.A. Consultants look forward to hosting more office hours around campus. Look out for emails about TA Consultant Open Office Hours happening in your department, graduate group, or area of interest. And if you have an idea for a place or center on campus where we should hold one of these office hours (or a discussion theme for the same), email to let us know!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Ask-a-TAC: Answering Questions Via Email
Dear TACs:
How do I tell a student to stop emailing me questions that she could easily answer for herself if she bothered to, you know, open her notes/book or do a google web search or just think back a few days to the lab she just did, without discouraging her from asking questions she really does need my help with?
~ Over-Emailed TA
Dear Over-Emailed:
First, thanks for the great question! Often students do like to use their TAs as a personal search engine, and this can be flattering, but might quickly become frustrating. As a TA we want to make sure we are available to help (as you mention above) but we also do not want to get caught in some question-answering quick sand, right? Plus, an important part of our students' learning -- as we strive to help our students become independent learners and thinkers -- is to help them be able to search out and answer their own questions! So how can we make this happen?
The best learning does not occur in isolation, and letting your students know from the beginning what types of questions you will answer, and how, over email is important. I always encourage my students to get the email address of at least one classmate, that way if they miss lecture someone will have notes for them! Also, if you find yourself, in the middle of a term, answering repeated questions via email about "the answer to #3 is X, right?" or "I don't understand problem A. Can you explain it?" then it's worth taking a minute in class to re-address the issue. Have a discussion about what it means to learn-- mainly, that getting the "right" answer is often less important than understanding how to answer the question.
Without knowing your student personally, I'm going to hazard a few guesses and present a few scenarios. It is very possible that she looks up to you, and sees you as the best, most reliable source of information for matters related to the lab/class. If this is the case, you might want to think about how to instill confidence in her ability to answer her own questions. If the question is something to the extent of "what's the answer to problem 7?" maybe your email might begin with "That is a great question! I really think that if you take a closer look at X in lecture 8 you'll find what you're looking for. Let me know if I can help with anything else." Alternatively, if you're getting questions like "I answered problem 3. Is this answer correct?" you might want to try "I'm so glad to see you are working on the practice problems. What area of problem 3 was particularly challenging to you?" or, pick out a specific portion of their answer and respond with a question "I'm not sure what you mean by xxx. Can you explain more specifically how it relates to the first part of your answer?" Some TAs might feel compelled to flat out say they won't check answers over email, because it creates different levels of advantage/disadvantage among their students, but they are comfortable discussing answers. However, maintaining a positive but firm, uncompromising tone via email is important. Heck, it might not even hurt to wait an extra hour (depending on the question) and write to say, "I just saw your email! I hope you were able to find the answer by going back through your lecture notes. Let me know if you have any other specific questions I can help you with."
And another scenario: she doesn't get it, and she keeps writing you with questions she should be able to look up. It never hurts to have a polite heart-to-heart by first finding out the nature of the issue. Is she missing lecture? Did she lose her lab book? Does she not have the email address of her labmates? Does she not use the chatroom? And then perhaps the following is appropriate "I am more than happy to help you understand and explore the concepts we cover in class. However, it is in your best interest to at least try an answer your own questions first before emailing me. I am always happy to help you with logistical questions, but when you ask questions about course content I need to know that you have attempted to find a solution before asking me. Also, I often find it easier to answer questions in person. Why don't you come to office hours or set up an appointment?"
And finally: in all likelihood this student is not lazy or annoying (although it might feel like it). In sending you an email they are demonstrating that they are trying! They may just need some holistic help in targeting their study efforts, or they may not know how to ask a more nuanced question about conceptual links. I hope that you will strive to help them be a confident, independent learner -- as frustrating as it is to have to answer their questions with a question!
Good luck,
Mara, TA Consultant
How do I tell a student to stop emailing me questions that she could easily answer for herself if she bothered to, you know, open her notes/book or do a google web search or just think back a few days to the lab she just did, without discouraging her from asking questions she really does need my help with?
~ Over-Emailed TA
Dear Over-Emailed:
First, thanks for the great question! Often students do like to use their TAs as a personal search engine, and this can be flattering, but might quickly become frustrating. As a TA we want to make sure we are available to help (as you mention above) but we also do not want to get caught in some question-answering quick sand, right? Plus, an important part of our students' learning -- as we strive to help our students become independent learners and thinkers -- is to help them be able to search out and answer their own questions! So how can we make this happen?
The best learning does not occur in isolation, and letting your students know from the beginning what types of questions you will answer, and how, over email is important. I always encourage my students to get the email address of at least one classmate, that way if they miss lecture someone will have notes for them! Also, if you find yourself, in the middle of a term, answering repeated questions via email about "the answer to #3 is X, right?" or "I don't understand problem A. Can you explain it?" then it's worth taking a minute in class to re-address the issue. Have a discussion about what it means to learn-- mainly, that getting the "right" answer is often less important than understanding how to answer the question.
Without knowing your student personally, I'm going to hazard a few guesses and present a few scenarios. It is very possible that she looks up to you, and sees you as the best, most reliable source of information for matters related to the lab/class. If this is the case, you might want to think about how to instill confidence in her ability to answer her own questions. If the question is something to the extent of "what's the answer to problem 7?" maybe your email might begin with "That is a great question! I really think that if you take a closer look at X in lecture 8 you'll find what you're looking for. Let me know if I can help with anything else." Alternatively, if you're getting questions like "I answered problem 3. Is this answer correct?" you might want to try "I'm so glad to see you are working on the practice problems. What area of problem 3 was particularly challenging to you?" or, pick out a specific portion of their answer and respond with a question "I'm not sure what you mean by xxx. Can you explain more specifically how it relates to the first part of your answer?" Some TAs might feel compelled to flat out say they won't check answers over email, because it creates different levels of advantage/disadvantage among their students, but they are comfortable discussing answers. However, maintaining a positive but firm, uncompromising tone via email is important. Heck, it might not even hurt to wait an extra hour (depending on the question) and write to say, "I just saw your email! I hope you were able to find the answer by going back through your lecture notes. Let me know if you have any other specific questions I can help you with."
And another scenario: she doesn't get it, and she keeps writing you with questions she should be able to look up. It never hurts to have a polite heart-to-heart by first finding out the nature of the issue. Is she missing lecture? Did she lose her lab book? Does she not have the email address of her labmates? Does she not use the chatroom? And then perhaps the following is appropriate "I am more than happy to help you understand and explore the concepts we cover in class. However, it is in your best interest to at least try an answer your own questions first before emailing me. I am always happy to help you with logistical questions, but when you ask questions about course content I need to know that you have attempted to find a solution before asking me. Also, I often find it easier to answer questions in person. Why don't you come to office hours or set up an appointment?"
And finally: in all likelihood this student is not lazy or annoying (although it might feel like it). In sending you an email they are demonstrating that they are trying! They may just need some holistic help in targeting their study efforts, or they may not know how to ask a more nuanced question about conceptual links. I hope that you will strive to help them be a confident, independent learner -- as frustrating as it is to have to answer their questions with a question!
Good luck,
Mara, TA Consultant
Thursday, April 7, 2011
New TAC: Jamiella Brooks
Salut! !مرحبا As a new TAC I look forward to many opportunities to learn from my peers and to share my (sometimes off-kilter) ideas for teaching and pedagogy. I come from teaching English in a Los Angeles middle school called Maria Regina. Being around very energetic, very curious kids was a challenge (especially when it came to teaching a subject like English) but they certainly taught me a lot about patience and taking different pathways to instruction and learning. In an age that is increasingly hostile to teachers, I aim to encourage and uplift others. A professor once told me that teaching is the most thankless job there is, and that will remain true until we find a way to be thankful for each other, and guide one another to be increasingly better at what we do. I believe that we are all teachers in some way, shape, or form--at the workplace, at home as parents, among our own friends; teaching and guiding is an innate quality of our being. As a TAC I know that I will be humbled and presented with many learning opportunities to refine and improve my own methods.
Here at Davis I teach French and have taken Arabic classes in an effort to look at the literatures and dialogues coming from places like Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, which have a considerable French language influence and continue to be seated in post-colonial ideology. I am increasingly interested in linguistics, especially issues around second language acquisition and multilingualism. When I'm not teaching or taking classes I spend time in my community garden or can be found watching cartoons with my beloved husband and stepdaughter.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Konnichiwa Minasan
Hello Fellow Educators, I am Jeff Anderson. As a new member of the TAC team here at UC Davis, I look forward to the many opportunities I will have to support educational development at this university. I believe teaching is an art best perfected with practice, creativity and feedback. I constantly look for ways to improve my own teaching, new ideas to support learning and methods to make the educational environment welcoming for diverse students. I am excited to be part of this team that will sustain this program and bring the benefits of our work to the larger teaching community here at UC Davis.
I am a third year mathematics PhD student. I do research in numerical linear algebra. My specific research problem applies linear algebra to analyze electric circuits. Main point: I use numbers to help make the computers you use run smoothly.
Outside of Math, I love to exercise, eat, cook, and learn about cultures different from my own (I am a Greek, Swedish, Spanish, English Californian. I was born and raised in the Bay Area).
Hi Everyone,
As a new TA consultant, I am very excited and look forward to work with TAC. I am interested in teaching, specifically in promoting student engagement in the classroom. In addition to be a Ph.D. student and consultant, I also teach at Davis Chinese School. I enjoyed teaching whether in university context or adult school setting. The more I teach, the more I enjoyed in it.
I am currently a PhD. Candidate in Education at the University of California, Davis. My emphasis area is educational policy and school organization. Currently, I am working on my dissertation on Student Engagement and Quality of Higher Education: A Contextual and Analytical Study of Current Taiwanese Undergraduates. My educational background is multidisciplinary from B.A. in Chinese Literature with minor in Foreign Language at National Tsinghua University (2001-2005), Master in Educational Leadership at The University of Montana, National Chengchi University (2005-2007).
When I am not teaching or writing my dissertation, I enjoyed spending time hanging out with friends, play board games and travel.
Hi, TAC blog readers! My name's Matt; I'm an anthropology PhD student and a 2nd year fellow and teaching consultant at The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). I'm excited to join my returning and new colleagues in sharing our knowledge, thoughts and practices with the wider graduate teaching community. And I'm especially excited about the possibility of learning about what has been happening in classrooms across campus. For all of us at CETL, teaching and making a difference in our students' education matters. We're ready to work with you to make your classrooms rewarding and collaborative learning spaces. You can find me in Young Hall 2Q; my office door is always open, and I hope you'll stop by to talk throughout the quarter!
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