Journal for teaching EE301, Fall 2008

EE301 Summary - suggestions what to do better next time:

Provide more guidance in beginning weeks, less towards end XXXX
Somehow do more practice teaching sessions sooner? Minilecture at week 10 too late.

More interactive breakout sessions- structure most of class like this XXXXXX - particularly group activities at beginning so students get to know each other
Group case studies of typical problematic scenarios, load balancing, etc
discussion of plus and minus of GSI
smaller group, circular chair arrangement (class too large?) XX

Guest lecture from experienced GSI or master teacher XX

Structured weekly logs rather than freeform, to get more complete insight

Active learning as an earlier topic...

Have mini-lecture with prepared topics ahead of time. Class could participate in breakouts on giving alternative presentation suggestions, since class would be familiar with topic.

To consider

more student problem discussion, less prepared material

Separate grad vs undergrad?

separate lab and discussion teaching?

Taping discussion section

More practical experience for students by getting EE301 students to discuss/present on EE301 topics/issues.

More on teaching students to be independent in lab

Possibly visit/tape discussion section by group to report?

unstructured group discussion in small groups (more support from peers) XX

One on one with EE301 students, interview, potential problems?

Worked ok
Minilectures- giving lots of feedback in beginning XX

Longer teaching demo/practice?

Dec. 10, 2008

For next time, get more discussions going among class. E.g. rotate to share either something which went well, something which didn't work, an uncertainty, or a quandry...
From 6 ways to discourage learning: ego deflating questions ``trivial''
Breakout groups: top 5 pieces of advice for new GSI in Spring 2009:
#1) prepare- not just an example correctly worked out, but

a) anticipate student questions

b) anticipate where problems may occur

c) anticipate pace of students

d) make interesting Interesting- each break out group came up with different #1.
Marshal, Mehmet, and Afsher to write up 2 groups each ranked lists.
#2) Bound TA load- let professor know if work will take more time than is available

Dec. 3, 2008

Presented 9 ethics principles for teaching. Tried case based group method to look at some ethics issues which can be relevant to TAs, using these 9 principles as guide. Assigned students to groups to mix up class a bit from previous seating. Each group of 3 or 4 had 4 questions to discuss among them selves, and then to present to class. Consensus was reached on most questions- it was an interesting discussion. Needed to allow more time or have fewer questions, as we ran out of time to go through them all. Probably better to hand out just one question at a time.

Queried students on 1 thing they would like to know more about teaching. (Will be useful list for next semester class.)
How to be fair to everyone while connecting to students as individuals?
Is there a general theory which could apply to the highly personal and situation dependent art of teaching?
What are the particular teaching practices/details which are most relevant to EECS, as opposed to general class room teaching?
How can teaching aids/technology best be used for teaching?
What are all/more the techniques for encouraging interaction?
How to manage up, convince the professor of an alternative interpretation, or provide a correction? (X2)
Can we hear directly from undergraduate students (say in a presentation in ee301) what they like/don't like about their TAs/instructors?
What do you do when you realize the course goes beyond you expertise, part way into the course?
What is the best/most effective way to grade exams?
How to get students to think more deeply than just enough to finish the assigned task?
How to deal with impromptu situations?

Most useful rating: 6.1, min 1, max 10x2, median 6

Nov. 19, 2008

Tried introducing a method which could be used to teach problem solving- Thinking Aloud Pairs Problem Solving, using two puzzle problems. Class could try role of Listener/Problem Solver. By self-selection, class is already good problem solvers, so may not be the easiest method to see advantage of. Would probably need more practice in regular class setting. Class seemed to enjoy exercise- evaluations could indicate if it really works. Probably need to add some summary after the TAPPS to get feedback and figure out what fine tuning might be needed.

Suggested Topic coverage for last classes:

cheating

give reading assignment, then discuss in class

Nov. 12, 2008

Never trust AV. Using Thinkpad for last minute video addition did not work well. Preparation, preparation, preparation... Thanks to Evan R. for saving the day.
Mixed reaction to illustration of problem solving by New Caledonian Crows. Connection was not clear to everyone of how this example of problem solving is very encouraging for the ability to markedly improve problem solving skills in struggling students.
Beginning discussion of how can problem solving be taught, but need to spend more time, and develop concrete examples of how to actually teach problem solving to engineers.
Handout to show differences between novice and expert differences in approaches to problem solving. Next step is to work on ways to help students move from novice to expert, and generalize problem solving skills.
Most useful rating: 6.5

Nov. 5, 2008

Introduced key relations chart, continued discussion of ``memorable questions'' in breakout. Memorable questions were just about all from prelims, not surprising since high stress situation. These probably would not make most enlightening evaluations for a class in general. Next time- need more principles, suggestions, examples of designing effective questions.
Brief intro of teaching design as used in CS150- needs more elaboration.
Most useful things:key relations, question levels, pause after question, Deming quote, tact, analysis/synth. Ave 6. N=21.
Next- should bring in more examples of effective teachers- e.g. videos.
Student feedback to presenters continuing high value.

Several students are not writing in useful thing learned.
Most useful rating: 6.5

Oct. 29, 2008

Discussion and breakouts on what cognitive levels are being asked in questions. It is easy to only ask on knowledge/comprehension/application and not get up to the more sophisticated levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Will need to continue discussion next week on questions students have found most and least effective, as we had a lively discussion which went over.

Good student feedback again on presentations. Does peer feedback ratchet up effort in mini-lecture? Interesting question, as last weeks presentations are quite good.

Oct. 22, 2008

Teaching is going well. Not many sharable problems from teaching logs. More providing individualized suggestions.

Negative target fixation was a topic of interest. May want to expand on this as part of positive reinforcement approach.

Added minilecture feedback- getting good suggestions to anonymize and send back to presenters. Students definitely know teacing technique at this point, but its much easier to write comments than verbally criticize.
Spent class time discussing in groups and reporting on ``Can we Make Mathematics Intelligible'' by R.P. Boas. Class discussion brought out good points. Boas dismisses value of lectures, and this was not agreed to by class. The enthusiasm of a great lecture can make even boring topics exciting.

Oct. 15, 2008

Guest lecture by Prof. Ayazifar

Oct. 8, 2008

Report on feedback, new links to Firehose vs. the Torch, from the trenches, group discussion on cheating. We can definitely spend more time on discouraging, deterring, and detecting cheating, as the class has lots of good information to share.
Class thinks public weblog for teaching comments definitely not a good idea.
Getting some individual questions in teaching log, and I would like to encourage more.
Still need to work on getting value for student practice presentations. Tried waiting for class feedback, still not as interactive. Maybe not too late to have presenters concentrate mroe on engaging class, and getting class to model student questions.

Oct. 1, 2008

Added weighting factor to nugget value to get better sense of value. 1,3,2x4, 3x5, 6, 4x7, 6x8. Looks like still adding some value. Perhaps this is a class where greatest incremental value is in first weeks?
Going with picture in beginning of class as representation of a concept or a way to think about teaching, using feedback analogy. This may have helped to frame break out discussion on new ways to get feedback about what students are actually learning.
Send teaching log reminder Tues 5 pm

Feedback ideas from class and teaching logs:
class polling: text message in
query students with technical questions in lab (even if not for grade/lab)
students writing questions on board or newsgroup
Facebook
pop quizzes
cold calling students
email suggestions on topic coverage before discussion section/survey monkey
anonymous comment cards
anonymously relay complaints about TAs back to other TAs
TAs grade a few problem set questions to see what problems students have (or approach they are taking)

Did not get to suggestions on exams I wanted to bring up, and only had a little time for problem of students not finishing lab. Started handout as rough outline for class- next time may put more detail on handout or encourage students to fill in detail. Could have asked more ? on what certain boxes/connections/inputs represented in learning system.
Perhap can be more relaxed about topic coverage in 35 minutes, 1 major topic and a few minor points would allow for discussion time/mutual learning.
gave 10 minute mini lecture on whiteboard vs blackboard, but didn't get DVD to see what could be better.

EE301 survey comments

Positive

more holistic teaching improvements rather than just small nuggets

more brain storming - good for idea exchange

class blog- make teaching logs with more cross-visibility

comments from distinguished teachers

Negative

mini lecture - not really relevant to real discussion/lab, may not be as useful to learn from. Perhaps subset of students could provide written feedback to lecturer? Need to make this more useful to listeners. (X6)

late in day- tired

Less lab stuff

content of 301 redundant with GSI seminar at start of semester

Suggestions

Hearing more from other TAs on problems and how they handled them/ group discussions (X6)

speak louder

talk about learning styles

More active/interactive parts- e.g. mini games, experiments

more detailed outline- what aspect of dicussion, etc.

Sep. 24, 2008

Probably 80% of students think their teaching is at least ok at this point in semester.
Tried to organize presentation among common higher themes, such as lab engagement, grading principles, level of assistance in problem sets. As TAs are gaining more experience (and with flow of semester into exams) more common themes are coming up in TA logs.
Tried to explain graphically TA vs. student ``engagement'', and how to aim towards more optimal student engagement. It seems to be something which takes experience between helping too much and too little. (And of course, the type of help).
Used a story to illustrate the point about why small things can matter in life, and why students should not be quibbling about losing a few points for what are in school only minor things, such as decimal points, units, or signs. Probably 40% perked up at punch line. May have helped to precondition students that it was a story, so tehy could expect a punch line. Other more direct humor may take more prep as well, as students may not expect humor.
Student presentation using even the simplest figures, almost whimsical, was quite effective at explaining a concept. Fancy drawings are not needed.
Good class suggestions on random partnering for labs, and possibly anonymous partner grading. Weak-weak partnering can be a disaster. Strong-weak can work if one partner who is weaker in lab can do more of otehr work, e.g. write-up.
Gleaned nugget reports are useful. Students are getting value from different parts of discussion and from each other. Time to get more real? Put a weighting factor on gleaned nugget, how valuable on scale of 1-10?

Sep. 17, 2008

Break out session on handling overwhelming lab demands worked well, with lots of good suggestions. Some new ideas, and other previously discussed ideas, but it gave students a chance to reinforce these strategies as well.
Thumbs up/thumbs down getting only a modest level of interactivity.
Class was well-engaged by some of the student presentations, which were lively and interesting. So class still has energy, even after 6 pm, if material is interesting enough.
Running quite short of time to cover further issues in teaching- too many important comments from teaching log to cover.
Have several students adding late to EE301, missed 2 classes already. need to come up with uniform makeup work.
Two or three students tuning out with laptops- obviously not engaging, or appreciating/learning from fellow student presentations.
Tried experiment, with polling, not who is comfortable, but who does not really get it. Then can ask ``volunteer'' from those who did not raise hand. Could ask ``who is not comfortable enough with concept to do an example on the board?'' This might work with right delivery, problem, or class engagement. Meta question is- stressing output/performance while still in learning phase- does this help? Or by exposing too many holes in knowledge prematurely, does it reduce self-confidence? Probably useful as an engagement tool, if not actually directly improving learning.

Sep. 10, 2008

Warm up joke in beginning is not really working.
Gave basic outline on board of comments from logs: General, Discussion, Office Hour, Lab. Helped to frame/break into mini-sections the topics. Teaching logs are providing very good raw material. Got more interaction with examples provided by students of things which worked, and what didn't. Will retain this format for next week. May be natural progression, as students have more first hand experience with teaching, may be easier to contribute. Probably still at 90%/10%, would like to get students up to 20%.
Tried thumbs up/thumbs down technique suggested by David Z. on whether further discussion was warranted on purposes for questions. Thumbs work as good indication of class interest, easy for student to be engaged.
Only getting a small fraction of class contributing. May want to try some trick like a lottery, so more students contribute either a triumph, observation, or a trial in class, not just in teaching log.
Should revisit master question list. Are we making progress at answering? Should we ask students in groups there new top question?

Sep. 3, 2008

Good:
Got student introductions.

Notes
Directions were unclear about instructors' logs for class not meeting first week. Need to note on syllabus.

Still trying to cover too much material. Less is more!

Had handout on discussion section pointers, but did not get a chance to go over.
Had plenty of comments from teaching logs to discuss. However, this was reading from list and then talking. May be too hard for students to listen for 20 minutes w/o a break. Might want to somehow illustrate or note on board the main queries. Was less interactive than would have liked. Did not have time for follow on questions.
Maybe try some leading questions for students to give answers?
Get more students to relate their experiences good/bad on the receiving end of teaching?

Student mini-lectures went quite well. No major problems, and just fine tuning pointers. Video on DVD will be provided to students on Thursday for self-review. Even positive constructive comments can be a bit tough in a class room setting. Have to be encouraging as students are at a pretty good level, and don't want to have them getting nervous or self-doubting their ability.

Aug. 27, 2008

Poll of students: 25% are taking class voluntarily.

Asked open ended question, and got no response from class. (Not unexpected).

Forgot to get students to briefly introduce themselves. Tried to cover too much material.

Break out sessions of 4 students to come up with important teaching questions worked great. Students came up with very good questions. First use of breakout technique- it worked surprisingly well. Definitely worth incorporating this technique.

Did not allow enough time in class to address these questions, which are of critical importance for first week instructors. Next time, talk less and listen more.

Need to figure out if I can keep up with listing questions on web page, or if it will be a student assignment.

Did not make clear to students that I wanted breakout questions turned in. (Only got 4). Should have asked for student names of groups.

Class room is hot- should have incorporated a break, but breakout session may serve that purpose.

Because of Labor Day, not all GSIs will have had lab or discussion by Tues midnight. Should send log anyway, stating no class meeting, but could note planned coverage for first session.