Transcript Specific teaching tips

How To Be an Effective
Graduate Instructor
Modified from a Collection
Compiled by Tom Drummond
North Seattle Community College
An effective graduate instructor
is enthusiastic.
avoids being cynical and negative.
has appropriate expectations of their students.
is sensitive and even-handed.
Treat your students with respect.
Do not flaunt your authority.
Treat everyone the same.
remembers that she or he is now part of the teaching staff,
not a student in teaching labs and recitations.
An effective graduate instructor
talks to the students about educational goals.
helps your students learn to be flexible.
stresses the chemical principles.
does not quarrel with the course materials or course
organization.
An effective graduate instructor
does not do anything that might be even remotely
interpreted as sexual harassment!
Specific teaching tips
First impressions are important.
Specific teaching tips
•Project a positive attitude to your students. Honest humility
is okay, but students expect competence and confidence.
•The first day you meet your class
•Write the following on the board:
•the course and section
•your name
•your office
•Introduce yourself.
•Indicate how the recitation fits in with the rest of the course.
•If not done in lecture, discuss specific information about
course policies--attendance, test and quiz policies,
homework, the grading system, etc. (from the course packet)
Specific teaching tips
Be on time.
Be prepared. A problem may look simple and straightforward, but ...
Dress casualty but neatly.
Wear a watch.
Learn your students' names as quickly as possible.
Speak clearly and loudly and write legibly on the board.
Specific teaching tips
Recitation should be a discussion, not a lecture.
Encourage all students to participate.
Do not to let one or two students dominate every discussion.
Get feedback from your class concerning what they need from
you.
Encourage discussion by asking effective questions.
If necessary, say, "I don't know," and find the answer before the
next class session.
Come to class with a few relatively challenging conceptual
questions to get the students active in class.
Getting Started
Ask if your students have questions.
If they don’t, ask some of your own.
Thoughtful Questions
The right kind of questions:
•open the door to student's participation.
•focus the learner's attention upon applying their current
understanding to the content or problem.
•have follow-up avenues that you can follow to lead a
student to find an adequate answer using resources available.
Each success on one of these questions is a lesson to the learner
that he or she knows how to think. (And each failure is a lesson
in the opposite.)
Thoughtful Questions
Description:
What did you see? What happened? What does the problem
ask for? What is the difference between.....?
Common Purpose:
What is the purpose of.....? What is the usual function of.....?
Procedures:
How does one normally do.....? How was this done? What is
the normal (non creative) next step?
Thoughtful Questions
Possibilities:
What else could .....? How could we.....? If we didn't have, or
couldn't use, ....., what could.....?
Prediction:
What will happen next? What will you see? What will be the
effect?
Justification:
How can you tell? What evidence led you to.....?
Thoughtful Questions
Rationale for reality:
Why is it that way? What is the reason for it?
Generalization:
What is the same about ....... and ......? What could you
generalize from these events? What principle is operating?
Definition:
What does ...... mean? Define the word ...........
With one exception, none of these questions asks for recall of
facts or information.
Thoughtful Questions
Wait Time
After posing a question, give your students at least 5 seconds to
understand it and begin the formulation of an answer.
Responding
All teaching moves learners into areas of risk and incompetence.
So the job of an instructor often is to find potential when it is
easier to notice problems.
The best rewards promote personal reflection and independence,
and they actually work. Effective teachers support emerging
initiative, cooperation and perseverance with well-timed
positives
Responding
Surprisingly, Avoid Praise
Praise, the expression of judgement, is less successful in
rewarding learner performance than other techniques. Praise
tends to foster approval seeking rather than independence.
•'I like how complete this is.' (implies pleasing me is important)
•'Good question.' (implies some other learner's questions are not
good)
•That's a great titration.' (implies a learner should seek the
teacher's approval versus 'a correct titration,' which is feedback,
not praise)
Responding
Description
Describe objectively those aspects of learner performance
needing support. Avoid evaluation, state an accepted conclusion
a group of dispassionate observers would concede:
•'You have addressed each item.'
•'That question is probably shared by many here today.'
•'That titration certainly looks precise.'
Responding
Narration
Detail the action a learner takes immediately as it occurs.
Narrations usually begin with 'You ......'
•'You're raising an issue that needs discussion.'
•'You're obviously trying to fit the pieces together.'
•'You remembered to rinse the buret first.'
Responding
Self-Talk
Talk about your own thoughts or experiences.
•'I have wondered that, too.'
•'Questions like that have always intrigued me.'
•'It took me four trys to figure out how not to overshoot the end
point.'
Responding
Nonverbal
Communicate your recognition through body language and
facial expressions.
•Smile broadly.
•Thumbs up.
•Move to convey excitement and enjoyment.
Feedback
The times when an instructor should correct performance are
often the most difficult as well as the most significant. People
naturally tend to become defensive, confused, or ashamed when
criticized or given advice. Yet individualized correction is often
the key to improved performance. An effective feedback
procedure should enable reflection and self-correction without
fostering hostility or defensiveness.
Where possible, give feedback individually, not in front of a
group.
Feedback
Step 1. Objective Description of Facts
State the facts as you see them:
•'There are 14 misspelled words here.'
•'Since I assigned the class the problem, you have asked me four
questions.'
•'I have not seen you touch a piece of equipment during this lab
period.'
Get agreement before proceeding any further. Correcting errors
may not be possible unless both parties agree to a common set
of facts.
Feedback
Step 2. Culturally Accepted Conclusions
Describe what a group observing the event would conclude and
check that generalization:
•'It hasn't been spell-checked. Is that true?'
•'This is the first time you have tried that problem, huh?'
•'Wouldn't most people conclude that you are letting your group
do your work for you?'
Again, get agreement. Usually the learner will either justify or
correct when the behavior is recognized as holding an accepted
meaning. Your viewpoint may be wrong and, to be fair, should
be examined simultaneously by you and the student
Feedback
Step 3. Judgements and Personal Opinions
After the above have been discussed and agreed upon, the
judgements of both parties can be stated without inducing
animosity or defensiveness. At times it may be wise to check
first with the recipient before moving to this stage: 'Would you
like my opinion?'
•'That many mistakes imply you don't care if it is ever read.'
•'I would like to look at your homework before you come to
recitation.'
•‘Your group evaluation is likely to be higher if you participate
in the work.'
Leading a Discussion
Avoid trite questions. Questions about things which are
obvious are best left out of a discussion. Don't insult the
intelligence of your students!
Types of questions which do not promote discussion are,
"Right?" "Any questions?" and questions which can be
answered by a simple "Yes" or "No."
Wait! Wait a few seconds before calling on someone for a
response. This will give everyone a chance to think about the
answer. If students are asked to respond too quickly, they may
freeze, and not be able to think of the answer. Waiting also
indicates to the students that you really expect a thoughtful
response.
Leading a Discussion
Select specific respondents. Call on students by name. This
will allow more people to contribute to the discussion and will
prevent eager-beavers from monopolizing the discussion.
Distribute questions. Feel free to call on anyone in the class,
including those who do not have their hands up. Shy students
may never involve themselves in a discussion unless they are
prompted. Further, if students know they might be called on,
they tend to spend more time in preparation for class.
Leading a Discussion
Listen to the response. If you have an answer in mind, you
may not recognize a different but equally correct response.
Reinforce responses. See Responding. Even for wrong
answers, try to reinforce the act of responding.
Use the students. Students can sometimes explain complex
phenomena or problems in novel ways. They may do a better
job than a TA of explaining material on the level of their peers.
Discourage guessing. Make it clear to your students that the
thought process they use is more important than the answer.