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73 discussions

by Matthew Leingang

Excuse me! I sent my message to the wrong entry in my address book. Please ignore my mistake. Yours, Matthew Leingang -- Matthew Leingang Preceptor in Mathematics Harvard University http://www.math.harvard.edu/~leingang/vCard.vcf

17 years, 8 months

FW: [MWUS] Rooms for Fall 2006 Math Warm-Up Series

by Matthew Leingang

OK, here are the times and locations of our MWUS sessions: 9/19 2:00-3:30 Hall A 9/19 3:30-5:00 Hall E 9/20 3:00-4:30 Hall A 9/21 2:00-3:30 Hall A It was my task to put these on the preceptor calendar, but I'm leaving tomorrow for vaca and am grading the S-1ab final today. So if I don't get to it can somebody do it? --Matt -- Matthew Leingang Preceptor in Mathematics Harvard University http://www.math.harvard.edu/~leingang/vCard.vcf ------ Forwarded Message From: Science Center Scheduling <sc_sched(a)fas.harvard.edu> Reply-To: <sc_sched(a)fas.harvard.edu> Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 09:14:19 -0400 To: Matthew Leingang <leingang(a)math.harvard.edu> Subject: Re: [MWUS] Rooms for Fall 2006 Math Warm-Up Series Hi Matt, I reserved A from 3-4:30 on Wed 9/20 and Hall E from 3:30-5pm on Tue 9/19, A is not available. Thanks, Chris On 8/15/2006 8:10 AM, Matthew Leingang wrote: > > Hi Chris, > > Sorry to keep you waiting on this. We would like Hall A on Wednesday, 9/20 > from 3:00-4:30, if you still have it. > > My original request on Tuesday the 19th was 2-3:30 and 3:30-5:00, but you > only responded with the first time slot. Do we/can we have Hall A from > 3:30-5:00 on the 19th as well? > > Thanks, > Matt > > > On 8/10/06 3:12 PM, "Science Center Scheduling" <sc_sched(a)fas.harvard.edu> > <mailto:sc_sched@fas.harvard.edu> > wrote: > > > >> >> Hi Matt, >> >> I reserved Hall A from 2-3:30 on Tue and Thu, but all I have at 1 or 2 >> that Wed is Hall B, which is the big 500 seat room. A is available at >> 3, just let me know if that works. >> >> Thanks, >> Chris >> >> >> On 8/10/2006 2:59 PM, Matthew Leingang wrote: >> >> >> >>> >>> Hi Chris, >>> >>> I'm looking for some rooms for our Math Warm-Up Series, which we do during >>> first week. Here are the dates and times: >>> >>> Tuesday, September 19, 2-3:30 and 3:30-5 (two sessions) >>> Wednesday, September 20, 2-3:30 >>> Thursday, September 21, 2-3:30 >>> >>> We're inviting everyone in Math Xa, 1a, and 1b, and we're hoping to get >>> enough turnout to warrant Science Center E. So that would be our #1 choice. >>> We could also do D. >>> >>> If the times don't work out, we could move all of them back an hour so they >>> start at 1 instead of 2. Or we could mix and match, but having them at the >>> same time is preferable. >>> >>> Thanks in advance. >>> >>> --Matt >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> > > > ------ End of Forwarded Message

17 years, 8 months

call for papers

by Murphy, TJ

TA folks, We wanted to remind you that the date for submitting abstracts/outlines is June 15. Also, if you are thinking about submitting an abstract/outline, please send me an email tjmurphy(a)ou.edu. We don't need details just an indication of intent. We'd like to get some sense of how many submissions we might expect. Thanks! Teri Jo Murphy, Associate Professor Department of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma >Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:46:20 -0600 >From: "Murphy, TJ" <tjmurphy(a)ou.edu> >Subject: call for papers >To: ta-research(a)list.une.edu >Cc: tjmurphy(a)ou.edu >Original-recipient: rfc822;tjmurphy(a)ou.edu > >TA development folks, > >Attached is a call for papers to submit for a special issue of the >Journal of Graduate Teaching Assistant Professional Development. >This effort is being led by Natasha Speer, Tim Gutmann, and myself. >Please send your questions, comments, and abstracts to me at >tjmurphy(a)ou.edu. > >Thanks! >Teri Jo Murphy, Associate Professor >Department of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma > >

18 years

call for papers

by Murphy, TJ

TA development folks, Attached is a call for papers to submit for a special issue of the Journal of Graduate Teaching Assistant Professional Development. This effort is being led by Natasha Speer, Tim Gutmann, and myself. Please send your questions, comments, and abstracts to me at tjmurphy(a)ou.edu. Thanks! Teri Jo Murphy, Associate Professor Department of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma

18 years, 1 month

A pedagogy course for mathematics teaching assistants

by Harris, Gary

In the fall of 2000 we began requiring all new TA's who did not already have 18 hours of graduate math credit to enroll in a 3 credit hour graduate course I developed with its focus on the teaching of math at the undergraduate level. In the spring of 2005 I and a graduate student tried to determine the effect this course was having. We collected qualitative data via interviews with TA's who had taken the course and quantitative data from student teaching evaluations of all students. After analyzing the data we concluded our course had no significant effect on those aspects of teaching we defined as mechanical or practical. This was not too surprising since every math TA must attend a 2-hour math TA workshop prior to the beginning of EVERY semester, and these workshops focus on mechanical and practical issues. However, we did find that our course had significant impact on TA self-efficacy. The TA's who had taken the course felt comfortable with their abilities to teach in front of a math class and felt confident with their abilities to deal with all the other issues they might encounter with their students. This was reflected in the teaching evaluation data also. We found significant differences in the scores on evaluation statements like "The teacher encourages questions in class." Students who had taken the class received significantly better ratings on this type of question than did TAs who had not taken it. All this is contained in my student's masters thesis at http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-04012005-171340/unrestricted /THESIS4.pdf He and I were supposed to condense this down to a ten page paper suitable for submission to the journal devoted to TA development. However, he got a job and lost interest in the project. I very much would like to hear if anyone thinks this might be worthwhile Respectfully, Gary Harris -----Original Message----- From: pstum-list-bounces(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu [mailto:pstum-list-bounces@lists.fas.harvard.edu] On Behalf Of pstum-list-request(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 11:00 AM To: pstum-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu Subject: PSTUM-list Digest, Vol 7, Issue 1 Send PSTUM-list mailing list submissions to pstum-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/pstum-list or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to pstum-list-request(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu You can reach the person managing the list at pstum-list-owner(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of PSTUM-list digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Assessment of TA Training Needs (Bruff, Derek O) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 09:35:35 -0600 From: "Bruff, Derek O" <derek.bruff(a)Vanderbilt.Edu> Subject: [PSTUM-list] Assessment of TA Training Needs To: <pstum-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu> Message-ID: <AA92E7990DD315498E1906DE4F071E580D5EAB(a)its-exchbe01.mail.Vanderbilt.edu > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" PSTUM List, We're about to do some assessment of our math TAs' training and support needs--what kinds of experiences have they had teaching as TAs, how useful has our department training and support for teaching been to them, what suggestions do they have for the department in helping them fulfill their TA duties and obtain professional development for future faculty positions, etc. Have any of you conducted assessment of your TAs like this--perhaps through a print or online survey or conducting focus groups? If so, I would be interested in hearing about your experiences and what kinds of questions you asked. Thanks in advance! Feel free to respond to the listserv in case there are others interested in this kind of assessment. Derek -- Derek Bruff, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching 116 Calhoun Hall / Box 351537, Station B Nashville, TN 37235 615-322-7290 / www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/

18 years, 1 month

automated response

by Mariah Birgen

I am out of e-mail contact until March 13. I will get your message when I return to Iowa. Mariah Birgen Wartburg College

18 years, 1 month

Assessment of TA Training Needs

by Bruff, Derek O

PSTUM List, We're about to do some assessment of our math TAs' training and support needs--what kinds of experiences have they had teaching as TAs, how useful has our department training and support for teaching been to them, what suggestions do they have for the department in helping them fulfill their TA duties and obtain professional development for future faculty positions, etc. Have any of you conducted assessment of your TAs like this--perhaps through a print or online survey or conducting focus groups? If so, I would be interested in hearing about your experiences and what kinds of questions you asked. Thanks in advance! Feel free to respond to the listserv in case there are others interested in this kind of assessment. Derek -- Derek Bruff, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching 116 Calhoun Hall / Box 351537, Station B Nashville, TN 37235 615-322-7290 / www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/

18 years, 1 month

Teaching and More General Professional Development (was: Support for TAs Currently Teaching at U. Northern Colorado)

by Bruff, Derek O

Shandy, > f) Seminars or courses on teaching and pedagogy - > 1 hour/week seminar on college teaching (course coordination) > required for all TAs AND instructors every term, by course. > In my case, these meet face-to-face every other week and > on-line through Black Board in alternate weeks, with assigned > discussion activities (e.g., college algebra teachers meet in > person on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month, liberal > arts math instructors meet in person 2nd and 4th Wednesday of > each month, ALL meet face to face when there is a 5th > Wednesday in the month). An additional hour-long seminar is > required during the first semester teaching (only new TAs in > this smaller seminar, 4-6 per Fall term). This new TA > seminar is about being a college faculty member. Students > write and rewrite a teaching philosophy (later a teaching and > learning philosophy) statement, create a c.v., discuss > expectations for academic faculty AND talk about classroom > mechanics and student learning. It sounds like your new TA seminar blends teaching preparation with career development. I imagine that's the case in a fair number of departments. Math departments spend a lot of time and resources improving their graduate students' mathematics research skills. They often spend comparatively little time and resources on other aspects of their graduate students' professional development, including mathematicians' roles as teachers, members of departments, members of universities, and members of their profession. When they do attend to broader professional development issues, it's often done in conjunction with attention to teaching skills. This makes sense to me, but I think it's unfortunate that teaching development often has to piggyback on professional development or vice versa. Both areas of development are important in their own right. Derek -- Derek Bruff, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching 116 Calhoun Hall / Box 351537, Station B Nashville, TN 37235 615-322-7290 / www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/

18 years, 4 months

Student Course Evaluations (was: Support for TAs Currently Teaching at U. Northern Colorado)

by Bruff, Derek O

Shandy, > d) Collecting feedback (either via evaluation forms or > student interviews) from the TA's students and reviewing it > with the TA - Open-ended response mid-term evaluations are > required from all TAs for each section they teach; 1st year > TAs review these with me (Course Coordinator), other TAs and > instructors can review them with me if they want (happens > about 25% of the time). TAs report anecdotally on their > office hour interactions with their students but the culture > in the department has a long way to go before they will apply > the math ed research theories and methods they are learning > in their graduate courses to their own teaching. Mind you, I > tend to work only with first- and second-year TAs and many > have not taken much math ed by the time I have them. For > many, the idea that teaching and learning are different > things is a major slap in the face of long-held belief. As > course coordinator I consider my work with new college > instructors a success if they have internalized the need to > attend to student learning by the end of the year. It may be > that as TAs move into teaching higher level math courses they > DO become more active investigators of their own teaching and > their students' learning. The course coordination for > calculus and higher is done by mathematicians who are NOT > researchers in math ed, though, so TAs are not encouraged by > those coordinators to investigate student learning. > I think there are two separate issues involved here that may be harder to separate in a math ed department than in a math department. One is summarized by Angelo & Cross' quote, "Teaching without learning is just talking." That's the realization that if the students aren't learning anything, then one's teaching isn't effective. This relates to course evaluations in that one way (not the only way) of knowing if student learning is taking place is to (surprise!) ask the students. I'll agree with you that TAs (even those in math ed programs) don't always get that the point of the whole teaching enterprise is student learning. There's a great article on the development of TAs as teachers by Jody Nyquist and Jo Sprague in "The Professional Development of Graduate Teaching Assistants" (Anker, 1998) that puts the goal of "Are my students getting it?" at the third of three stages of TA development. However, if a TA gets that student learning is indeed the point of teaching, then that adds a lot of value to the gathering and analysis of student course evaluations. The other issue is the idea of using math education methodologies to answer the question, "Are my students getting it?" I would expect that it might take a while for math ed grad students to warm up to that idea--I don't have experience with math ed grad students, so I don't know. However, I would expect that it would take mathematics grad students even longer to warm up to that idea, since they don't receive any training in educational methodologies. However, I think the gathering and analysis of student course evaluations can be performed and can be valuable in the absence of the use of other education methodologies. Derek -- Derek Bruff, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching 116 Calhoun Hall / Box 351537, Station B Nashville, TN 37235 615-322-7290 / www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/

18 years, 4 months

Videotaping One's Teaching (was: Support for TAs Currently Teaching at U. Northern Colorado)

by Bruff, Derek O

Shandy, > c) Videotaping the TA's teaching and having the TA watch the > tape with someone - Almost never. The self-protective > response is very difficult to negotiate (particularly for me > when working with male TAs). However, we are developing > IRB-released pieces of video of people teaching to use for > case study. As mentioned earlier on this list, a national > group of us are writing a CCLI grant proposal to gather such > video and create accompanying materials (pre-viewing > questions, writing prompts, discussion prompts) for eventual > national dissemination. Each of the teaching centers where I've worked offered confidential videotape consultation services to faculty and TAs. Watching a videotape of one's teaching with a neutral third party (such as a teaching center consultant) can be an effective way of reflecting on one's teaching that one often can't do in the "heat of the moment," so to speak, in the classroom. It's particularly effective in math classes at helping teachers improve their presentation and boardwork skills, which are often difficulties for very novice teachers. I've found that graduate students are typically more willing to be videotaped than more experienced faculty. Your video project sounds very interesting. I hope your proposal is funded--I can think of many uses for such a collection. Derek -- Derek Bruff, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Center for Teaching 116 Calhoun Hall / Box 351537, Station B Nashville, TN 37235 615-322-7290 / www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/

18 years, 4 months

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