[PSTUM-list] Support for TAs Currently Teaching at U. Northern Colorado

In response to Derek's post, I offer the answers for the current state of things for me as coordinator of teaching for two service courses in my department. Question: What kind of support do you offer math TAs during the semesters in which they teach, particularly those who are teaching for the first time? Have you found any of the following methods of support useful and, if so, why? a) Observations of the TA's teaching by faculty members, with feedback to the TA - As Course Coordinator for College Algebra and Liberal Arts Mathematics I have the TAs and term faculty teaching these courses observe each other AND I observe each person at least once. In each case, the instructor 1. chooses an observation form appropriate for her or his teaching style (we have a BlackBoard site with several forms and links to other resources for forms), 2. meets with the observer (in person or via email) to say what the observee would like the observer to focus on during the observation 3. is observed for a full class period 4. meets with the observer for a debriefing (5-10 minutes) immediately after the class session 5. meets with the observer to go over the observer's signed write-up of the observation. If the instructor is okay with the write-up, he or she signs it. If not, then the observer and instructor discuss the observations and their expression until both are satisfied. The final observation report is signed by both. Only the observation conducted by me or another full-time faculty member goes in the instructor/TAs file. The other observations are for the instructor and for me as Course Coordinator. Instructors (TA and term) have reported this to be nerve-wracking at first, but also report that after the second or third observation they actually like seeing others teach and being seen teaching. b) Observations of the TA's teaching by other TAs, with feedback to the TA - see above, at least once per term. 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. 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. e) Having the TA give a practice version of an upcoming lecture in front of other TAs, faculty members, or actual students - Happens during TA training in the summer before first teaching; small teaching vignette practice also occasionally done during face-to-face Course Coordination meetings. 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. g) Regular meetings for TAs associated with a particular course to discuss teaching matters - see above. h) Other ideas? - TA buddies. When instructors first meet I have each person pair up with at least one other person who can cover their class for them if they must miss it. We go over the etiquette of requesting another person to teach one's class and the imperative that classes are NEVER cancelled. 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/