TA TRAINING

Our GOAL is to provide bountiful opportunities for students to learn and practice their knowledge of Physics concepts through directness. And our HOPE is that the knowledge they gain can be used in the real world and used to make our world a better place.

ASSIGNMENT:

Tell this to your students on the first day!

GROUP DISCUSSION:

Do you agree that learning is a process?... What does that mean?...

GROUP ACTIVITY:

Take 1 minute to think back over your educational experience. What were your best most fun, most exciting experiences?

Volunteers to share?

Now, what was your worst experience?

Venn diagram: What were the teachers doing in the good and bad experiences? What were the qualities they exhibited? What was their method of teaching and interaction?

THE BAD NEWS...

Teaching is the act of facilitating learning.

However, the bad news is that our educational system has defaulted to the easiest and worst form of teaching, content transfer through classroom lecture. Yet, it has been proven over and over in dozens of studies since the beginning of the nineteenth century (123+ years ago!) to be one of the LEAST effective methods and places for learning. We should not be surprised when students come to lab with little foundation to stand on, so we must come alongside them and start wherever they are!

THE GOOD NEWS...

If learning is a process we can think about it like any other process. Like any manufacturer, we produce a product for society—knowledgeable and capable citizens. We use special processes to mold our product but every process still requires 4 M's: methods, machines, materials, and man (personnel). Each process can produce value or waste.

So, let's ask (and keep asking), "What is the best way to learn?"

People learn best through discussion, through trials, and through real world practice (same as the best AI computers!) Remember this phrase, "Practice is controlled failure." These deeper and more rewarding modes of learning, especially practice, is called DIRECTNESS, or experiential learning.

The good news is that labs create the perfect place for the best kinds of learning to take place! Labs allow group discussion, direct practice of concepts, and experimentation. Most importantly, labs help build the necessary bridge between the ideas of Physics "learned" in the course lecture and the real world.

GROUP DISCUSSION:

What were some examples of active learning methods? Can you think of any more?

Does any want to share a story or experience of active learning from your experience?

FROM ANOTHER TA:

CORE LEARNING PRINCIPLES:

CORE TEACHING PRACTICES:

Based on the above learning principles, TAKE NOTE to do these things in lab:

• Begin by assessing the students' understanding: "Before we begin, what do you all remember about ________? ... What do you not understand about this concept?"
• Ask the students questions while they conduct the demonstration: "Why do you think that is?", "Why do you think your results are different from the expectation?", "... Hey, that's very good! Now, what do you think would happen if...?"
• Connect the concept and demonstration to the real world; ask the students thought-provoking questions, like "How does this lab connect with what you have learned in class so far? Where does this fit in the real world?"
• End every lab by asking the students comprehension questions about the concept and connecting aspects of the lab.
• "Communicate in an easy to understand manner. Repeat things that are easy to understand."
• End of Lab Evaluation (20% of lab grade!):
• Each group must be visited by the TA before leaving the lab so that the TA can ask each person 1–2 summative questions to gauge each person's understanding of the concept.
• According to the TA's judgment, if any student does not seem to grasp the concept 100%, the TA should instruct the students to take a few minutes to discuss the concept amongst themselves and help each other understand the concept better. Otherwise, the students may be dismissed with full participation marks.
• The TA may be called a second time to ask summative questions, but this time, whether the students understand completely or not, the TA may recommend further reading and dismiss the group with full participation marks.
• The purpose of this comprehension exercise is to keep them thinking and give them an opportunity to understand a little better, not have a perfect answer. But they will not get full marks if they walk out immediately after finishing the manual procedure.

Based on these learning principles, TAKE NOTE to do these things OUTSIDE lab:

• Time management: understand how long it takes to perform the lab and answer questions, grade student work, and more. Practice good scheduling techniques... (Discussion)

GROUP ACTIVITY:

List Bhavika's main points.

GROUP DISCUSSION:

Which of Bhavika's points or Core Learning Principles stuck out to you? Why?

How do our core learning principles compare with your past experience? Any ideas for improvement?

Work smart and be considerate of your fellows. Take note of the checklists below:

GROUP ACTIVITY:

Lab manual handout: What would you do to improve this manual? (5 minutes)

ASSIGNMENT:

Bring one improvement to Chase Boone this semester. (Recorded in Lab Team Excel workbook.)

Get some inspiration by looking at our previous improvements and previous projects!

Physics Lab personnel believe in the pursuit of excellence in our duty to facilitate learning. We design our environment and methods to encourage active learning for our students and seek out every opportunity to improve ourselves. We approach our students and each other with a heart of respect and "loving service" at all times, giving the best of ourselves for their benefit. We commit to Continuous Improvement, and to Communicate, Cooperate, and Collaborate.