INTRODUCTION TO LABORATORY INSTRUCTION Syllabus - Fall 2005 |
|
Instructor | Clientele | Groups | Teaching Philosophy |
Course Description | Text | Chem-Biol Synergy | Responsibilities |
Meeting Time & Place | Background | Grading | Useful Web-links for TAs |
Instructor: Prof. Hal White
Office:
203 Brown Laboratory
Phone:
831-2908
e-mail:
halwhite at udel.edu
Course Description: Being a new Teaching Assistant (TA) in a biology or chemistry laboratory of 20 undergraduates requires preparation not only in the subject matter but also in methods of instruction. Introduction to Laboratory Instruction is not a course devoted to biology or chemistry content. Rather, it focuses on teaching and especially learning. It is dedicated to preparing first-time TAs to fulfill their roles in undergraduate teaching laboratories. Issues relating to specific laboratory exercises and course content are the responsibility of the various course instructors. Among the topics and issues addressed are:
• learning styles and learning theory,
• personality
types of students and teachers,
• biological and chemical hazards and laboratory safety,
• intellectual
development in the college years,
• dealing with misconceptions,
• ethics and academic dishonesty,
• asking good questions and constructing good quizzes,
• being fair in grading and in the laboratory,
• problem-based learning and other
cooperative learning strategies,
• recognizing problems and resolving conflict,
• time management in and out of the laboratory,
• being a learning facilitator rather than an information dispenser,
• leading managing pre-laboratory discussions,
• library resources for science education.
Time & Place:
The class meets Tuesdays from
8:00 to 9:15 A.M. in 236 Alison Hall. In addition, the course is coupled
to the annual TA Conference
sponsored by the Center for Teaching Effectiveness
and departmental TA Orientation sessions during the week before classes start.
The tentative course schedule is posted.
Who should take this course:
All new Chemistry graduate students
who are first-time teaching assistants must take Introduction to Laboratory
Instruction starting in the Fall of 2002. All new Biology graduate students
who are first-time teaching assistants are strongly recommended to take this
course. Because this course has a significant in-service component, new graduate
students who are not teaching, should defer taking the course to when they
become a TA.
Text:
There is
no text for this course. However, there will be many handouts and material
you will need to photocopy or print from the Internet. In order to keep
these documents organized, you should put them in a three-ring binder.
Background:
Financial support and incentives
for offering this course come from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and their four-year Undergraduate
Science Education Grant to the University of Delaware That began in September
2002. The HHMI
Undergraduate Program at the University of Delaware is dedicated to "stimulating
attitudes of inquiry" in the classroom and in the laboratory, and among students
and faculty at all levels. Traditional methods of instruction (e. g. "cookbook
laboratories") often focus on transmission of information rather than cultivating
curiosity and conceptual understanding. One of the goals of this course is
to catalyze a shift in the perception of a teacher's role from the being source
of all knowledge to being a facilitator of student learning.
Grading and Assignments:
Introduction to Laboratory Instruction
is a pass-fail course. The main purpose of the course is to help new teaching
assistants succeed. For this course, I expect registrants to:
Groups and Class Conduct:
Each student will be assigned
to a heterogeneous group of four or five students. These groups will not
change during the semester. Every class period will involve group and whole
class discussion with occasional individual presentations. Experienced teaching
assistants and other guests will contribute to some classes.
Pedagogical Philosophy:
Over the
years, my perception of my role in the class room has changed and now focuses
on student learning. First, I believe that substantive learning has an emotional
component which I view as involvement. Consequently, I feel comfortable
and justified in moving from a teacher-centered lecture approach to a student-centered,
problem-based learning approach where students work in cooperative groups
during class time. To encourage involvement, I look for complex real-world
problems with a “hook” that relates to the students and to the concepts I
want them to learn.
Second, learning is not easy. The struggle to understand is important. It is not my struggle but the students’. Therefore, I am much less inclined to answer student questions. Rather, their questions more often elicit other questions from me that can be viewed as handholds on the mountain they have to climb. With this perspective, I try to encourage independence but provide support when needed.
Thirdly, I view myself as more than a content expert who has to “cover the material.” I believe it is important for me to evaluate student writing for composition and grammar, although I am not an English professor. I feel it is important to introduce ethical issues that relate to the material, although I don’t have ready answers. And I am willing to deal with uncertainties in the dynamics of the groups I create without credentials in social psychology. These are all things I think will help students become more effective chemists. By dealing with these issues in chemistry classes, I hope to convey their importance for being a responsible citizen.
General responsibilities in the course in which you are a TA: