Student TAs in DSU Physics Labs

Samuel Tobler, PhDPhysics and Astronomy

Teaching and Learning ConferenceApril 2015

Why TA’s?• Limited full-time faculty• Limited adjunct in St. George• Growing DSU with little extra funding• Cheaper than adjuncts• Students get experience

Courses• Physics 2215 (1 section) (1st semester of Physics) – 1 TA covering this section– Students did not have faculty teach lab previously– Enrolled 17 with 2 dropping

• Physics 2225 (2 sections) (2nd semester of Physics) – 1 TA covering both of these sections– Students had Dr. Tobler as instructor last semester in

Physics 2215– Enrolled 14 total

TA Responsibilities/Section• 1 hour preparation before lab time• 2 hours in lab with students• 2 hours allotted for grading labs

Faculty Responsibilities• 1 hour training of TA in next lab

1.5 hours/week/lab subject• Set-up labs before students arrive

45 minutes/week/lab subject• Take-down labs after students leave

45 minutes/week/lab subject• Write labs and provide quizzes for sections

1 hour/week/lab subject

New work

More Faculty Responsibilities• Be on call during labs

Problems occur, equipment and directionsForgotten equipment

• Able to work in officePrepare next lab or other office work

• 1 contact hour per course for up to 3 sections

Student Opinions • Student given questionnaire end of March• Answers are anonymous • Asked about 18 questions– 15 questions given a scale• 1 = strongly disagree• 5 = strongly agree

– 3 free response questions

Rate My TA1. The TA came prepared to lab each week2. The TA returned written labs in a timely manner3. The TA provided useful feedback on returned labs4. I did not feel comfortable asking the TA questions5. The TA was able to answer questions during the

lab

Rate My TA (Part 2)• Free Response Questions• What is one thing the TA did that was

outstanding in the lab?• What is one thing the TA could improve on in

the lab?

Rate the Faculty• Labs were set up and ready by the time class started• If a problem existed during the lab, Dr. T was able to

help the TA in a timely fashion so as not to delay the lab

• Trained the TA adequately before each lab• Shows up periodically to make sure labs are running

smoothly• Listened to my concerns about the lab/TA/or other

matter pertaining to lab

Rate the Course• I disliked the lab• This lab helped me learn concepts taught in lecture• I rarely showed up prepared for the start of lab• The TA did a good job when compared with Dr. T as

the instructor for the lab• DSU could benefit from more classes with Tas if

these classes followed this pattern

Student Comments – Things TA did well• Answered questions well• Easy to talk to and could explain lab questions in

plain english• My labs are read in their entirety and feedback is

given (not just unexplained grading)• Help you figure it out instead of answering for me

Student comments – Things TA can do better

• More detailed info at the beginning of new labs• More consistently let the class know when time was

running out• There were very few times he struggled to help with a

problem during a lab, but as a TA I wouldn’t expect him to be able to solve every problem a student can come up with in a lab.

• He could have years of experience, which would be difficult to find

Results

Prepared

Return

Feedback

No Comfy

Answers

Set u

p Labs

Help TA

Training

Appearance

Listen to

me

Dislike

d

I learned

Not prepared

TA = Dr. T

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2215 (14/15) 2225 (13/14)

TA’s Opinion

Training

Help Me

Set u

p

Enough Tim

e

Show up

Student Q

s

Walk

Around

Smart

er

Positive

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Conclusions• TA’s major help in faculty workload• Students who have faculty previous semester

averaged higher TA ratings– Possibly due to the misconception that TA’s can’t

possibly be as good as professor• Faculty can keep close relationship with

students