INTRODUCTION TO LABORATORY INSTRUCTION Syllabus - Fall 2008 |
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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:
Time & Place:
The class meets Tuesdays
from
8:00 to 9:15 A.M. in 205 Brown Laboratory. 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. 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: