Faculty and TAs at Ohio State can find themselves in various
teaching contexts.
Faculty can have sole responsibility for a course, co-teach, teach as part of
a team (sometimes with TAs), or teach with a combination of all of
these. They
may also teach in the studio, lab, or clinical setting, or work
one-on-one with
students in independent study courses. Some TAs will teach
independently, although
many will teach a recitation, lab, or studio course. Others will be graders.
Most teachers will work one-on-one with students during office hours. Faculty
will sometimes teach seminars or supervise TAs. This chapter will
present information
about each of these teaching contexts, helping you better
understand the potential
duties involved and provide you with strategies for success.
Instructor of Record
Instructional Team
Seminar
Studio
Clinical Setting
One-on-One with Students
Course/TA Supervisor
Knowing your Audience
As the instructor of record, you assume full responsibility for a
course. This
is the most common type of assignment faculty receive. In some instances, TAs
are given the responsibility as instructor of record for the course, usually
under the indirect supervision of a faculty member or TA supervisor.
If you are the instructor of record, you are required to make many decisions
about the course, such as establishing teaching and learning goals, choosing
methods for achieving these goals, and assessing how well these
goals are achieved.
These decisions are constrained by the placement of the course in
the curriculum
and departmental demands for content. You are also likely to have
responsibility
for developing a course syllabus, ordering textbooks, delivering instruction
throughout the quarter, keeping records, meeting with students
during office
hours, and assigning grades. Sometimes this role will also
include supervising
and coordinating the work of TAs.
Many faculty and TAs at Ohio State teaching within
instructional teams,
in varied and numerous structures. These structures
involve instructors
from the same or different disciplines, either designing and
teaching a course
together or taking turns sharing their own knowledge. Other typical teaching
teams involve the lecturer of a large class working with TAs who either grade or teach
recitation or lab sections.
Team teaching, or co-teaching, can be the strategy of choice for
some instructors,
particularly those in the professional schools of Medicine,
Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary
Medicine. In the team teaching context, faculty partner with one or more other
faculty members
within their discipline to teach specific courses. The strengths of
team teaching
rest on the belief that multiple perspectives, energy, and talents can enrich
a course tremendously. James Davis (1995) lists eight
characteristics of effective
teams found in the literature: clear, elevating goal;
results-driven structure;
competent members; unified commitment; collaborative climate;
standards of excellence;
external support and recognition; and principled leadership. To plan together
well takes more coordination. Davis and others emphasize that
clear communication
among team members is the key to success. Delegation of responsibilities and
frequent checks of tasks' results are important during the
planning process.
Although a high level of dialogue is involved, Davis recommends
that teams truly
work together and avoid the "tag team" syndrome of assigning each
a topic or topics and taking charge of the course in serial fashion.
As problems become more complex and require multidisciplinary perspectives,
collaborations among instructors across departments are leading to more cases
of interdisciplinary team teaching. In these cases, the course
planning process
follows a similar pattern, but there are added considerations.
Davis deals with
these at length in Chapter 3 of Interdisciplinary
Courses and Team Teaching: New Arrangements for Learning. Such arrangements, Davis argues, offer advantages in terms of their holistic approach, as well as the developmental
potential and intellectual
excitement that can be experienced by instructors and students alike. Davis points out that in the planning process for interdisciplinary courses, a step is needed prior to those usually involved.
He terms this prior step "Inventing the Subject," a period of dialogue
and exploration during which the instructors and others decide on
principal
issues and perspectives that will be encompassed in the course.
Instructional teams involving lectures and recitations or labs are
very common
at Ohio State, in particular for large introductory courses. Typically, recitations and labs are taught by TAs and are smaller
in size than the lecture portion of the course. Most are taught concurrently
with the lecture, although some labs are stand-alone courses and
may be taught
in the next academic term after the corresponding lecture-based course. Communication and organization are key
in order for any of these teams
to function at their highest level; see Being a
Course/TA Supervisor for guidance.
The role of a recitation leader is most often assigned to TAs, who assist the
faculty course supervisor that is the instructor of record for a large course
with several sections. Such courses include introductory-level
biology, psychology,
mathematics, chemistry, history, sociology, and physics. Usually several TAs
will be assigned to lead separate recitation sections for one course.
Recitation leaders facilitate discussions on areas of the course
content, readings,
or assignments that students might find confusing or difficult.
These discussions
may require that you be especially effective in understanding how
to
facilitate group work,
how to stimulate student motivation,
how to respond to student questions,
and what techniques
to use to actively engage students during discussions. Sometimes, recitation leaders also prepare
and grade quizzes,
tests, or papers and submit part of the course grade. You may also be asked
to assist with record-keeping, such as attendance and student requests to add
or drop the course.
Recitation leaders are an important link between the course
instructor and the
students. For example, students often will look to TAs for clarification of
subject matter, assignments, and how to meet course expectations. Therefore,
it is important to have good communication between the faculty supervisor and
the TAs who lead the recitation sections.
While some faculty teach laboratory courses, especially at upper levels, most
often this role is assigned to TAs. These classes provide students
with hands-on
experience in understanding science. These can be active
demonstrations or short
student experiments. TAs likely will work under a course supervisor. As a lab
instructor, whether you are a faculty member or TA, your
responsibilities might
include reviewing experiments before they are given out to students, setting
up laboratory materials (sometimes this is the responsibility of a
lab coordinator),
demonstrating specific lab techniques, lecturing on content, getting students
engaged in laboratory activities, monitoring student work, asking
students questions
to guide them, and evaluating their reports. Lab instructors also must have
a working knowledge of laboratory safety procedures and proper use
of scientific
equipment.
When preparing a lab assignment, instructors might take a moment to view it
from a student's perspective. It is important to look for ambiguities
and poorly designed procedures that may cause students'
misunderstanding
and confusion. The best way for instructors to troubleshoot a lab is to do a
trial run themselves. It is also very important to have students read through
the assignment before coming to lab since time is always tight and they can
arrive better prepared to begin. A short presentation might be planned in
order to introduce
the lab to the students. This likely will include all the information that students need in order
to understand and complete the assignment. As the presentation is
planned, instructors
might stop and ask themselves whether they would understand it, if they were the
students.
When teaching in a lab setting, some instructors, especially new
teachers, have
a tendency to stay at the front of the lab, unless
students approach
them with questions. A better strategy is to walk around the lab,
talking with students and checking their
progress, answering any questions they may have, and providing
guidance if deemed necessary. The lab instructor can ask students questions that refer to obscure points from the
lecture, so that the lab instructor can better assess whether students
understand
what they are doing. By using this approach, the instructor can also help students prepare
for their examinations.
It is important that lab instructors, when offering information, be wary
of speaking too technically to students, especially if the
information is pivotal
to students' basic understanding and completion of the lab exercise. Students will benefit from an emphasis on the basic concepts, along with a gradual introduction to terminology
that students will need to use when discussing those concepts.
It is often a good idea for students to work together, either formally
or informally. In this way they can help each other learn the material, share
equipment and good preparation, and answer each other's questions. While
the students are working in groups, lab instructors can check on the progress of each
group member, encourage them to participate, and make it
everyone's responsibility
to help other group members understand the material.
Good teachers stay organized and help students be organized too. It
is important
to know where equipment and reference materials are located, make careful
note of any missing or damaged supplies and equipment, and attend to these needs right
away rather than waiting until the next lab. Checking on how
students organize
their data collection, written work, and drawings will help keep them on track.
It is also useful to remind students how much time remains and what needs to
be accomplished, and to allow for clean-up time. Safety rules
should be established;
the instructor should make sure that students follow all safety rules
and guidelines.
Many of the above roles involve grading. In some instances,
TAs are assigned
the sole responsibility of being a grader for a course. It is
important to remember
that whether or not this is your primary responsibility, evaluating
and grading
student work often is combined with other responsibilities as well. Grading
is a very sensitive topic to many in the academic community--particularly undergraduate
students, who often see grades as a way of being accountable to
parents, scholarships,
or financial aid sponsors. If you are assigned the role of being a grader, or have
this in addition
to other roles, you must think about the importance of how grading criteria
assess learning goals, grade consistently between students and among fellow graders, and use the grading procedures and policies in
your department.
As a faculty member, you may be offered the assistance of one or more TAs as
graders. If so, it is your responsibility to provide them with clear guidance
about your grading criteria and how they are to assess your learning
goals. You should
also ensure that the TAs meet grading procedures and policies of your department,
making every effort to grade consistently.
The typical seminar, for either graduate or undergraduate students, involves
a great deal of classroom discussion and critique about scholarly readings,
and one final
"publishable" research paper on an aspect of that seminar
topic. Edward Neal (1996) suggests that there are several problems with this model. Instructors
may expect students to "find their own way," and therefore, little planning for the seminar is necessary.
This approach can lead to class discussions in which students find it difficult to
identify the important points they should be getting out of the seminar process. Students may also
find it difficult to select a topic for their research papers and
may subsequently
wait until it is very late in the academic term to start writing, leading
to incomplete
or poor work.
For planning a seminar, Neal
(1996) offers the following questions to help create a
positive learning experience:
When planning how to lead seminars, consider replacing large research papers
with a series of smaller research activities that would provide experiences
replicating a complete project. This would be especially helpful
when teaching
an undergraduate seminar. Also consider the use of cooperative
learning activities,
allowing students to help decide on the focus for the seminar, and
asking students
to collaboratively author papers with their classmates.
Faculty and TAs often are assigned to teach studio classes in architecture, engineering, and the arts. Specifically, this format is used frequently in the School of Architecture and College of Engineering, as well as the Departments of Art, Art
Education,
Dance, Music, and Theatre.
Teaching studio
courses can be particularly challenging because these courses
involve elements
of design, creativity, expression, and movement.
If you are assigned the role of studio instructor, you will want to
communicate
standards and expected performance criteria, conduct peer
critiques, demonstrate
techniques, use appropriate multimedia, and incorporate students' prior
Studio situations present unique challenges to teaching.
Often, especially
in performance areas, personal judgment becomes significant, and the
instructor
has some methodological and philosophical questions to answer
before the course
begins. For example, criteria for learning assessment will take on particular
importance when a teacher must consider whether a talented student who makes
little effort will be judged in the same way as a less talented student who
works very hard to achieve the same level of performance. Although much will
vary depending on the instructional situation, the following guidelines may
help:
Performance classes need to be planned carefully. The instructor
needs to determine
in advance and clearly communicate to students how the importance
of such issues
as talent, level of achievement, attitude, effort, and attendance
will be viewed.
One major dilemma is the relative importance of process and product
in the course.
Will the instructor feel that students have achieved the course goals if they
demonstrate excellence throughout the process, but their final
performance does
not to the same extent? Does the instructor care only about the
quality of the
art work produced, or is he or she equally (or more) interested in
how the accomplishment
was achieved? Such issues require serious consideration while the syllabus is
being developed. Whatever the decision, the instructor has to make sure all
students have an attainable goal for the course, regardless of how
much talent
or inherent ability they may have.
The instructor needs to determine ways in which the learning process can be
measured--both for evaluation and improvement--and build this into
the course.
Other than personal observation and assistance, dancers or actors
might be required
to keep a rehearsal log, or artists may be asked to keep a journal
listing the
dates and reasons for major breakthroughs in the project. Instructors might
give quizzes on readings or require students to turn in rough drafts, plans,
or outlines as ways of documenting process.
When giving feedback, it is important for the instructor to do so
constructively
and sensitively. This is particularly important when a student may
have a large
emotional investment in a creative project. It is imperative that criticisms
be limited to aspects that students can do something about (this restriction may require
more conscious effort than the instructor expects), and to help them overcome
barriers that only appear to be insurmountable.
Instructors can work on recognizing potential. Some students will
be obviously
talented in the studio area; others will have abilities that have
not yet surfaced.
It is the teacher's job to pull that talent out into the open
and refrain
from making snap judgments.
It can be tempting in performance areas for a novice teacher to want to take
on the role of a parent. While nurturing students is obviously important, it
is equally important not to be patronizing about their
achievements. Similarly,
although students may be fellow artists at a difficult point in
their careers,
it is crucial to retain as much neutrality as possible when it comes to their
performances and not become too emotionally or personally invested in their
creative growth.
For more about special issues that should be considered when assessing performance-based work, see Evaluating Learning.
Clinical teaching typically occurs within the professional disciplines, such as medicine, allied health, dentistry, nursing, law, pharmacy, and optometry. Instructors typically are clinical faculty, instructors, or preceptors. Within this teaching context, there are specific characteristics of effective instructors, such as being confident in your clinical skills and being comfortable with ambiguity. The following are teaching issues to consider before teaching in the clinical setting.
Asking good questions of students is possibly the best teaching tool a clinical instructor can have. The Arizona Area Health Education Center (2003) organizes questions around four themes:
focused: "What questions would you ask this patient?"
leading: "Under what circumstances would you give this patient this medication?"
open: "What do you think is going on with this patient?"
reflective: "How comfortable were you with working with this patient?"
One of the most important steps in assessing the performance of
your students
is to first establish what you want to measure. Asking yourself, "What
makes a good clinician?" is a good way to start a list of
characteristics
that you can then use to create a rubric.
Consider the typical progression that students go through in your
professional program,
as well as the realistic expectations for students' skill levels. You will also
need to determine how (and if) you will communicate these to your students.
One possibility is to include your rubric, along with expectations you have
of students, on a "welcome sheet" provided on the first day of the class.
A wide variety of both quantitative and qualitative
assessments are typically
used in the clinical setting. Using verbal and written evaluations
may provide
complementary yet differing types of feedback. Regardless of which assessment
tools are used, the feedback provided to students should be frequent and specific,
and offer positives and critiques regarding their performance. Most helpful to students are assessment processes that emphasize and promote timely and ongoing evaluations. Feedback also should address what students need to
focus on in the future and how well they are progressing in specific skills.
In your evaluation, don't be tempted to avoid providing honest feedback, however difficult--because without it, your students won't ever learn the
skills
necessary to be a professional in your field.
Additional information about learning styles, teaching strategies,
and assessment,
as well as how to balance student learning with patient safety, can be found
in The Clinical Teaching Handbook, edited by Hudson and
Watson (2002)
at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. You can
find this resource in the university library or by contacting Andy
Hudson in the Office of Medical Education.
Assisting students one-on-one, whether it be in office hours,
tutoring sessions,
or independent study courses, requires that you pay special
attention to building
rapport, motivation, flexibility, diagnostic skills, listening actively, and
developing a repertoire of teaching skills to accommodate students' different learning
styles.
Most student problems will center on course content. Helping a
student break
a problem into a series of small, easily solved steps is usually more
effective than trying to get the student to make one giant intellectual leap.
Instructors should avoid simply providing a student with the
answer, or explaining
the entire process or concept followed by a statement such as,
"See, it's
really simple--do you understand it now?". By implementing the following suggestions, instructors can help students
with the process of learning.
Request that students state the question, process, or problem
in their own
words; then, ask for other examples or applications. Instructors can try to
determine what the student already understands and how she or he
learned that.
This knowledge can be used as the basis for dealing with
problematic material.
Personalizing the material--helping students understand how specific
knowledge is useful in non-academic settings--can increase
students'
motivation and also may reveal that they already understand more than they
thought they did.
Help students apply general concepts and techniques to the
specific problem.
For example, if a student can solve simple equations, the instructor can
help break down the complex equations that are causing problems
into a series
of smaller, more familiar, equations. If the student understands
the meaning
of the novel or picture but is having trouble making a coherent argument,
instructors can help the student list his or her points and then determine
the best way to arrange them into an essay. If the student can perform the
experiment correctly but does not understand its significance, instructors
can help the student relate the physical changes observed in the lab to the
theoretical material in the textbook or lecture notes. If the
student understands
the lecture material but is baffled by the text, she or he can be
asked to "translate"
the reading material into everyday English.
Encourage students to state in their own words how the concepts
and techniques
provide the solution to the problem. Students often have difficulty moving
from general knowledge to specific situations and from specific situations
to general principles. Usually the problem comes from a lack of practice; often it is
lack of familiarity with the discipline's specialized vocabulary. It
is important that instructors carefully explain any unusual
words. Once students
are able to explain a process in their own words, they can be
helped to "translate"
their answer into academic language. Students who know how to put their own
ideas into academic language may have an easier time
"unraveling"
the next problem they encounter.
Give students a similar problem requiring the same concept or technique for
its solution and encourage them to practice solving other similar problems. The
goal is to avoid having students successfully solve one problem only to go
home and discover that they have not mastered the material sufficiently to
work on their own. Experiences like this can cause students to lose faith
in their instructor's ability to teach and their ability to
learn.
Throughout this process, it is important to keep in mind that a
positive approach
will help students learn. Acknowledging what they already know, focusing
on their ability to learn more, and praising them for each advance they make
are keys to advancing their learning.
Tutoring provides an exciting opportunity to assist each student in
the learning
process. Many students are unsure of their ability to do academic work. They
may view academic work as mysterious and difficult. It is important to accept
this feeling and demonstrate in interactions with students that what they are
learning will be useful to them. Leaving each student who comes for
extra help
with some feeling of mastery, however large or small, can have
lasting effects.
Teaching students within the context of an independent study requires some
unique strategies. Generally, this type of course requires students to work
autonomously on a scholarly activity such as a research project.
The instructor's
responsibility is to keep the students on task. These courses may
also be developed
in cases where students have a special interest in a topic for which no course
is offered. It is important that students who take an independent study have
enough maturity to help identify the content's scope and depth. Therefore,
this type of course is usually taken by more senior undergraduate or graduate
To create a productive learning experience, it is important to
create the course
together. On the syllabus, some instructors will help set the tone
for the course
with comments such as:
"This course is a joint venture between the two of us. Your job is to drive and navigate. My job is to watch for potholes and keep you headed in the general direction of successful completion."
"I will expect that you take the initiative to develop your own project design."
"If you run into problems, come to our meetings with a couple of possible solutions for the problem."
A contract signed both by the instructor and the student can decrease or eliminate any confusion about how the course will be run. Provide a preliminary list of assignments to students taking an independent study. Ask your students to determine the independent study's course calendar on their own; then, work together with the students both to review the calendar and make final decisions on due dates. On the contract, list the tasks that must be accomplished, as well as assignments, deadlines, and expectations for workload and academic conduct. The following example assignments could be created in any discipline.
Read five journal articles you think are important to your project.
Write a one-page critique on each article.
Create an annotated bibliography that includes at least three new articles.
Keep a journal of activities (hand it to me in our meetings each week).
Attend a seminar on ________.
Write a summary of weekly accomplishments.
Meeting weekly, maybe even more towards end of the quarter, will provide students with adequate time to talk about their progress, ask questions, and discuss readings.
Many faculty serve as course or TA supervisors. In some instances, TAs who
have considerable and successful teaching experience are assigned the role of
supervising other TAs. "Lead TA" is a common name given to TAs in this role. The TA supervisor can also be the graduate chair in the
department,
a senior lecturer, or a professional staff member (non-tenure-track faculty
member). The role of the course and TA supervisor varies from department to
department; however, some general responsibilities are associated with
In many instances, the course supervisor is the instructor of record for the
course. Usually this means that the course supervisor both teaches the large section or
lecture part of the class, and oversees the work of recitation or lab
TAs. As a course or TA supervisor, there are many roles you will
want to fulfill,
such as (1) clarifying the responsibilities or expectations of TAs assigned
to your course, (2) serving as a role model by helping TAs to develop teaching
skills, (3) helping with content or procedural questions, often by
facilitating
regular meetings with TAs, and (4) providing structured teaching
support.
Some course supervisors require that TAs attend the lecture portion of the
course. This often is a good idea, especially if the TA's role is as
recitation leader. This requirement helps everyone to see what is covered during the lecture, as well as the types of
questions that are being asked, and where the muddy areas are for students
so that these can be the focus of recitation sections. Some
course supervisors
have weekly meetings with their TAs to discuss assignments, grades, class
attendance, and other administrative responsibilities associated with the
course.
Many TAs aspire to hold faculty positions in the future, and will use what they
learn from their
graduate teaching experiences when they become members of the
professoriate.
Faculty members can help TAs prepare for this role by
demonstrating effective teaching, organizational, managerial, and mentoring
skills. For example, TAs should be able to gain experience from the course
supervisor on how to prepare a lecture or discussion, choose an effective
grading system, write reliable and valid tests, and /or
evaluate
and grade students' performance in a course.
Frequently, course supervisors want to be sure that certain concepts are
treated in a standard fashion. They also realize that the breadth
of knowledge
required by introductory courses may necessitate some learning or reviewing
by the TAs. Many supervisors hold planning meetings for the
purpose of reviewing
content and demonstrating how they want it taught. Course supervisors are
also responsible for assuring similarity of policies and grading standards
across sections. Regular meetings can allow for the discussion of
policies and offer
TAs the chance to ask questions when necessary. In cases where a course supervisor
doesn't initiate meetings, TAs should be sure to ask for clarification
on these issues.
In addition to modeling good practice, some faculty members
visit their TAs'
sections and provide feedback, organize seminars or workshops on teaching
issues, and/or offer orientations about teaching prior to the beginning of the
assignment. Some TA supervisors arrange for TAs to observe each other's classes or the classes of faculty who are
exemplary teachers. In the Department of Psychology, for example, the TA supervisor
not only conducts
periodic classroom observations of the TAs, but also coordinates
an intensive
teaching orientation for new and returning TAs prior to the start
of the autumn
academic term. Staff in Faculty & TA Development can help plan and implement such efforts.
Effective TA supervisors are responsive to the needs of their
TAs. They can
assist TAs in enhancing their strengths and improving their
teaching skills.
They can provide guidance in helping them fulfill their responsibilities as
TAs. It is important to remember that the relationship between the TA and
his or her supervisor is crucial to the department and the university. TAs
who are effectively supervised and prepared for their
instructional role are
then able to deliver high quality instruction to the students they teach.
Segerstråle (1982) and others suggest that faculty members and the TAs who work with them should discuss and clarify the following points early in the quarter:
The "Whose Responsibility Is It?" worksheet can be a helpful tool both to TAs and course supervisors in helping define expectations for all members of the teaching team.
Regardless of the teaching context in which you may find yourself, it is also important to take into consideration the make-up of your classroom. What types of students do you have in your course? What are their expectations? Is it a General Education Curriculum (GEC) course? A second writing course? A first-year survey course? A senior capstone course? Your course may enroll non-majors, majors, or a mixture of both. You may have first-year students, all ranks of undergraduates, or a combination of seniors and graduate students. The course may be mandatory for students or an elective. It is likely that you will design each of these courses differently.