Teaching USF Undergraduates: Center for 21st Century Teaching Excellence University of South Florida |
Contents
History of the Summer Workshop for ITA`s
Program Description
Assignments
Training Program
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The employment of teaching assistants (TAs) in undergraduate courses has become a common practice on most university campuses in the last two decades. An increasing number of these teaching assistants are international graduate students. As with most TAs, many international teaching assistants (ITAs) are teaching for the first time and look to their mentors, their departments, and their institutions for advice on teaching and working with undergraduate students in the American classroom. Some of the developmental needs of new ITAs can best be met by mentors and departments. Other more technical needs require an institutional response. The University of South Florida has established a summer workshop specifically designed to support the development of proficiency in teaching, communication, and intercultural skills for international teaching assistants. The USF summer workshop is part of a larger plan to address the needs of USF ITAs and their departments. This includes the offering of the SPEAK test (institutional version of the ETS Test of Spoken English) in the fall and spring semesters by the English Language Institute under the sponsorship of the Graduate School to assess spoken language proficiency of prospective ITAs.
History of
the Summer Workshop for ITAs
USF's program for international teaching assistants began with support from the College of Arts & Science in 1995 with a summer intensive workshop for ITAs in the math department. Then, in 1996, the program was opened to all new ITAs in the College of Arts & Science. This summer, in August of 1997, the Provost provided funds to the Center for Teaching Enhancement for a summer workshop for all USF international teaching assistants. Each summer, workshops for new ITAs will take place for five weekdays beginning two weeks before the first day of fall semester classes. The workshop is open to ITAs from all USF colleges. This executive summary includes a description of the program, a summary of its evaluation by the ITA participants, and an appendix of materials from the summer workshop.
Program Description
Following discussion with college and department administrators,
faculty, and staff from the English Language Institute, the
following goals were established for the summer workshop for
international teaching assistants:
Workshop admission requirements
To be admitted to the program, prospective international teaching assistants must have:
a TSE or SPEAK score of 45 or above
(This requirement is subject to the Graduate School's policy on
TSE or SPEAK cutoff scores for prospective ITAs.)
a formal nomination to the workshop by a department faculty member
a teaching assistantship appointment in the coming academic year
the willingness and availability to participate in the complete program
The fourteen workshop participants came from the College of Arts & Science and the College of Engineering. Some had taught before at USF, another American university, or in their native countries. Others had never taught before. The countries represented were India, Peoples Republic of China, Japan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Spain. The scores on the TSE or SPEAK ranged from 45 to 60 (perfect score). Three applicants to the workshop were not accepted because of a TSE or SPEAK below 45. Each workshop participant received a stipend of $150 for participating in the full week's program.
The workshop took place Monday through Friday, August 11 - 15, 1997. (See Appendix: Schedule.) Monday and Wednesday sessions addressed teaching and learning issues, such as asking and answering questions, diversity issues in the American classroom, students' learning styles, building rapport with students, the first day of class, students' critical thinking skills, and active learning.
On Tuesday and Thursday, ITAs were separated into small groups for microteaching, short teaching practice sessions held in a classroom with a small audience that included undergraduate students, an experienced TA, and a faculty facilitator. These sessions were videotaped so ITAs could view themselves teaching. Assignments for the two practice sessions required participants to prepare five-minute teaching demonstrations with specific essential components, such as a quiz and interactive teaching strategies. (See Appendix: Assignments.) Immediately following microteaching sessions, each ITA's teaching performance was discussed with the ITA by the undergraduates, fellow ITAs, the experienced TA and the faculty facilitators while observing a videotaped segment of the ITA's teaching demonstration.
Friday morning, participants and undergraduate students took part in a synchronized computer conversation about teaching and learning. The three purposes of this exercise were:
To create a unique experience for the ITAs and undergraduates to have together to introduce a new type of teaching technology
To foster a deeper insight into the teaching/learning experience by offering a formal question for discussion: What is the ideal academic relationship between student and instructor?
ITAs also spent time reading each other's lesson plans on the World Wide Web. Later in the day, participants and undergraduate assistants joined together in small groups and shared in a role play exercise in the office-hour context. During this session, undergraduate students played the role of disgruntled students with a specific complaint. Each ITA had the opportunity to spontaneously play the part of a TA responding to a conflict situation during office hours or in the classroom.
Nine USF faculty and staff (two full time and seven part time) played a variety of roles in the workshop including 1) presenting formal sessions on teaching and learning, 2) facilitating the videotaped microteaching sessions, 3) facilitating large group discussions, 4) facilitating informal small group discussions on teaching in specific settings, such as the science laboratory, and 5) facilitating the synchronous computer discussion. Faculty came from the Center for Teaching Enhancement, the Department of Languages and Linguistics, the Department of Secondary Education (Foreign Language), the Department of English, and the Department of Chemistry.
Four experienced international teaching assistants from Anthropology, Chemistry, Physics and Languages and Linguistics assisted in the microteaching sessions by videotaping the sessions and providing feedback on the teaching performance of the participating ITAs.
Nine undergraduate assistants from a variety of majors attended the microteaching sessions and participated as students in the teaching demonstrations. They also gave the ITAs feedback about their teaching. The experienced teaching assistants and undergraduate assistants attended an orientation session the Friday before the beginning of the workshop. During this training session, undergraduates and TAs were introduced to the goals of the workshop and the specific nature of their involvement in the training. (See Appendix: Checklist for Undergraduate Consultants.)
Participants completed a workshop evaluation form consisting of
thirteen questions, eleven of which were open-ended questions. A
sampling of responses to four open-ended items appears below:
1) With regard to developing skills in teaching undergraduates, is there anything that you would like to say about workshop sessions presented Monday and Wednesday?
3) Is there anything that you would like your department to
know about the program?
Good teaching skills and dedication learned in this workshop.
Next
Workshop for International Teaching Assistants
Next year's workshop for new ITAs will take place August 10 - 14,
1998. The Center for Teaching Enhancement plans to survey
departments to discern the best way to communicate to department
faculty and TAs the content of the workshop and the workshop
application deadline. It will also be necessary to find an
effective way to communicate to workshop participants the
importance of attending the two-day workshop for all new TAs,
August 20 and 21, 1998.
The Center welcomes suggestions for future ITA and TA workshop topics and will continue to work with USF academic units to determine the best ways to support department efforts to improve the teaching skills of teaching assistants.
Assignments
|
Part One Due Tuesday, August 12,1997 8:45 a.m. |
Developing Rapport and Presentation Style
(15 minutes)
On Tuesday, please come prepared to 1) submit your typed lesson plan (for our temporary Web page), and 2) teach a fifteen minute lesson to a small group of students and teaching assistants. Please follow directions at the end of page two to e-mail your lesson plan for the Web page.
Microteaching goals:
For this assignment, please choose ONE concept that can be used for Tuesday's lesson AND Thursday's lesson. In Thursday's session, this same concept will be the basis for an interactive lesson where students participate actively.
Each participant will have an opportunity to complete the following steps during a teaching demonstration. Include the items listed below within your 15-minute teaching presentation. Use the time guidelines to help plan and organize your presentation:
| (5 minutes) | A. Assume this is
your first day of class. You are teaching an introductory
level course. Welcome your students. Briefly introduce yourself and the general content and purpose of your course. Take roll, using the list of names provided. Use the roll call as a rapport-building technique. Practice pronouncing the names at home the night before. Concentrate on making your students feel at ease. |
| (6 minutes) | B. Present one
basic idea or concept from your own subject area. Include at least one formal, technical definition suitable for an introductory-level course. Use analogies and/or examples to illustrate the term, concept, or principle that you have defined. Be prepared to answer questions from your students. |
| (4 minutes) | C. Check your
students' comprehension of the material you presented.
Distribute a one-page quiz* to your students based on the material you presented. You may make part of the quiz multiple choice or short answer, and be sure to include questions from the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Collect the quiz. You will grade it after class and return the graded quizzes during the microteaching session on Thursday. |
***Please e-mail your one-page lesson outline to the following address so that it can be included on the Web page:
lucas@chuma.cas.usf.edu
Special Note: Quizzes written in black ink copy better than those written in blue ink or pencil. Please bring 10 copies of the quiz for "your class."
On Tuesday morning, submit your written lesson plan for the Web page.
Center for Teaching Enhancement, University of South Florida
|
Part Two Due Thursday, August 14, 1997 8:45 a.m. |
Promoting Active Learning in the Classroom and the Lab
(15 minutes)
Microteaching goals:
Please include the following in your 15-minute teaching demonstration:
| (4 minutes) | 1. Greet your
students. Return and discuss graded quizzes
you gave on Tuesday. Afterwards, make a transition from going over the quizzes to the lesson for today. |
| (3-4 min.) | 2. Briefly review
the concept you taught on Tuesday. (Make sure that it is a concept that lends itself to active learning for the next step, Step #3.) |
| (7-8 min.) | 3. Use a non-lecture
format (group work, pair work, problem solving, collaborative learning, etc.) to reinforce student learning. Ask students a few questions above the first two levels on Bloom's Taxonomy. Take some risks. Experiment! It is okay if your experiment does not work! |
The first session on Wednesday afternoon will be devoted to planning the activity that you will include in Thursday's lesson. We will also discuss how to use active learning in your subject area. Be sure you have a very clear idea of what you will do in the Thursday microteaching before you leave the Wednesday afternoon session on Active Learning. Your instructor will help you develop your microteaching activity.
***Please e-mail your one-page lesson outline to the following address so that it can be included on the Web page:
On Thursday morning, submit your written lesson plan for the Web page.
Center for Teaching Enhancement, University of South Florida
Teaching USF Undergraduates:
A Training Program for International Teaching Assistants
August 8, 11, 12, 14, and 15, 1997
The Center for Teaching Enhancement is offering a program for international teaching assistants to assist them in developing their teaching skills. This one-week program will include practice teaching and feedback sessions for the teaching assistants. There will be instructors, teaching assistant consultants, and undergraduate consultants working with the teaching assistant consultants in small groups throughout the week. The atmosphere will be one of high energy, fast pacing, and fun.
Participation will include running the video-camera during microteaching practice sessions, giving feedback to teaching assistants about their teaching, and role playing students during office hours. We also hope that the experienced TA consultants will make an effort to get to know the teaching assistants as the week progresses.
Work Schedule:
NOTE: There may be slight changes in the schedule. TA Consultants interested in teaching as a career are welcome to attend other sessions as well.
Remuneration: $200.00
CONTACT: Diane Williams, Center for Teaching Enhancement, 974-1841, or email - dwilliam@helios.acomp.usf.edu
University of South Florida is an Affirmative Action/Equal Access/Equal Opportunity Institution
Teaching USF Undergraduates:
A Training Program for International Teaching Assistants
August 8, 11, 12, 14, and 15, 1997
The Center for Teaching Enhancement is offering a program for international teaching assistants to assist them in developing their teaching skills. This one-week program will include practice teaching and feedback sessions for the teaching assistants. There will be instructors, teaching assistant consultants, and undergraduate consultants working with the teaching assistant consultants in small groups throughout the week. The atmosphere will be one of high energy, fast pacing, and fun.
Participation will include role playing the part of students in classes during the microteaching practice sessions, giving feedback to teaching assistants about their teaching, and role playing students during office hours. We also hope that the undergraduate consultants will make an effort to get to know the teaching assistants as the week progresses.
Work Schedule:
Total Hours: Approximately 11 hours @$6.00 per hour
NOTE: There may be slight changes in the schedule. Undergraduate Consultants interested in teaching as a career are welcome to attend other sessions as well.
CONTACT: Diane Williams, Center for Teaching Enhancement, 974-1841, or email - dwilliam@helios.acomp.usf.edu
OR Irene Canton, 974-7378, or email - canton@quijote.lang.usf.edu
University of South Florida is an Affirmative Action/Equal Access/Equal Opportunity Institution
PICTURES OF ITA '97 PROGRAM
http://www.cas.usf.edu/~lucas/cte/pict.html