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2023 Autumn TA Training · Overall Review

(A condensed review of the four chapters, from the "summary & review of the first three activities" sharing.)

What factors affect student ratings?

  • Are teaching, assignments, and exams closely related?
  • Are the slides/lecture thoughts clear?
  • Do assignments have clear, specific requirements / detailed documentation?
  • Are TA tutoring and recitations adequate?

Regarding "grading," beyond "good or bad grading," there are many dimensions:

  • Does it encourage "involvement"? Is it too lenient? Does it polarize? Is the standard too vague?

How to use "teaching goals" / "learning goals" well?

  • Course overall goal: one sentence that clearly reflects the course's spirit and persuades students to invest time/effort.
  • Break it down into sub-goals per module, each serving the overall goal.

Examples:

  • CSAPP / Computer Systems Intro: help you become a better programmer
  • Software Engineering: puts students on a fast track toward project management positions.

How to conduct research in class to improve the course?

  • Student ratings are benchmarking; in-semester research is profiling.
  • Shorten the feedback cycle and adjust promptly.
  • Use questionnaires and interviews flexibly, analyze carefully.
  • Don't just do what students say: understand the real problems in their learning and help them find solutions.

How to design a good programming assignment?

  • First think: what abilities to train? Serve the course or a big project? Need discrimination? Any reference assignments?
  • Then: how to control difficulty? How to progress step by step? How to write documentation?
  • Balance challenge and support: refuse "doing a handstand while eating noodles"; give enough support and face challenge head-on.

How to do tutoring/office hours well?

  • The energy a TA puts into tutoring is always limited; make it most effective. E.g. you needn't reply to WeChat instantly; fixed offline times/places help.
  • Clarify what types of help the TA can provide, when and where, and clearly explain to students.
  • Use tutoring to learn students' state, improve docs, etc.
  • "Realizing you need help" isn't innate. Help students develop this metacognitive ability.
  • Encourage students to help each other, e.g. study groups.

How to give a good recitation?

  • When a TA teaches a recitation, it's best to also attend the teacher's lecture.
  • When few students come to recitations, consider:
  • Designing fun interactive activities, group discussions.
  • Live code demos (the vscode extension for recording code demos: storyteller).
  • Before the recitation, ask some students about difficulties in lectures/assignments.
  • After, briefly collect feedback: what they gained / how it was / what's still unclear.