DRAFT:
Prospectus for STEM-TP supported Learning Assistants in Phys 1110.
Overview: Phys 1110 is a large enrollment (600 student) calculus-based introductory
physics course. It presently meets 3 times a week for large lectures, with one 50-minute
smaller recitation (32 students led by a grad TA). Based in part on growing evidence
from physics education research (PER) that conventional lecture/recitation style physics
courses fail at a variety of levels (particularly conceptual understanding, and student
attitudes) we will, among other changes, be transforming our recitations into "tutorials"
this fall. This system was developed by the University of Washington's (UW) PER group,
and its successes are well documented in published research. In a tutorial, students work
in small groups on carefully designed worksheets which follow an
"elicit/confront/resolve" strategy regarding common student preconceptions. The grad
student and undergrad learning assistants' roles are the same - they will circulate, working
individually with groups to keep them on track, monitor and guide their progress, and
help them answer their own questions. ( Grad students have additional grading
responsibilities.)
Needs/cost: I am requesting support for 7 LA's at 8-10 hrs/week each. This is broken
down as follows: There are 20 recitation sections in Phys 1110, all scheduled on
Thursdays. Each undergrad LA will cover 3 sections (one can only make two), so we
need 7 LA's. The typical LA will therefore have 3 hrs/wk in recitation, 1 hour/wk in the
"Physics Help Room" (office hours), and 1 hr/wk of personal preparation, for a minimum
of 5 hrs/wk/LA. In addition, I will encourage them to attend 1-2 hours of lecture/wk,
where they can help leading guided-group activities in the lectures themselves. There will
be grading opportunities of 1-2 hours/wk for the tutorial homeworks, and an additional 12 hrs/wk (integrated) to grade tutorial-style exam problems. Finally, I would like to offer
an additional 1 hr/wk to those interested in "over-covering" another section. (In the UW
implementation, the coach/student ratio is 3/24, one of whom is generally an experienced
PER grad student or postdoc. Our physics department provides one inexperienced grad
TA for each section. We are adding an undergrad LA to each section through the STEMTP funding, bringing our ratio up to a minimum of 2/32.)
On top of the above, all LA's/TA's will meet for one hour/wk on Tues. We will not be
paying them for this meeting; instead, the LA's will sign up for Phys 4810 ("Physics
Education Seminar" - 1cr.) The upcoming recitation will be "modeled" for them: they
will work through the same material their students will get, to be sure they understand the
physics content, while I play their tutorial role, modeling a Socratic teaching style. These
meetings will begin by looking over student "pretest" results, to provide a discussion of
common student pre-conceptions coming into this week's material. This system follows
closely the setup at UW, which has been running for nearly 10 yrs.
Assessment issues: There are a number of key elements to assess the impacts of
transforming 1110 this way: performance on multiple-choice conceptual exams (FCI)
allows comparison with large numbers of courses. Performance on tutorial-style long
answer conceptual exam questions allows comparison with the results at UW, as well as
with our own students' improvement over their pre-test results. Performance on questions
from previous semesters here allows comparison with our own student population in a
different style course. Performance on questions from my own previous 1110 course
allows some comparison of the impact of the tutorial (which will be the major change
from my previous course.) In addition, unlike the UW group, I am very interested in how
students feel about the course, and will administer regular "online surveys" to assess a
variety of student expectations and attitudes. (I have done this in the past). Last but not
least, the impact on the learning assistants themselves will be of great importance assessing whether they have learned some physics, some pedagogical skills, and what the
impact on their own attitude towards teaching and learning is.
Software support request: Every week, 1110 students will need to complete a "pretest" on the upcoming tutorial. This provides material for discussion in our LA meeting,
as well as providing a comparison baseline for evaluating the effectiveness of the
tutorials (by comparing with post-test, i.e. exam questions) At UW, this is implemented
online through a proprietary system. It will be very useful if we can emulate that here at
CU. This would mean a web-based system which can identify students in the class,
record their participation automatically, maintain a time limit, and enforce a due date.
The output should be in a form which easily allows LA's to look over the student's
replies, and to allow for quick grading. Long answer replies must be possible, as well as
multiple choice/drop down options, along with simple graphics.
References:
"Tutorials in Introductory Physics", McDermott and Shaffer (Wiley)
For many articles documenting student learning in physics, as well as the impact of
tutorials, see "Resource Letter on Physics Education", L. McDermott and J. Redish, Am
J. Phys 67, 755 (1999)
Addendum: Below is a "recruitment" letter I distributed at a Society of Physics Students
meeting. I received 6 applications as a result of this meeting, with 5 more coming in from
word of mouth and personal contacts. At the moment, I have selected 7, all of whom told
me they accept the position. Of these 7, 4 are female, 4 have physics GPA's above 3.7,
and 4 explicitly stated they are interested in K-12 teaching as a possible career.
______________________________________________________________________
The Physics Department is looking to hire undergraduates this Fall ('03) to co-teach a
novel type of recitation for Phys 1110 called "tutorials". You can do this for pay (roughly
$10/hr), elective credit (1 credit), or *both*, depending on the number of hours you
commit. You will be responsible for team-teaching (with a graduate student) at least 2
sections a week (up to 4 max, if you wish), in addition to one hour/week of required
training throughout the semester, plus a small amount of additional time (see below).
We are seeking people who are excited about teaching freshman physics in a studentcentered environment! That means more than merely having done fairly well in your own
introductory physics course: the focus in tutorials is on qualitative and conceptual
reasoning. You must also really enjoy interacting with a broad spectrum of students, be
willing to listen and think on your feet. It will be a great learning experience for you too!
Tutorials involve students working in small groups on directed conceptual problems your primary task for the hour is to circulate, ask questions, keep groups on task and
heading in the right direction (without telling them the answers) This teaching method is
called "Socratic Dialog". You will learn/practice this teaching style AND the required
physics content in our weekly preparation hour on Tuesdays.
We will require your attendance at this weekly preparation session (every Tues from 5-6,
more time available if you need it). All recitations for Phys 1110 meet on Thursdays, so
you'll need to have at least two different hour blocks free that day, throughout the fall
semester. We'd like one hour/week "office hour" in the help room (but this is negotiable.)
There may be minimal additional requirements averaging roughly 1 hr/week (e.g.
proctoring exams, attending an evening grading session once in the semester, or other
similar tasks, again negotiable.) Occasional attendance in the main 1110 lecture is
optional (but encouraged.) You will be paid for the total number of hours you commit
(including 1 hr/week "grace" for preparation.) Work/study students welcome but not
required. If you want elective credit for the experience, we cannot pay you for the one
hour/week preparation session, and will require a small amount of additional reading, and
a small end-of-term project/paper. (More than 1 elective credit is negotiable.)
Being an undergraduate teaching assistant is a big commitment -unlike attending a class,
you don't have the luxury of ever skipping (or quitting) when your time gets tight later in
the semester. But it should definitely be a great experience for you!
For more information please contact me at
Steven.Pollock@colorado.edu
(Duane F419, 492-2495)
P.S. If you know someone who you think is eminently qualified, and would really like to
do this but who is not in SPS (e.g., another major?) please pass this information on to
them. Thanks!