Teaching Portfolio Development

Summary of Teaching Responsibilities
Joshua Eckroth
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

CSE 201: Elementary computer programming

I taught CSE 201 during Autumn 2008 and Winter 2011 quarters.

Course description

CSE 201 is typically a first programming course. Most of the students are not Computer Science & Engineering majors; rather, they often come from Mathematics Education, Business (Marketing, Information Systems, Accounting), Actuarial Science, Chemistry, Art, Music, etc. Additionally, most students do not expect to take another class focused on computer programming.

The goal of this course is to learn modern, though elementary, computer programming techniques. We teach with a popular, modern programming language and the same software tools that computer science professionals use daily. Unlike some introductory programming courses, this course does not use a “toy language” that is designed to enhance learning. Rather, students acquire practical knowledge and skills that may be called upon in their careers.

This is a dual lab and lecture course; one-third of the class time each week is spent in a computer lab. Students are generally expected to work independently, both during lab periods and outside of class. Each class typically contains 40 students.

My responsibilities

This course is taught by a group of GTAs. Weekly meetings among the GTAs and the course coordinator(s) help the GTAs learn how to effectively teach a course. Like the other teaching assistants, I was asked to present the same lecture notes (PowerPoint slides), required the students to complete the same homework assignments, and administered the same tests as the other sections of the course. Thus, I did not possess much freedom to alter these materials. However, I did write additional lecture notes and modified the PowerPoint slides in ways that I thought would benefit the students. Additionally, I used my judgment about how to present the material in lectures, and even included extra lectures about computer security and other topics.

I was responsible for grading homework and providing office hours; the group of GTAs shared grading responsibilities for exams. The group collaborated during our weekly meetings and learned from their experiences.

CSE 202: Introduction to programming and algorithms for engineers and scientists

I taught CSE 202 during Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn 2010 quarters.

Course description

Like CSE 201, CSE 202 is typically a first programming course. Also like CSE 201, most of the students are not Computer Science & Engineering majors. However, the vast majority are Engineering majors of some variety: Electrical, Civil, Chemical, and Materials.

This course is essentially the “engineering” dual of CSE 201. The prerequisite is a first course in Calculus. The programming language that is taught is more geared towards engineers, but like CSE 201, the programming language is very popular and practical. I always held an expectation that students would be required to use their skills learned in CSE 202 at some point in their careers.

This is a dual lab and lecture course; one-third of the class time each week is spent in a computer lab. Students are generally expected to work independently, both during lab periods and outside of class. Each class typically contains 40 students.

My responsibilities

This course was the first that I entirely developed. I exercised the freedom given to me to rewrite the course lecture notes, create new assignments, and design the midterm and final exams.

My responsibilities also included lecturing, office hours, and grading. In short, I interacted with the students at every level, from the lecture notes (essentially replacing the textbook for most students) to the lectures and grading. I also worked with a fellow GTA who was teaching the same course during some of the same quarters. We attended UCAT meetings together, collaborated on course design, shared experiences, and even taught each other’s classes on two occasions.

CSE 230: Introduction to C++ programming

I taught CSE 230 during Spring, Summer, and Autumn 2011, and Winter 2012 quarters.

Course description

This course is oriented towards students who wish to learn more about programming than what was provided in CSE 201 or 202. This course is an elective for non-computer science engineering majors. Most students are Electrical Engineering majors.

As such, this course contains significantly more advanced topics than 201 or 202. Again, the course focuses on a practical, industry-standard programming language and programming methodologies. After completion of this course, students are presumed to be able to create meaningful applications that assist their work as engineers.

This course is not lab-based. Students are generally expected to work independently, outside of class. Each class typically contains 40 students.

My responsibilities

Like CSE 202, this is a course I developed. Using the prior GTA’s material as an initial guideline, I wrote entirely new and complete lecture notes, assignments, weekly quizzes, a final exam, and a host of online “mini-quizzes.” Additionally, each weekly quiz was accompanied by a sample that we reviewed in a class period before the day of the quiz. Each quarter this material evolved as the result of new ideas and feedback from students.

Also like CSE 202, I interacted with the students at every level. I wrote the material, lectured, provided office hours, and performed the grading.

Summary of Teaching Responsibilities
Bora Bosna
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Mathematics
Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

I have taught at OSU for 19 quarters (counting current quarter): 16 quarters as a TA in a lecture-recitation format, 2 days a week, 2 classes each of 30,3 quarters as the instructor of record, 5 days a week, one class of 30.

My responsibilities as a TA are:

(here MSLC is Mathematics and Statistics Learning Center)

• grading weekly homework and quizzes, grading (parts of) midterms and final exams,
• preparing weekly quizzes,
• 2 weekly classroom meetings of 48 minutes with each class of 30 (4 hours total a week),
• 3 office hours a week plus 1 by appointment, and 2 hours of tutoring service at MSLC,
• corresponding with the lecturers, providing them feedback on how students are doing, where they are strong or lacking, discussing what would be appropriate to include on the exams, keeping track of grades.

My responsibilities as the instructor of record are:

• meeting students 5 days a week for 48 minutes each (5 hours total a week),
• preparing the syllabus, course calendar, grading scheme,
• preparing midterms, final exams, weekly quizzes, homework assignments,
• setting up the online homework system, synchronizing deadlines with the rest of the course,
• grading quizzes, homework, exams, 4 office hours a week plus 1 by appointment,
• no MSLC tutoring duty, although I volunteer during summer for shortage of staff by holding some of my office hours there.

Courses I taught as a TA are:

• 131 – Business Calculus I (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Spring 2007,
• 132 – Business Calculus II (Riemann Sums, Integration, Applications, Linear Algebra) in Autumn 2007 and Spring 2008,
• 151 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 1 (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Autumn 2006,
• 152 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 2 (Riemann Sums, Integration, Areas and Volume, Applications, Differential Equations) in Winter 2007, Winter 2008, Autumn 2008 and Winter 2009,
• 153 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 3 (Sequences and Infinite Series, Parametrized Curves, Lines and Planes) in Winter 2010and Winter 2012,
• 161 – Accelerated Calculus for Engineers (151 and 152 taught together in one quarter) in Autumn 2009,
• 254 – Multivariable Calculus  (Limits and Partial Derivatives of Multivariable Functions, Applications, Line and Surface Integrals, Green’s Theorem, Stokes’ Theorem, Divergence Theorem) in Spring 2009 and Spring 2010,
• 255 – Ordinary Differential Equations (1st and 2nd Order Linear ODEs, Higher Order Linear ODEs, Power Series Solutions) in Autumn 2010,
• 415 – Partial Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems (1st and 2nd Order Linear ODEs, Boundary Value Problems, Fourier Series, Heat and Wave PDEs, Linear Systems of ODEs) in Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011.

Courses I taught as the instructor of record are:

• 131 – Business Calculus I (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Summer 2009 and Summer 2011,
• 151 – Single Variable Calculus for Engineers 1 (Limits, Derivatives and Applications) in Summer 2008.

My total responsibility as a TA is 20 hours a week. Usually it goes over this with the office hours I have by appointment one-on-one with some students because there are too many separate appointments, and with time I spend preparing extra practice material for the students.

The MSLC offers free tutoring service to OSU students who are taking math or stats courses. They have rooms separated according to courses, and they use TutorTrac (same as SASSO) to keep track of the demand for each course, so they can assign an appropriate number of TAs for that room. Students can come, choose to do homework by themselves, or ask questions to tutors. My duty is to be there and answer students’ questions. On a busy day, it’s equivalent to or more than teaching recitation.

Summary of Teaching Responsibilities
Monali Chowdhury
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Psychology
Winner of the 2011 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

Graduate Teaching Associate

As a graduate teaching associate (GTA), I have taught ten sections of Psychology 100 spanning over Fall 2005 – Spring 2006, and again from Fall 2009 – present.

Course description: General Psychology 100 is a 5-credit hour introductory level course providing exposure to the broad field of psychology and several sub-areas in this field. Psychology 100 (Psych 100) is one of the most popular classes at OSU typically with 1500-2300 students enrolled per quarter, across 30 or more sections. Psych 100 is taught solely by GTAs (with an occasional doctorate lecturer) under the supervision of Faculty Director, Dr. Melissa Beers. For consistency, the textbook, assigned readings, midterm and final exams, grading, and course policies are standardized across all sections.

Class composition: Psych 100 fulfills, in part, the requirements of the Social Diversity and Social Science components of the University’s General Education Curriculum (GEC), and is a prerequisite for advanced coursework in psychology. This attracts a vast majority of freshmen to enroll who are mostly non-psychology majors and whose academic backgrounds run the gamut from pre-med/pre-nursing and engineering to fashion and retail studies. Classes also comprise upperclassmen, several international and some non-traditional students. Section sizes are typically large with as many as 80-120 students, but average around 55-60 students per section.

Course goals: Psychology 100 aims to help students gain knowledge on several psychological concepts, become familiar with the theories and methods of scientific inquiry as applied to the study of human behavior, thought, and emotion, acquire critical thinking approaches to information, and develop awareness and appreciation of the social diversity found in the pluralistic nature of our culture.

Summary of my teaching responsibilities and role as a Psych 100 GTA

• Syllabus preparation: Create a personal syllabus outlining my learning objectives for students, quiz dates and format, extra credit assignments, and other personal class policies
• Lesson plans: Create organized guided notes and PowerPoint lectures on 16 chapters; I caught a serious factual error in our current Psych 100 textbook while preparing my lectures. This prompted me to write a letter to the authors pointing out the error and providing evidence for my argument. Henceforth, the authors have corrected this error and the publishers have courteously included me in the Acknowledgements section of the new edition.
• Learning environment: Create a stimulating learning environment by using visual aids, class activities, and discussion
• Student rapport: Create a safe and personable class atmosphere, by building student rapport, where students feel involved and comfortable to participate
• Quiz construction and grading: Create new application-based quiz questions for three quizzes
• Review session: Create a new set of practice questions for exam review sessions; hold three exam review sessions every quarter
• Exams: Administer and proctor exams in my own and an additional section; grade exams
• Carmen course website: Maintain and update Carmen with grades, guided notes, relevant course information, and reminders of upcoming events such as quizzes, extra credit assignment deadline etc.
• Regular contact with students: Being available to help students during regular office hours, by appointment, and via e-mail
• Mentoring: Mentor undergraduate course assistants, who are matched with GTAs, by providing feedback on short presentations they make in my classes or practice questions that they write
• Substitute TA: Be available to cover for other TAs in event of sickness/unavailability; I enjoy interacting with students from other sections and have taught as a substitute TA on multiple occasions.
• Textbook review: Carefully review and provide constructive feedback on textbooks being considered by the Psych 100 program for adoption in Fall 2011
• Program meetings: I have been actively involved in exam strategic planning meetings to enhance the standardized exam construction process.
• Psychology 852 (Practicum on the Teaching of Psychology): I have been invited to visit the psychology teaching practicum classes on several occasions where I engaged in peer mentoring on topics such as first day teaching experiences, classroom management, class activities etc. I also provide mentoring when new TAs from Psych 852 sit in on my classes to pick up “tricks of the trade.”
• Summer 2010 pilot of E-Book: I collaborated with Dr. Beers in a pilot study conducted by the Psych 100 program exploring the use of electronic textbooks. My section was chosen to receive quarterlong free access to the e-textbook. I gathered, via multiple in-class surveys, feedback on student attitudes towards the use of e-text. We conducted quantitative analysis on the survey data, assessed the impact of this section-wide free availability of e-text on student learning, and presented the findings at a recent teaching conference, where journal editors expressed interest in publishing this pilot study.

Leadership Roles

Exam Committee Chair

Every quarter, groups of four to six TAs form Exam Committees that work as a team to prepare the standardized midterms and final exam. I have frequently served as the Chair of Exam Committees with the following roles in this capacity:

• Take the lead on preparing a balanced, GEC-relevant exam by choosing appropriate questions from an existing question bank, and being accountable for exam quality and security
• Delegate responsibilities to other exam committee members that include writing new exam questions, preparing exam key, copying over 800 exams etc.
• Lead the Exam Committee meeting to select the final mix of questions to appear on the exam
• Identify the topics missed by most students course-wide based on item analysis results

On other occasions, as an Exam Committee member, I have contributed to the exam construction process by creating new applied questions and participating in other exam tasks.

Assessment Committee Chair

As mentioned before, Psych 100 fulfills the University’s GEC requirements. Every year, the Psych 100 Assessment Committee (typically six to eight TAs) evaluates student understanding of GEC objectives by assessing performance on (1) GEC-relevant items in exams (embedded testing), and/or (2) reflection papers that students write on GEC-relevant topics covered throughout the quarter.

I have been assigned the important position of Chair of the Assessment Committee and have the following responsibilities in this capacity:

• Allocate GEC reflection paper prompts to over 30 TAs teaching Psych 100
• Oversee course-wide collection of reflection papers from students
• Grade and delegate grading of reflection papers to other members of the Assessment Committee
• Summarize and analyze quantitative data (from reflection paper grades) that reflect how well students are grasping the GEC learning objectives that Psych 100 aims to meet
• This past Fall, I took the lead on fine-tuning the rubric used to grade GEC reflection papers, and modifying the reflection paper prompts to better portray the GEC objectives of the University.

Extracurricular Teaching Activities

In addition to my teaching responsibilities as a GTA, I have sought out other opportunities for professional growth. These include:

• Facilitator at UCAT Teaching Orientation: In Fall 2010, I was chosen as one of the facilitators at the UCAT university-wide teaching orientation where I co-facilitated a session on “Introduction to Teaching and Learning” for Independent Courses, and also served as a panelist in two sessions of “International Teachers: Experienced International TAs Share Their Experience.”
• Experienced International TA speaker: I shared my perspectives as an international TA with students in two sections of the Spoken English Program’s Ed T&L 505 class in Fall 2010.
• Workshop participation: I continuously try to keep myself informed of teaching approaches of prominent authors in Psychology and current pedagogical advancements by active involvement in workshops. Noted among these are talks by textbook authors Douglas Bernstein and Steven Lynn, David Myers’s virtual seminar on “Practical Strategies for Effective Teaching of Psychology,” and the Ohio Digital Bookshelf Conference on  digitization of psychology textbooks to make course materials more affordable for students.

Philosophy of Teaching Statement
Tim Jensen
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of English
Winner of the 2010 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

As an instructor of rhetoric and composition courses, my aim is to motivate students to begin a personal exploration toward effective, ethical communication. This can only happen if they feel genuinely inspired by the improvement made within the short period of a quarter and confident in their ability to learn more—if they feel, in a word, empowered. To these ends, I practice and continually refine pedagogical strategies that reveal how power, knowledge, and discourse are inextricably woven together with the arts of persuasion, more formally known as rhetoric.

I anchor my pedagogy in three interrelated principles, outlined below around Latin maxims. These dictums are not mere flourishes; were you to take my class, you would hear them repeated regularly. Forming the foundation for specific teaching strategies and the constant evaluation of those methods, these principles never allow me to forget that the best teacher is one who adopts the perspective of a perpetual learner. To lead by example, then, I am always seeking to further my own skills in listening, collaboration, and application of knowledge to everyday practices.

Audi Alteram Partem

Like the development of any other skill, critical thinking requires practice, whereby repetitious acts form patterns that become easier to perform, eventually becoming natural, almost instinctual. I employ the strategy of audi alteram partem— translated as “hear the other side”—to cultivate this habit of critical inquiry and analytical thinking. For example, instead of qualifying and modifying a student’s comment in class discussion, I will simply respond with the phrase, often kick-starting a fast and loose version of the dialectical process: one student’s comment (thesis) is followed by a counter-perspective (antithesis), resulting in a new claim (synthesis) for the class to think about. Students soon see the pattern develop and try and beat the game, so to speak, by providing a counter-argument alongside their initial comment (“I know you’re probably gonna say that…”). As a methodology, audi alteram partem encourages the exploration of claims and their structures of reasoning and evidence, all in an organic, conversational manner. The positive effects of this strategy are consistently visible in students’ analytical essays, where evidence shows them grappling with arguments from a variety of perspectives. My larger goal, though, is to foster the natural trajectory of this thought pattern so that students go beyond small claims to examine larger cultural mores. One recent student email demonstrates this move: “Did you know that in China some pay their doctors only while they stay healthy?! Holy Audi Alteram Partem! Docs only get rich by keeping people from getting sick – we should drop that into health care reform!”

Although it is rewarding to see class conversations quickly gain momentum and capture student interest, my use of audi alteram partem is primarily driven by a belief in the pedagogical principle of critical listening, by which we develop more quickly intellectually and socially by listening to multiple perspectives and logics. In short, I teach rhetoric—the art of persuasion—by teaching the art of listening. Because I am here to learn, too, I practice critical listening by soliciting informal feedback from students through brief emails that simply “touch-base,” scheduling multiple one-on-one conferences, and keeping an “open-door” policy, where I promise to meet with a student at their convenience, in terms of time and location, to the best of my ability. To be an effective instructor, I must listen attentively to students in order to discover their unique learning styles and the particular motivations guiding their education.

Docendo Discimus

To cultivate a thriving atmosphere for critical listening and intellectual exploration, all of my courses place great emphasis on the pedagogical principle of docendo discimus—the idea that “we learn from teaching.” To draw on the diversity of insights and experiences of students, it is my responsibility to create an environment where we can all teach each other. My strategies for doing so have taken several years to develop (and are still evolving), perhaps because they are counter-intuitive at first glance: to animate the self-discovered, self-appropriated learning that can truly influence individual behavior, I emphasize the class as  community; to generate a respectful, supportive, and enthusiastic atmosphere, I disperse authority rather than consolidate it. This means, of course, that participants must leave behind the passive role of “student” and adopt a more active orientation that highlights responsibility and accountability. Enacting this principle is more challenging than retaining the traditional roles of student/teacher, but I have found that the results are always worth it.

For example, I recently asked those in my section of ENG 276 (Introduction to Rhetoric) if they would like to include a peer-evaluation component in their first project, and the majority voted in its favor. From there we radically democratized the entire process: in one class session we surveyed sample assignments using a variety of rubrics, exploring the value of different terminologies and evaluative frameworks. Then, with the help of a detailed online survey I designed, they submitted responses on those elements they found most productive, why so, and how they would like to see the peer evaluation integrated. (This particular group chose to have five individual peer reviews be averaged together in determining 20% of their final grade using a holistic, comment-heavy rubric.) Docendo discismus in action, then, looks like this: students actively, voluntarily choose to become teachers, explore options as a community, and democratically determine the language and structure of their own learning process. This is just one example among many energizing, ever-evolving attempts to empower students by encouraging them to perceive themselves as valuable teachers. There are smaller instances, such as calling for volunteers to lead discussion, and more involved cases, like having former students visit a current class to talk about how they succeeded at a particular project—without me in the room to moderate or influence. Though it may seem paradoxical, I have discovered through trial and error that the best way for students to cultivate a sense of ownership in their education is through the radical sharing of knowledge.

Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus

At the core of my pedagogical philosophy is the principle, “we learn not for school, but for life.” To awaken students to the persuasive forces at work on their attitudes and behaviors is to awaken them to their responsibilities as citizens, friends, family members, and principled human beings. The experience of working with several hundred students, however, has significantly altered my approach to communicating the value and importance of a heightened rhetorical consciousness.

Over the past three and a half years, I have moved away from a top-down method of inculcation, where I repeatedly, explicitly declare the importance of rhetorical education, to a bottom-up, micro approach. Using this strategy I focus on seemingly banal, everyday occurrences in a casual tone and exploratory atmosphere. For instance, I will often use the first few minutes of class to nonchalantly describe a random encounter which brought to mind a previous class discussion or reading, encouraging others to help me  pull it apart and think through it. It only takes a few class sessions before students seek to supplant my examples with their own, which I encourage. The conversations that follow, which often have that infectious tenor of “class hasn’t really started yet,” are as light-hearted as they are incisive. Only after allowing this to continue for several weeks will I begin to explicitly drive home the importance of sensitizing ourselves and others to surrounding rhetorical forces. Consistently evaluating my teaching methods has led me to this approach, which I find favorable for a variety of reasons: it creates a database of examples I can use to ground theoretical principles using familiar contexts; it tacitly encourages students to look to their own lives for examples of rhetoric; and it carves out a space where students have the opportunity to learn within a context framed by their own concrete experiences.

I have discovered that the most effective route for making my courses valuable and practical to everyday experience is my communication with students throughout the composition process. Because of the importance of feedback, I have selected a representative example for the instructional materials section, where I elaborate my approach to positive, practical feedback.

In outlining the pedagogical principles that guide my teaching style and strategies, I aim to show how these maxims constitute a powerful frame for viewing the world. I teach by these principles because of my ardent conviction that they provide a path for bettering oneself and one’s community.

Philosophy of Teaching Statement
Glené Mynhardt
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Biology
Winner of the 2010 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

I spent the first thirteen years of my life in South Africa. Growing up in one of the most beautiful and species diverse countries stimulated a natural desire for me to want to study biology. When my family moved to the States, I remember having to make several cultural adjustments. Many were changes on a personal level, but becoming familiar with new ways of learning was especially challenging. High school was relatively easy for me, but being a college student required much more effort. Despite a strong desire to learn, and a passion for biology, the typical lecture setting at the very populous institutions where I gained most of my educational experiences was not ideal. During my sophomore year in college I sought something outside of coursework to test whether I was really cut out for biology. I began volunteering as an undergraduate research assistant in an insect systematics laboratory, and began sorting through large jars of insects that were stored in ethanol. The amazing diversity of insects found in one jar was so fascinating that I would spend around eight hours sorting through these samples. My time in the lab allowed me to get involved in field work, learn different sampling techniques, and become familiar with how data were processed. I finally got to experience the dynamic, fun nature of science! Learning had become so much more, because science wasn’t just an isolated subject in a textbook – it meant using real processes to study real phenomena.

I have established two primary philosophies as a teacher: to get students to think about science as a process, and to individualize their learning experiences, the former of which I learned as a student myself, and the latter of which became evident as an effective teaching strategy.

Progressing through graduate school allowed me to define learning as a personal process of growth. Being able to ask questions and actually attempt to answer those questions was extremely motivating. The same ideas flowed into my classrooms, where I urge my students to think about very basic questions they have, and to begin questioning all those “facts” in the textbook. It was only after I had begun teaching at The Ohio State University that I became acutely aware of my initial failures as an undergraduate student. I realized the interactive, intellectually stimulating classroom environment was lacking in most of the courses I took. I learned about my own potential, but only after I had already experienced years of education! Because of this, I have made an effort to be not only a mentor, but a teacher in learning, by providing my students with opportunities to learn in ways they are most likely to benefit from. Since the first moments as a teacher, I realized how precious the time was with my students, and how I wished to help them find their love for biology, just as I did, by being involved and invested in more hands-on methods of learning. Just like me, most of my students already know that they like biology, but I want them to begin understanding the process of scientific thinking rather than learning definitions without context to real data. In order to achieve this, I continually aim to involve students by using a variety of methods in all of the classes I teach.

Involving and motivating students presents its challenges, but my goal of individualizing learning creates an open and comfortable classroom environment where students can feel free to ask questions, make mistakes, and challenge themselves. It is by breaking down the barriers to learning that students can face their own misconceptions. My background as a struggling undergraduate has given me a great measure of sensitivity to each student’s learning process. I firmly believe that students enter the classroom with expectations to learn and advance their knowledge, which I assessed in my own classroom one term by asking two of my 30-student honors labs to write down their personal definition of “learning.” I was not surprised to see that all of them carried the same underlying message, that learning is the process of gaining new knowledge or perspectives that change the way we think about the world. In order to keep students motivated, I have found that it becomes imperative to be a creative teacher, by utilizing various active learning methods like group discussions, peer teaching or presentations, and “muddy points” cards, the latter of which allows students to write down what they think they don’t clearly understand. Students rarely admit that they don’t know anything, so using methods that allow them to bring their misconceptions or misunderstandings to light provides an opportunity for me to determine whether my teaching is effective. Another tool that I find equally effective in the classroom is to establish rapport with my students by making it a point to get to know my students, not just by name, but by asking them to think about their personal goals as potential future scientists. I also ask them to rate biology on a scale from one to ten to gauge the level of enthusiasm and perception students have for science. Based on this information, I am able to get to know my students and approach them in different ways to personalize their learning. This is reflected positively in my evaluations, where students always feel that they can approach me, ask questions, or even challenge their own thinking. In addition, several of my previous students loved my biology courses so much that they now teach as undergraduate teaching assistants, and several have pursued graduate school to further explore their interests.

Getting students involved in learning often means being inventive with one’s teaching methods and has encouraged me to use various active learning techniques in the classroom, and presents another way to individualize my students’ learning experiences. Each class session includes the presentation of a basic concept, a real example of why the topic is relevant, and some challenging questions about how the topic applies to students’ lives. If students are learning about the structure and relative location of arteries and veins, I usually ask them why western societies wear wedding bands on the left ring finger. They are amazed to learn that some societies do so because the aorta branches directly to the left arm, which directly connects the left ring finger to the heart. They are able to make connections between structure and function, and make ties between science and culture. I have found that when students are presented with these linkages between science and “real life” they are able to question their personal beliefs in a scientific context. In other words, students are thinking like scientists and are being engaged on a personal level. In the example of the ring finger they are also able to think about anatomy and function as the underlying process, rather than memorizing the end-products of science. My goal is to have students leave the classroom with an attitude of inquiry, something I think is necessary to be a good scientist and a good citizen. Encouraging students to question what they know results in fruitful and revealing classroom discussions and has allowed me to identify common misconceptions. For example, most students know about the process of electron transport within the energy-providing mitochondria in a cell. I ask students to think about bacteria, which do not have mitochondria. How do bacterial cells achieve this process without mitochondria? By deconstructing larger concepts into smaller pieces, students become really successful in understanding how universal or unique biological “facts” are in different systems. Given my background as a struggling undergraduate, the way I teach has made me a more successful teacher, because I finally understand what it means to learn meaningfully.

The personal journey that I have taken as a teacher has extended beyond the classroom, into areas that I never imagined. I have had humbling opportunities to help other TAs with their teaching, which has been remarkably insightful and informative. My roles as a teaching fellow, orientation facilitator for the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT), and as graduate UCAT consultant, have brought teaching to the forefront of my graduate career. The same qualities, which are meaningful to me as a teacher – making the classroom process-driven and individualized – are echoed in my role as a mentor to other teachers. The classroom is a dynamic space, where each teacher can do the things he or she wishes to do. It is the place where another undergraduate student can struggle, fail, and learn how to excel.  It is the place where I started as a student, the place that could have taught me so much more than what I learned. Years after struggling as that student, I am a teacher, a mentor, and a researcher, but only because I found something meaningful that taught me something about biology and science. That is what I aim to create for my students.

Philosophy of Teaching Statement
James Collier
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Communication
Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award 

More than anything, I want students to recognize my genuine passion for teaching and interest in them as individuals. I want my classes to be challenging but fair, valuable beyond their time at Ohio State, and fun. I am obligated to provide a high quality experience, and strive to be the teacher I want as a student. To accomplish this, I integrate things I have learned in my own classes, student evaluations and a variety of studies and books I have read about teaching on the university level.

First and foremost, I want to challenge students and push them out of their comfort zone. I tell them the first day: if school is not challenging, their investment of time and money is trivialized, to the detriment of their value to prospective employers. Being demanding yet fair is by far my most difficult task. There are always gifted, self-motivated students who will rise to any challenge I offer. What about those less driven, or less able? It says little of me if I set the bar high and then watch dispassionately as students sink or swim. That is not how I work. I implore them to make a consistent effort, with the promise I will provide support for anyone who demonstrates as much. Many of my students struggle early. I reassure them as a class, and privately: ‘Don’t panic, don’t quit; as we progress through the quarter, this will become more and more normal.’ This reassurance does not work like magic, but eventually it does take hold. My rules are simple: Don’t panic, don’t quit, come talk to me. I always find a way to reward effort. This includes extra credit opportunities, but never ‘free of charge.’ I trade points for knowledge. On my Carmen site, I post an entire section of additional readings of interest. Students know up front that at the end of the quarter, they can do additional reading and take a quiz. I credit any points they earn toward prior quiz grades, allowing them to make amends for earlier disappointments. Ultimately, most students trust me and buy into the system. My grades are relatively high; not because I give students anything. The grades are earned. In addition to challenging, I want my class to be interesting and fun.

My methodology entails heavy reading (approximately 100 pages per class period) and abbreviated lectures (approximately 30 minutes). Research demonstrates that reading improves vocabulary and language use, which improves writing skills – all of which improve public speaking skills. All are premium job skills. I adopted shorter lectures based on student feedback. Students find interaction and discussion more interesting. To ensure that students read with a sense of purpose, every class begins with a brief quiz. We review the answers in class, and as we do, I expand on the content and add detail by referencing other sources. This tends to spur interest and further discussion as we walk through the quiz. In addition, I allow students to ‘negotiate’ with me. In other words, I allow them to ask if what they put is sufficiently accurate. Sometimes I say no, sometimes I give half credit, and sometimes what they write is not at all what I was looking for, but I am so impressed with the level of detail they absorbed, I give them full credit. This is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the class because, while the heavy reading and daily quizzes can seem daunting, students quickly realize that they are empowered to make their case and earn credit. This is my way of acknowledging that creating each quiz is not an exact science, nor are the items I select the definitive aspects of the reading. The give-and-take of these exchanges inevitably leads to laughter, inside jokes related to prior quizzes, and mutual respect between us. The level of enjoyment these ‘negotiations’ generate is most notable at the end of the quarter when I offer the extra credit quizzes in my office. Students arrive sporadically over the course of two hours, take the quiz and leave due to time constraints. Almost all of them say something to the effect of ‘this is not as much fun without the negotiations; I miss that.’ To hear this is priceless because many of these students struggled a bit throughout the quarter, and to hear them lament the fun being over is truly amazing. In addition to being interesting and fun, I want to be organized and responsive. This manifests itself in three ways: 1) daily game plans; 2) e-mail response and personal meetings; and 3) immediate grading.

During the last 5 minutes of each class, I review the up-coming readings. I tell them why we are covering this material and how it connects to prior readings and our larger plan moving forward. I provide a general guideline to what they should focus on, and what they can gloss over. By articulating these connections, I help them organize their thoughts and synthesize the readings. It also alleviates the sensation of being pounded by wave after wave of readings. As mentioned earlier, I know that a certain portion of the class will struggle early on. I allow for time to meet with students after class, am very diligent about responding to e-mails quickly, and devote 4 office hours per week for personal consultations. Students always know that I am there for them. Without question, the organizational aspect that students most appreciate is my quick and detailed grading. Quiz grades are posted by late afternoon. Rather than extensive papers at mid-term and final, students write 5 papers between 600-700 words in length at a time of their choosing – giving them freedom to manage their time. I grade and return these papers with detailed comments the same night they are submitted. To earn their participation points, they post 10 opinion paragraphs between 200-230 words in length on our Carmen discussion forum. I read and post these grades the same night. The final component of the class entails a group presentation where each student presents a media sample related to the current content and poses discussion questions to their classmates. These grades are also posted immediately, along with my comments. All told, students know their grade in real-time, where they stand, and why. This is a show of respect and organization they really appreciate.

Self-improvement 
I have done many things to further my development. Last fall, I shadowed one of our full professors for an entire quarter, and wrote a 1500 word essay about my observations for class credit. I wanted to pursue the teaching specialization minor but realized I could not fit the class requirements into my other class and teaching schedule, as well as pursue all my research projects. Nonetheless I learned a lot by watching a seasoned veteran for ten weeks. Last October, I conducted a two hour workshop for new graduate students who were scheduled to begin teaching later in the year. This was mutually beneficial because the preparation and subsequent discussion forced me to reflect on my own teaching, triggering new ideas. Upon request, I have served as a guest lecturer in six undergraduate Comm classes. I was also invited to give a two hour lecture on the political history of the Middle East and Central Asia for graduating Air Force ROTC cadets. This opportunity came because a former student recommended me to his superiors. I am currently writing and producing a series of television shows with a group of students majoring in television production. I work directly with their advisors to ensure the project warrants class credit. I am also helping a former student on his undergraduate thesis project. He has enlisted my help in acquiring sources, and also for editing the paper. I also make an effort to read books and studies that examine teaching on the university level. These include Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa; one study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and one by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. All told, my passion for teaching leads to opportunities to teach more, which enhances my skills and creates further opportunities. I am never ‘good enough’ and am always seeking opportunities to hone my skills and contribute to others, including fellow graduate students.

Rationale for Course Materials
James Collier
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Communications
Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

Explanation of Syllabus

This methodology is drawn from two years of student feedback, my own classes, and a variety of external sources that examine teaching on the university level. I have now used it in seven classes, and continue to fine-tune it.

Lectures: During my initial teaching experience, the most common criticism I received on my student evaluations was an over-reliance on PowerPoint lectures. Students wanted more interaction with me and their classmates – more discussion. I scaled back on lectures before my promotion, but really de-emphasized them when I began these advanced classes. Given two classes each week and a quiz each day: I give a 30 minute lecture the first day, and devote the entire second day to student presentations and discussion.

Reading and quizzes: I assign about 100 pages of reading for each class period, and begin each day with a brief quiz related to that content. This serves three purposes: 1) it allows me to inject much more content; 2) daily quizzes ensure that students read with a sense of purpose, and reflects my conscious decision to forgo daunting mid-term and final papers – both of which encourage procrastination; 3) research indicates that reading improves vocabulary, language use and writing skills – all of which improve public speaking skills. This translates to valuable career skills transportable beyond my class. This methodology compels students to engage the content every day, resulting in greater knowledge gain and retention, as they themselves profess in their evaluations.

Reaction papers and discussion posts: There are three criticisms of college curricula that appear in everything I read externally. Employers bemoan the poor entry-level writing skills of recent graduates, an over-emphasis on memorization, and a lack of critical thinking and complex reasoning skills. I address these concerns to the best of my ability within the parameters of my classes. Rather than lengthy mid-term and final papers, students write 5 reaction papers of about 600-700 words. They also post 10 opinion paragraphs between 200-230 words on our Carmen discussion forum. Properly done, these reflect a 50/50 blend of specific content and opinion. My primary goal in the class is for students to absorb knowledge, and then use it to develop and articulate their own fact-based opinion on these important topics that will dominate political discussion and public policy long after their time here at Ohio State. All told, they are writing frequently, concisely and subjectively, which I feel is more valuable in terms of what they will be expected to do in the business world. Most important, I am compelling them to develop and articulate their own fact-based opinion as opposed to rote memorization.

Discussion leadership: Once during the quarter, each student (in groups of about 5) present media samples related to that day’s content. They have complete freedom to choose anything, and are graded on the quality of a paragraph explaining why they made the choice they did. They present their choice to the class, and pose a series of discussion questions. Content ranges from serious news and documentary through political comedy. Subsequent discussion is lively and students really enjoy the latitude I give them. My priorities here are autonomy and free-form discussion.

Content: All sections of this class are taught differently, and most focus on terrorism as it is portrayed in movies, television drama and political cartoons. Because domestic and foreign policy issues are so omnipresent in our post 9/11 world, I choose to emphasize the political history of the Middle East and Central Asia, how the United States has impacted that history, and how our media system and traditional scholarship treats these critical issues. While there is nothing inherently ‘wrong’ with other foci, I feel my emphasis has more long-term benefit to students as they move beyond graduation.

Rationale for Course Materials
Spencer Robinson
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Slavic and East European Languages
Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

Lesson Plan

This lesson plan gives a representative view of my teaching because it shows how I design my classes to facilitate student learning and illustrates how it organizes my teaching so I can focus on my students. This lesson plan is from the Russian 405/407 course that I team-taught. Since my co-teacher and I alternated teaching days, it was essential to know exactly what the students would learn each day so we could maximize their learning.

All my lesson plans follow a similar format. I adopted the basic organization from my department. However, I began providing a variety of different activities after teaching Russian 104 for the first time. After making this change, the students were more engaged and they retained the information better since they used varying senses and skills. They began enjoying class more than I had expected. I begin each class with a warm-up activity to help the students get back into speaking Russian. After that, the order of activities varies. The guiding principle in this was to have an activity prepare the students for an assignment later on in the class. This helped reinforce the new vocabulary, grammar, and skills we learned each day.

Goals – At the top of the lesson plan, you will find the student learning objectives I had for this lesson. The wording of the goals focuses on what the students would be able to do by the end of class. I plan my goals in this way because I want my students to hear the content, and then use it.

Warm-up (9:30) – Putting the language exercises into a real context instead of just repeating phrases has helped my students see why such phrases are important and it makes them more meaningful. When the activities are more significant, students learn them faster and retain them. Additionally, they see how they can use their new abilities outside of the classroom.

New vocabulary (10:00) – I group new vocabulary into related themes to make it easier for students to remember and use it. Memorizing new words can be hard, but it is an essential skill in acquiring a language. Thus I try to support the students as they learn these new words.

Listening Activity (10:35) – I help students succeed in listening exercises by having them listen to the exercise several times. I give them specific things to listen for each time I play the recording. This focuses their attention on the meaning and provides a low-stakes environment where they can progress from low levels of comprehension to higher levels fluidly. When students are successful in recognizing the answer the first time, it bolsters their confidence and gives them motivation to keep trying as the questions grow progressively harder.

Application (10:50) – After having a listening activity, I ask my students to do something with what they have just heard, so they will remember the topic the listening task involved.

In addition to demonstrating how I teach, this document also helps organize me. As I leave for class, I can easily remember my Necessary Materials, my Announcements, and what I need to do Before Class. The bolded times also help keep me on track so I can seamlessly move from activity to activity instead of trying to figure out what I had planned to do next. This organization helps keep me focused on getting my students to use Russian in a meaningful way.

Rationale for Course Materials
Bora Bosna
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Mathematics
Winner of the 2012 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

Practice Midterm

I’ve had students over the years who would ace quizzes and homework, going strong into the exam, but get a really bad grade, and not understand why. There is a discrepancy between homework/quiz problems and exam problems: the context in which they are presented and the phrasing/wording are different. Very often students on the exam try to recreate what they do on a textbook exercise although that is not what the exam problem is asking them to do at all (as if they never read the problem). This is because of years of learning procedures and an automated lifestyle that depends on technology. I can undo this only by having students get out of the procedure mentality, understand concepts without depending on a drill hence have flexibility applying them in diverse situations. This practice midterm puts problems in a mathematically more relevant context. You will note the amount of detail I put in what textbooks would consider “trivial steps” (to save space and millions of dollars, I get their point of view), in the calculations, and in the whys to humanize them, which really undoes the students’ confusions and makes things click for them. This helps my goal of getting them out of procedures and reinstating their confidence in their own powers. A practice midterm is not one of my responsibilities and I would have to cut into my own time to write it, but this became a regular thing I do now.

You will see on page 1, pr 1(b) “without reduction of order”(WRO). This is an alternative to Reduction of Order and is not in the textbook and the lecturer did not know about it. I taught it to the lecturer and the students. WRO sets two quantities equal to each other, the Wronskian, after Polish mathematician Wronski (1776-1853) and a quantity from Abel’s Theorem, after Norwegian mathematician Niels Abel (1802-29). These two mathematicians, across seas from each other, each with their own successes and failures were without knowing working on the same thing and WRO links their lives. This story helped students learn Abel’s Theorem since they don’t care much for theorems in general and would rather want the solution. Abel died of tuberculosis at 26. I told my story of learning arithmetic and the alphabet by myself from Sesame Street and having TB at the age of 6. This helped me put a human face on the math we were doing and relate it to my own life.

I prepared this “Practice Midterm” for the students of Math 415 (Partial Differential Equations) for a midterm they were going to have on a Monday morning, coupled with office hours on Sunday. I also made it the “major theme” of the recitation that Thursday. I posted two versions on Carmen a week earlier: without solutions (like an actual exam) and with solutions (to check against). In actual exams many students have trouble solving the problems within 48 minutes and lose points from misunderstanding the question or being unable to do what they know perfectly well. I told them to time themselves with this mock midterm and that I would “grade” it if they brought it to me on Sunday. Some did. I graded and they got instant feedback which they reported helped them great the next day on the exam.

I assessed the success of the practice midterm by asking students directly if they found it helpful, by grading (the average was higher on this midterm than before) and by asking them specifically for feedback on the practice midterms in my “please do the online SEIs!” email at the end of the quarter. Some of the responses in the SEIs were: “The practice exams that Bora compiled were very helpful not only when studying for exams but also when learning the material. The practice questions with solutions provided were infinitely invaluable.” “Bora, the practice material you compiled for the homework and midterms was very relevant and helped me adequately prepare for the exams (because it touched base on all important concepts).” “The practice midterms were amazing. You’re the first instructor that I’ve had do that and it was very helpful.” In the future I would try to make the practice midterm even more relevant and human.

Rationale for Course Materials
Kristin Edwards Supe
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Psychology
Winner of the 2010 Graduate Associate Teaching Award

“Psychology in the News”

Application of course materials to daily life and being responsible consumers of information are two of the main themes that I highlight in my Psychology 100 classes. I think that whenever students can see examples of course materials in other sources, they are more likely to internalize that information and utilize it effectively later in life. I wanted to create additional opportunities outside the classroom for students to seek out examples of information, apply it to psychology, and share their findings with classmates. After discussing these goals with other instructors, I implemented a new feature called “Psychology in the News” into my teaching plan.

“Psychology in the News” is a voluntary opportunity for students to earn extra credit on quizzes by seeking out any news article published online, writing a short summary of that article, and discussing how it is relevant to psychology. Students could submit up to two news articles for each of the three quizzes. I announced this opportunity to all 113 students and posted instructions on the front page of our course’s Carmen online course management tool. When students found a suitable link, they could email me directly with a working link and a short (three-five sentences) summary of the news article and a line about how it applies to specific topics covered in Psychology 100. Upon receipt of each submission, I would verify the link, read the article, and respond via email to the student’s summary and application statements. I created a specialized widget on the front page of Carmen and posted all “psychology in the news” submissions so they were accessible for all students.

I was pleasantly surprised with how many students participated in “Psychology in the News” and how well they were able to find and connect a variety of topics to course materials. For example, in Autumn 2009, I received 51 different submissions for just one of the three quizzes. This high rate of participation is especially interesting because it was voluntary work outside of class, and the maximum possible compensation was 1 point out of a final course total of 210 possible points. In other words, students took the time to find news articles, write a summary & application statement, and email it to me—all for only 0.4% credit towards their final grade.

As my instructional artifact, I have included a screen capture of the Carmen widget and an abridged transcript (edited only for spelling) of representative student submissions as they appeared on the “Psychology in the News” Carmen widget. I have selected “Psychology in the News” because it is representative of my core educational values of seeking, sharing, and applying knowledge. Overall, I think “Psychology in the News” was a successful attempt to encourage students to work outside the classroom to seek out information on current events and apply findings to Psychology 100. Students found and applied a variety of news articles ranging from the history of Black Friday, to the contagiousness of loneliness, to the sudden death of Michael Jackson. In future iterations of “Psychology in the News” I would like to add another level of thought by asking students to summarize, apply, and then evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the articles they find.