Blog 4

I have to admit that I had some butterflies in my stomach before starting the lab. Instead of teaching the students how to put electrodes on and conduct exercise stress tests, I now have to explain vectors, impulse, projectiles, etc., and show them how to use EMG and the motion capture system (Peak Motus). The initial apprehension subsided once I stood in front of the class, because this particular lab wasn’t too difficult. I know, however, that the uneasy feeling will come back until I have familiarized myself with everything in the biomechanics lab.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of an (2-hr-50-min) introductory session as I had in the coronary lab. This (1-hr-50-min) lab started right away with a review of human movement terminology. The first ten minutes were used up by my professor as she explained the semester project to the students. During the remaining time I greeted the students (“Hi everyone and welcome back”), asked them if they were already overwhelmed by the project and added jokingly that there was more to come, introduced myself, went over the syllabus, put the students in groups, explained what the first lab was all about, and had them write a lengthy lab report, which they were supposed to finish in class, but didn’t.

Because a second lab was about to start right after this one, I had to “throw” the students out. My closing statement thus was that whoever didn’t finish the lab report shouldn’t worry and turn it in the next morning during my office hours. I then reminded the students that there will be a quiz at the start of next week’s lab and wished them a good first week. The lab reports and the quiz will be my assessment of their learning for this lab. For future labs, I plan to reserve a few minutes after the quiz to talk with the students about their experience in the previous lab and then give them feedback on their learning as I return the lab reports.

I felt kind of rushed. Given this to-do list, I had to forgo my planned icebreaker and use the group-building process for a short introduction. I tried to get us all acquainted by going from group to group while the students were working on their lab reports. I encouraged them to try out the movements they were about to describe so that their peers could watch. This resulted in some laughter and helped “break the ice” to a certain extent. The second lab was a little easier (these students benefited from my slips during the first one), but still, the time constraint didn’t let me incorporate what I have planned. But overall, it went well. I think the students didn’t care too much about the lack of introduction, since most of them knew each other from previous courses and/or were in my coronary lab this summer.

Blog 1

Procrastination, wrong planning, and short cuts may be a common way for many of us to juggle their own course load and the work as a TA. Hence, today’s activities were directed to learn about the many tools that are available to become a more efficient teacher and/or TA.

While knowing the university policies and copyright laws may prevent me from additional headaches, the strategies introduced for effective time management were more than appreciated. I’m a procrastinator and using a daily time sheet showing me where my time goes may bring me back on track. Although I don’t have a problem starting a conversation with my students and explaining or demonstrating the lab content, I feel most uncomfortable giving a presentation. The tips from Dr. Witherspoon for improving public speaking (I liked the approach Dr. Natalicio is using) and the 2-minute speech given to a few of my peers were helpful; however, I doubt that I will ever become a confident public speaker. If I get too nervous, I forget the words and expressions in English, which is more than embarrassing! The discussion on how to prepare and structure the first day of class had the most practical value for me. As Mrs. Rice said, the tone set during the first day of class will be pretty much the one lingering around for the rest of the semester.

A lot of suggestions were presented ‒ some that I’m already using, others that were new to me. I’m going to reevaluate my approach to teaching as well as my interaction with the students. I have gotten very comfortable with teaching this particular lab. An overhaul won’t hurt, especially since I’m going to teach a different lab this semester. This is a great opportunity to get rid of old ideas and integrate some of the newly learned strategies.

Blog 3

Students seem to learn best in an active learning environment that offers information and ideas, opportunities for hands-on experiments, and room for reflective thinking. Labs generally provide plenty of information and hands-on experiments, but often lack the reflective part.

I usually start my labs with a short review/discussion about the previous week's lab. Instead of having the students just talk about it, I will now give them a few minutes to write down their thoughts about that lab and then ask one or two members of each group to read their responses to the whole class. I think this will also be a good way to eventually involve all students in these discussions. Before the actual activity, I will give back and go over the graded lab reports to provide the students with feedback about their lab performance and clarify remaining questions.

The students will not only be actively involved in an experiment, but also in obtaining the ideas and information necessary to do so. Although I will provide information regarding the biomechanical principles underlying each lab experiment and give (minimal) instructions so that they can grasp the concept, the students are required to come prepared to class. In short, I expect them to be familiar with the procedures outlined in the lab manual and "ready to go." After the experiment, the students must explain their findings in the lab report. In addition to the lab experiments, the students will learn the Peak Motus system. Each group will analyze kinematic data of a chosen activity and present in a Power Point presentation.

Although I’m not responsible for the lab content, I think that I will be offering my students an environment that encourages active learning.

Blog 2

Wow! Another day full of ideas intended to make my life as a TA easier has passed. The first hour was reserved for "staging" the first class session. The goal was to present the material to be covered and myself in a manner that keeps the students interested. Although I have done this for four semesters, I felt some butterflies in my stomach as my number was drawn. Standing in front of a (small) group of peers who didn't have a clue what is going on in a coronary lab made this experience almost real. And the fact that Dr. Meeuwsen walked in the moment I started talking made the butterflies just move a little faster. I guess, this was an excellent practice session to improve my public speaking. I really appreciated the discussion lead by the Assistant Dean of Student involving classroom interruptions and cheating. I wish this information would have been available to me two semesters ago when a student had it in his head that his job was to entertain the class. I dealt with his "clowning around" way too long until it became so annoying and disruptive to the whole class that we all decided to completely ignore him.

The rest of the activities were primarily directed towards creating an active learning experience that will help students succeed and on grading strategies that will save me time. The videos about how to manage a classroom and get the students to do what they are supposed to do were an excellent tool to show us what may happen when the TA is unable to actively involve the students in their learning process. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if I had to watch my own performance every once in a while! The brainstorming session involving the grading strategies yielded some interesting and usable results. Again, I wish some of these strategies would have been available to me while I was grading the coronary lab reports. The grading of the biomechanics lab reports seems somewhat easier since it involves primarily math problems, which are straight forward without much room for interpretation. To save some time and to be consistent in giving partial credit, I may suggest to the second TA that we grade the lab reports together: She grades the even numbers, and I grade the odd ones.