Tracy L. Westeyn (instructor) { turtle@gatech.edu} Office Hours by email/verbal appointment {404.385.0255}

Thursday (R) 11:00a - 12:00pm College of Computing Building, Room 101

This course is an introduction to the procedural information and practical skills that are needed to be an effective undergraduate teaching assistant. The purpose of this course is to enhance your teaching effectiveness as a TAs (for the benefit of our current undergraduates' education) as well as encourage your development as the academic professionals of tomorrow.

Teaching at Georgia Tech: A Handbook for Faculty, Instructors, and Teaching Assistants

item	weight
Attendance	25%
In-Class Mock Lectures	20%
Exams	30%
Homework Assignments	5%
Class Participation	20%

A grade of 65% or better is required to pass this course.

The primary purpose of this course is to help you develop into responsible and effective undergraduate teaching assistant. This course will make intensive use of classroom discussions. You will be given many opportunities to discuss thoughts, ask questions, and practice various teaching methods.

You will be expected to participate actively in discussions. On any given issues, you may be asked to summarize and criticize teaching styles of students in the class.

When in Doubt Please Come Talk to Me: Never be afraid to come talk to me. You can come talk to me for any reason. Always remember, I am here to help you learn and succeed in this course. If you have extenuating circumstances that may impact your performance in the class, please come see me. In these situations, the sooner is always better than later.

Attendance is Mandatory: Due to the discussion oriented nature of this course, attendance is mandatory. An attendance sheet will be passed around within the first 10 minutes of class. If you do not sign this sheet, you are considered absent from the class. Each regular class period is worth 10 points towards your attendance grade. Special classes, such as exams or mock lectures, must be attended and are worth 20 points towards your attendance grade. Students must attend at least 80% of the course (12 classes).

Late Assignments are not Accepted: Assignments are typically due 30 minutes before the start of class. The due date and time for each assignment is specified in the T-square system. The T-Square system is configured to not accept late assignments. Failure to submit an assignment by the deadline provided by the T-square system will result in a zero for that assignment. There are three exceptions that might permit a late submission:

1. Family or Medical Emergency (corroborated by the Dean of Students)
2. You have letter/permission from the Dean of Students
3. You have approached me at least one class period before a deadline with circumstances that you feel require special consideration

Exams Must Be Attended: In general, if you do not attend a class period where an exam is issued, you will receive a zero for that exam. There are four instances where a Make-Up exam might be permissible:

1. Family or Medical Emergency (corroborated by the Dean of Students)
2. You have letter/permission from the Dean of Students
3. You have more than two exams scheduled for the same day
4. You have approached me at least one week before an exam with circumstances that require special consideration

Exam/Assignment Regrades: A general grading criteria is provided for each assignment when the assignment is posted. Each topic listed in the criteria indicates the maximum possible points that might be awarded given the satisfaction of that topic by the student. If a student has a question on how to interpret the criteria, they are encouraged to ask the TA or instructor for clarification before the assignment is due. On rare occasion, a mistake may be made in the grading of your assignment. If a simple error has been made that effects your grade, contact the TA to have it corrected. If you disagree with the way in which any portion of an assignment was graded, use the following procedure to submit it to the TA for regrading:

1. Check to ensure you did not violate an obvious class policy or assignment policy that accounts for the reduction in points
2. Write a succinct essay indicating:
1. Which assignment and question you would like regraded
2. Why you feel the original grade is incorrect and how it should be corrected
3. Support your claim with evidence from the class text or notes. If your only supporting evidence is the grade another classmate received on their assignment, make sure you have their permission to use it as evidence! This line of reasoning can subject both papers to a regrade (and could potentially reduce the grade of your friend's paper if the portion in dispute happened to be an error).
3. Mail the essay to the TA

I stand behind the grades made by my TA. If for some reason after the above process you feel the assignment still requires a regrade, write a second essay, again, depicting why you feel the regrade was in appropriate and mail me both essays, the original assignment, and the chain of correspondence between you and the TA. In addition to the portion in dispute, I may also regrade all portions of the exam/assignment submitted. Hence your grade could potentially be raised or lowered by this process. If the reason for a regrade is based off a grade assigned to another student, their assignment could be subject to a regrade as well.

Academic Honesty: All students are expected to maintain traditional standards of academic integrity by giving proper credit for all work referenced, quoted, etc. This includes but is not limited to the policies specied in the Georgia Tech General Catalog. Unless otherwise stated, all work is individual work by each student. Students are encouraged to discuss and debate the issues with the instructor, the teaching assistants, and each other but the work submitted must be that student's thought and writing. All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be aggressively pursued.

Date	Readings	Topics	In Class	Complete Before Class
Jan. 08		Intro to course; TA Boot Camp 101
Week 2
Jan. 15		TA Boot Camp 102; Intro to Learning Styles		HW 0: Introduce Yourself
Week 3
Jan. 22	Vark Help Sheets	Learning Styles		HW 1
Week 4
Jan. 29		Active Learning	Test 1 (TAWeb Assessment) Assigned
Week 5
Feb. 05		Policies, Procedures, and Professionalism		Test 1 Due
Week 6
Feb. 12		Intercultural Communication
Week 7
Feb. 19		Grading Strategies
Week 8
Feb. 26		Problematic Situations	Last class before drop day
Week 9
Mar. 05		Teaching Philosophies	Teaching Statements
Week 10
Mar. 12		Recitation Strategies, Office Hours, Student one-on-ones
Week 11 -- No Class
Mar. 19	NO CLASS: Have a Safe Spring Break
Week 12
Mar. 26		Group Mock Lectures	Test 2 Assigned; TA Web Refresher	HW 3: Lecture Materials
Week 13
Apr. 01		Group Mock Lectures		Test 2
Week 14
Apr. 08		Mock Lectures		HW 4: Group Lecture Observations
Week 15
Apr. 15		Mock Lectures
Dead Week
Apr. 22		Mock Lectures	Revisit Teaching Statements	HW 5: Individual Lecture Observations
Finals Week
Apr 27 - May 1	FINAL NOT DURING EXAM WEEK