Table of Contents

AY 300 - Fall 2011: Syllabus

The most up-to-date version of this syllabus is always available on the course website (URL given below).

Official Course Description

Discussion and practice of teaching techniques, as applied to astronomy. Open to graduate students who are presently teaching assistants or associates. Two units for course plus one section; three units for two discussion sections.

General Information

Instructors: Therese Jones, Aaron Lee Faculty Sponsor: Imke de Pater
E-mail: tjones@astro, a.t.lee@berkeley imke@astro
Phone: NA ??
Office: B-118, C-251 HFA ?? HFA


Website: http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=astro300_f11

Office Hours: Feel free to stop by anytime, or make an appointment for specific meeting times.

Meeting Time and Place: Mondays 5-7 PM in B-1 HFA

Grading and Class Requirements

This class is graded on a Pass/No Pass basis. In order to recieve a 'Pass', you must:

  1. Miss no more than two sections of class. Further absences should be compensated for by doing make-up assignments.
  2. Complete all semester assignments, outlined below. These include a weekly teaching log, a short weekly reading or writing assignment, and several one-time projects.

The intent is to have the weekly homework be a minimal burden and time commitment; you should never have to spend very much time on it and we would much rather you spend your time preparing for section instead! However, you are required to complete all of the weekly assignments on time.

Description of the Class

The goals of Ay 300 are:

Classroom Atmosphere

It'll definitely be relaxed and relatively informal in this class, but let's make sure to keep it civil and respectful in here. (We don't expect this to be an issue, but you never know.) A large part of this class will involve active participation by each of you, so when someone else is talking, please give them your undivided attention and let's try to keep it to one person talking at a time.

Typical Class Breakdown

  1. Students recap how their sections went
  2. Discuss and collect homework assignment
  3. Lecture on the day's topics
  4. Directed discussion
  5. Activity
  6. Students plan their next sections

Take Home Messages

Topics & In-Class Activities

Below is a very rough outline of the topics we plan to cover

Please feel free to make suggestions as this schedule and list of topics is absolutely subject to change!! Printed versions of this list will likely go out of date; check the wiki for the most recent list.

We will be covering a wide variety of topics, including interactive learning techniques, group work utilization, test and quiz-writing, ethics, dealing with student anxieties, demos, boardwork, and more.

Outline of Assignments

Teaching Log

Each week everyone will write in their teaching log a short entry (at least a paragraph) summarizing what they did in section, a few thoughts about how it went, and a short response regarding the week's focus topic. It is important to do this as soon after section as possible before any details are forgotten. The logs will be checked on a semi-regular basis (announced in advance).

Weekly Short Reading or Writing Assignments

There will occasionally be short readings or writing assignments that will be due at the beginning of the following class. The assignments will usually be used as a starting point for our directed discussions. The particular assignments will be posted on the wiki here as the semester progresses. Optional readings will also be made available.

Peer Visitation

This will be broken into two parts

  1. About halfway through the semester, you will attend a section taught by one of your peers in AY 300. Afterwards, you will meet that GSI outside of class to discuss general impressions and ideas for extensions/improvement, and fill out a worksheet (found here on the wiki). We will discuss the results in class.

Other Professor Observation

At some point during the semester you will be required to attend a lecture of the AY 10 professor that you are not teaching for. After everyone has done this we'll take time in class to compare and contrast the teaching styles of the AY 10 professors.

Design a Demo

You will be required to design or improve a demo for use in section for the class you're teaching and present it to the rest of this class. Hopefully the demo will be easy to construct and relatively cheap so that we can get funds through Dexter for you to actually build it. If the demo is very expensive, you will only be required to write-up your idea for the electronic Big Red Binder so that the idea can be revisited later by future GSIs. More detailed instructions will be given in a project handout (found here on the wiki).

Section Videotaping

We will videotape one of your sections once at the beginning of the semester, and a second time at the end of the semester. You will be required to later watch the video with me and have a discussion about your style of running section.

TALC Viewing

At some point during the semester (possibly twice) we will come observe you running a TALC session. You will be required to later meet with me and have a discussion about your style of running TALC.

Worksheet Contribution

By the end of the semester, you should have uploaded your best/favorite original worksheet to the EBRB. You can alternatively upload a substantially improved version of a worksheet already on the EBRB. The minimum is one worksheet; you're welcome to upload more if you think they're good. The EBRB usage page gives info on how to integrate new pages into the EBRB structure.


“It's been said that Astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character­ building experience.”
–­­Carl Sagan, American astronomer (1934­-1996)

“My aim in teaching is twofold: (a) to maximize my own enjoyment, and (b) they will tell their grandchildren about me.”
–Professor Chris Waltham, Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia - Killam Teaching Award Winner