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Table of Contents
Astro 300 (Fall 2007)
Class will be held:
Date: Mondays
Time: 4-6pm
Place: 544 Campbell
Basics
Instructors: Jeff Silverman (JSilverman@astro) and Dan Perley (dperley@astro)
REALLY Important Stuff
Articles/Website - Interesting astro-related news articles and websites (usually with more of an emphasis on pop-culture type stuff).
Things You Should Have Done ALREADY!!
An important resource for GSIs is the Electronic Big Red Binder and, to a lesser extent, its hard copy equivalent, the Big Red Binder (located in the seventh floor library) . Reuse and modification of any and all of the materials in these resources is highly encouraged!
Design a Demo Projects
- Ferah & Adam – 10/22 final presentation (10/15 initial presentation)
- Brent & Jason & Dustin – 11/5 final presentation (10/29 initial presentation)
- Josh & Suzy – 11/19 final presentation (11/12 initial presentation)
Ay 300 Lesson Plans
Week 1 Lesson Plan (8/25) - Intro and first section
Week 2 Lesson Plan (9/1) - Section structure, group learning, and TALC
Week 3 Lesson Plan (9/8) - Ethics & cheating, lecturing & boardwork
Week 4 Lesson Plan (9/15) - Quizzes, homework, and demos
Week 5 Lesson Plan (9/22) - Exams, worksheets, and more demos
Week 6 Lesson Plan (9/29) - Q&A / classroom interaction, review sessions, and grading
Week 7 Lesson Plan (10/1) - Midsemester evaluations
Week 8 Lesson Plan (10/8) - Reading discussion
Week 9 Lesson Plan (10/15) - Teaching stars
Week 10 Lesson Plan (10/22) - Mock lecture activity
Week 11 Lesson Plan (10/29) - Pedagogy: theory of teaching
Week 12 Lesson Plan (11/5) - Teaching for advanced classes
Week 13 Lesson Plan (11/13) - More pedagogy, teaching cosmology
Week 14 Lesson Plan (11/19) - Teaching your own course (guest lecture)
Week 15 Lesson Plan (11/26) - Teaching portfolios (guest lecture)
Week 16 Lesson Plan (12/3) - Professor visit, teaching in the community
Ay 300 Handouts
- GSI Basics - getting started as a GSI (some basic ground rules)
- Assignments - required assignments
- Designing a Demo Project - further info on the Design a Demo assignment
- Peer Visitation - worksheet to fill out for the Peer Visitation assignment
- Teaching Resources - quite extensive list of teaching resources
- Topics & Activities - special topics and in-class activities that will probably be covered
- Mid-semester Evaluation - The .tex source is here.
- Teaching in the Community - opportunities for teaching outside of Cal
- Supplementary final evaluation - MS Word source is here.
Ay 10 Handouts
- Academic Honesty and Cheating Policies - information regarding both the University and Department policies
- Section Teaching Strategies - peer learning vs. lecturing
- TALC - information about The Astronomy Learning Center (TALC)
- Teaching Effectiveness Essay - JonJon's winning Teaching Effectiveness Essay on TALC
- Your First Section - tips and suggestions for your very first section
- Writing Homework Assignments - tips and suggestions for writing good homework assignments
- Writing Midterms and Quizzes - tips and suggestions for writing good exams and quizzes
Samples
Sample syllabi and first section lesson plans can be found on this page of the EBRB.
Sample mid-semester evaluations can be found on this page of the EBRB.
Cool Teaching Links
- Astronomy Education Review - Awesome journal like publications on astronomy education published a couple times a year; quite a few readings will be pulled from here.
- Teaching Discussion Group - Jennifer Hoffman's (former Cal postdoc) page on teaching and resources for current and future teachers.
- Reaching the Second Tier: Learning and Teaching Styles in College Science Education - Interesting essay on learning styles and how to improve teaching styles.
Previous Semesters
Fall 2006 (Holly Maness)