Class begins as a real day-one discussion section in 264 Evans. Students are broken into groups and lead through an activity that emphasizes group work and student-student interaction. The remainder of the discussion section will discuss what happened and overarching themes of running a discussion section, teaching at Berkeley in general, and teaching an astronomy class in particular.

Notes for instructors:

1. During all group activities, instructors are circling the room and seeding ideas in the groups, identifying groups with good ideas for the discussion, and modeling good teaching practices.

• Get out relevant logistical info that students want/need to know. This includes handing out a syllabus.
• Break the ice, warm up the students to section, and get students participating with each other and you.
• Set the tone and atmosphere that will persist throughout the semester.
  • (This means using the same techniques you plan to employ later.)
• Implement effective teaching techniques from the start, including good boardwork and question taking.

• Give GSIs an idea of how a first day should feel like
• Show GSIs first hand what peer-instruction techniques are like – “get a feel for it”
• Highlight the ways in which the classroom atmosphere can be set on the first day of section
• Isolate effective teaching practices
• Give examples of ice-breaking/first-day activities (should be fun, and somehow related to the rest of the semester, through content or otherwise)
• Point out the resources they can use to plan section
• Help them create a section syllabus and a first day lesson plan
• Think critically about what teaching means to them, what do they want out of this class and their teaching experience

• The passcode to get into the discussion room is 1-9-4-4.

• Instructor name(s), contact info, office locations
• Classroom time and location for Day 2
• Any announcements?
  • Code for 264 Evans (1944)
  • Sign up for the class if you haven't done so yet (CCN 06254). E-mail Dexter Stewart (dstewart@astro) to get a course entry code.
  • E-mail Nina Ruymaker (nina@berkeley) your full name, student ID, and card number (on the back, bottom right of card) to gain late night access to Evans.

• Welcome to Astro 375: Instructional Techniques in Astronomy!
• We will often slip up and call this course “Astro 300.”
• What to call me: Aaron
• What's our purpose in here?
  • To give YOU the confidence to hold a discussion section.
  • To bring to your discussion sections (and any future courses you may teach) confidence, enthusiasm, and good technique.
  • What do you want your students to leave with at the end of your 50 minutes together? Keep this question in mind throughout the semester as you develop your own teaching philosophy.

(Front of Card)

• Last, First
• E-mail
• Dept or Major
• Year
• Class you are GSIing for (title and professor)

(Back of Card)

• Astro/Physics Background
• Any prior teaching experience?
• Are you enrolled in Ay375?

Getting this information from students is important for any first-day. Don't make it too long, but you could also include questions like

• Astronomy background
• Reason for taking the course? (remind them that “because I need a science course” is a perfectly acceptable answer!)

Instructors: Poll the class to see who's enrolled in AY 375, Imke's section. The number of credits is variable, but technically it's two credits for the course plus one discussion section and three credits for the course plus two discussion sections. If you get waitlisted in the class, E-mail Dexter Stewart (dstewart@astro) and ask to be added to the course.

• Hand out the syllabus.
• Hit the major points (grading and attendance policy, includes brief mention of the various assignments, our goal is that the assignments will help you prepare and evaluate for section rather than being additional work on top of section), but don't dwell on this (will return to it later).

Taken from Modelling Discourse Management by Desbien

• (10 min) Put together a set of instructions on how to make a paper airplane or the small object made of toothpicks and marshmellows in small groups.
  • Instructors: This is the only instruction given.
• (10 min) Exchange your instructions with another group and then follow the instructions exactly as written.
  • Must interpret meaning of “lengthwise,” etc.
  • Instructors are going around making groups question meanings of words (i.e., what is “lengthwise” if holding paper in landscape orientation, etc.)
  • The idea is to get crazy things out of the instructions.
• (10 min) Bring together into circle and discuss the activity (Instructors are also in the circle).
  • Point out that this is how we will hold discussions in this class (Precedent setting)
  • Questions:
    • Why did we get crazy-looking airplanes?
    • What terms were ambiguous?
    • What assumptions needed to be made that weren't explicit
    • Why would we do this?
  • Where we hope to get them (meaning consensus):
    • Terms/definitions must be agreed upon before being used
    • Pictures are often better than words
    • People come with prior knowledge of the material presented

Section is “closed” off as if a real day one section.

• Re-iteration that this is how they should expect classes to proceed in the future: We will be working in groups, having class discussions, we will be doing small activities (not necessarily always making paper airplanes).
• We would also take this time to remind you about any important announcement/reminder of any homework, etc.
• (Feedback and Assessment) Answer on your notecard:
  • Example of one you might ask: “What about section could have been improved? If everything was fine, draw a face representing how you feel about teaching.”
  • What we ask: “What is one characteristic of this section that you enjoyed and would like to incorporate into your section? If nothing, draw a sad face.”

Depending on whether or not this was discussed before the break:

• (5 min) Brainstorm in small groups about what we did/accomplished. Use the small whiteboards to make a list. Consider the following questions:
  • What atmosphere developed? How?
    • (Comfortable (hopefully!) and collaborative. Humanizing ourselves with answers to questions, humor. Putting ourselves in the circle, not in front of the room.)
  • What precedents were set? How (be specific)?
    • (Group activity will be the main mode of learning. Students are responsible for developing main points. Consensus must be reached. Placing in small groups. Very little lecturing on our part. Not placing ourselves in front/middle, etc.)
  • What did you like? Not like?
• (5 min) Gather in big group and discuss what they came up with. Reach some consensus.

• Syllabus (and the other handouts we'll pass out later today) are all online on the course wiki page. It is useful to occasionally check for updates since the syllabus may evolve slightly (e.g., the list and order of topics).
• (5 min) Discuss in groups the following questions:
  • Brainstorm in small groups what makes a good SECTION (not course) syllabus? What about ours is good? What is missing? Use the small whiteboards to make a list.
  • (10 min) Gather in our circle and discuss/come to a consensus.
    • Where we hope to get them:
      • There's no need to be very long or hard-edged.
      • The course syllabus should have the key information, but you should emphasize your contact info and any section policies that you want to enforce.
      • It's important to be yourself in your syllabus and try to strike the same tone and tenor as section will in general.
• More Examples:
  • AY C10 Section Syllabus by Dan Perley.
  • AY C10 Section Syllabus by Josh Shiode from 2007.
  • AY C10 Section Syllabus by Aaron Lee from 2009.
  • Ay C10 Section Syllabus by Therese Jones from 2010.

• Course website contains copies of handouts and links to relevant pages. Point out main lesson plans, assignments, and teaching log prompts. Tomorrow we'll visit the page again and talk about the EBRB and other links.
• GSI Teaching and Resource Center Website. A wealth of information.
• We'll cover other resources tomorrow.
• EBRB?

• Planning your first day.
• Remind them what we have showed them.
• Highlight the skeleton lesson plan given to them during the GSI all day conference.

• Instructors will run through the main points for having a great first-day discussion section, highlighting the following:
• Pre-Section Prep — Writing the syllabus (contains relevant info for section), showing up early, setting up before students arrive.
• Introductions — Announcements, what to write on the board. Setting the tone. Ice breakers.
• Activities — First-day activities. Getting students excited about astronomy!
• The role of the GSI — Discussion leader, facilitator, companion. NOT a lecturer.
• Wrapping up section.
• Getting feedback.

1. Draft a syllabus for your section. Bring a copy with you to Bootcamp Day 2.

2. Draft (at least a skeleton) lesson plan for your first-day. Think about introductory materials/statements, icebreakers, activities, assessments, and the time each activity takes. What atmosphere do you want to create? How will you accomplish your goals?

• Based on today, you should be ready to put together at least the intro and icebreaker, but jot down some ideas for the rest.

3. Write out your learning objectives for your first day lesson plan. Also include how you will assess whether these objectives were accomplished or not.

4. The next time we meet will include a board work activity. Think of how you might explain the answer to the following questions if they were asked by one of your students. We will randomly assign one of these questions to you next time we meet. Aim to answer the question in 2-3 minutes.

• Why is this statement true? “If we were to measure Doppler shifts in spectra of Saturn's nearly edge-on rings, we would expect to see blueshifted lines on one side of the planet and redshifted lines on the other side.
• Why is this statement false? “It is easier to use parallax to measure distances to stars in distant galaxies.”
• Why again is Venus's surface temperature higher than that of Mercury's?
• This homework question asks us to estimate how long it would take for us to lose sight of Jupiter (at 4 AU) if the Sun were to suddenly shut off (i.e., stop shining). The problem says we can assume the Sun-Earth-Jupiter system are all aligned, for simplicity.
• What does the professor mean by the “dark side of the Moon”? I said that part of the Moon never receives sunlight and got the question wrong.
• Why do atoms only accept photons of particular wavelengths?
• I have to compare the luminosity of two stars. One of them is twice as massive as the other and I know that L goes as the fourth power of M. There aren't enough numbers here for me to calculate the answer.
• Can you go over the homework problem: Two stars at the same distance from us are the same temperature, but one is a giant while the other is a dwarf. Which appears brighter?
• The Sun appears slightly bigger in the sky in January than it does in July. Given this information, for which month is the Earth moving faster around the Sun?

• Enroll and complete the GSI Resource Center's Online Ethics Course. You are all required to enroll in this course and complete it by the end of the first 2 weeks of the semester.
• Take a quick poll of who's finished it and who's started it.
• All first time ASEs (Academic Student Employees) must attend the New ASE Orientation, which will include a 30-minute orientation by the university and a 30-minute presentation by UAW Local 2865. The dates, times and locations for the Orientations can be found at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/labor/ase_orientdate.htm
• Poll who has a computer account and who receives astro.berkeley.edu email (or at least the first email I sent) in a timely manner.
• Remind everyone to see Nina Ruymaker (ninanina@berkeley ; HFA building B) so that she can see your student ID and get it coded for entry into Evans after hours.