AY 300 Fall 09: Third day plan

• Most should have had at least one section by now (except for people with only Tuesday sections) so ask any or all of the following:
  • How did section go?
  • What did you do?
  • What didn't work?
  • What would you have changed?
  • Any cool/interesting/sad stories?
• Get most people to speak briefly on one of the above questions.
• Confirm that people have heard back from their experienced GSI partners, and will have visited by Monday 9/21 class (class 5).

These were about what the goals for Ay10-type classes should be.

• What were the consensus goals?
• Do we agree that these goals are good ones?
  • As Peter said last year, lab component, as defined by SCST, not necessary in AY 10.
  • I definitely agree with these:
    1. Critical thinking and appropriate skepticism
    2. Seeing the connection to modern technology and everyday experiences
    3. Getting a “cosmic perspective” (i.e. how Sun/Earth/humans fit in to the Solar System, Milky Way, Universe)
    4. Physical laws are universal and we know them and learn about them through observation and experimentation (and proposing theories)
    5. The role of uncertainty and error in science.
    6. “We should leave students: (i) Inspired about science in general and astronomy in particular.. (ii) Interested in and better equipped to follow scientific arguments in the media.. (iii) More confident of their own critical faculties”
    7. The content goals “…emphasize student development more than astronomical content.”
  • Both articles emphasize teaching the tools and the process over the content (i.e., have they learned how to approach a problem and asses an argument, even if they don't know all the details).
• Do Berkeley's Ay10 classes aim toward these goals? If not, is that a problem?
• Regardless of the answers to the previous items, recall that your job is to teach to the actual goals of your class, not the goals that you wish it had.
• With that said, you should have some of your own goals in mind for section. Does anyone have other goals they think are important (content or skills/values/attitudes)?
• One way to get at what your goals might be is to think about what you'd like to hear a group of your students discussing that's related to science or astronomy, but not actually part of class (say, when they are waiting for your section to start).
• Goals like these could be listed on your section syllabus right from the beginning of the semester. Our syllabus for 300 had some things like these.
• Another phrase often used to describe goals like these is “take-home messages”.

• Some topics covered in the online course:
  • Diversity
    • Berkeley is a minority-majority school
    • Unlikely to be a major issue (especially in an intro astronomy course since the classes tend to be pretty diverse). However, be aware that we all have unconscious biases and try to make an effort to be open and inclusive. For example, try to equally call on males/females, different races, etc.
  • Disabled Students
    • Berkeley allows students with documented learning disabilities (or physical disabilities affecting their ability to learn) to have extra time (and occasionally a 'quiet' or private room, etc.) on quizzes and examinations. Students must have their disabilities diagnosed or approved by the Disabled Students' Program, or DSP.
      • For examinations, this is typically dealt with by the professor. If a student comes to you about a disability-related problem, tell them to contact the professor and/or Head GSI.
      • In Alex's class, students take quizzes in section twice during the semester. Alex usually lets DSP students know that taking the quiz normally has turned out successfully in most cases, since it is designed to last well under the allotted time. However, if students insist on it, then you must accommodate them. If possible, the exam may be extended in situ, or a small group can repair to another room. Otherwise DSP can help with arranging for a proctored exam with additional time (Most general solution: borrow another GSI's quiz and give it in your office during office hours.)
      • If a student in your section is having major difficulties with the course but seems intelligent and really is trying, consider talking to him/her about being diagnosed for a learning disability. Obviously this is something to be dealt with delicately.
      • FAQ for faculty and staff about DSP
  • Sexual Harassment
    • Should be common sense - don't get involved. Power difference → potential for serious problems.
    • Policies on Sexual Harassment - Title IX: Sex Discrimination and Harassment (UCB Equity Standards and Compliance)
    • If you see something between your students that you think might qualify as harassment, you're not required to do anything (as I read the policy), but keep in mind that you're the authority figure in the room. You can report instances of harassment, but that's a fairly severe step. A reasonable start might be talking to the parties involved informally and individually. You should probably find someone with experience in dealing with such situations.
      • One person we suggest is Colette Patt (colette@berkeley) who “works directly with the dean on issues associated with diversity in science” and is supposed to be an excellent resource for harassment-related issues as well diversity issues.
• Tons of information can be found on this list of resources (all of which are mentioned during the Ethics Course).
• It is very unlikely that a serious issue will come up as long as you use basic common sense. If it does, know where to turn for help!

• University policy
• Astronomy Department Policy.
• Skim over both policies and tell Ay 300 students to read the full things in detail later.
• Forms of misconduct mentioned in the Astro Dept policy:
  1. Cheating (copying, giving away answers, using forbidden aids, etc.)
  2. Plagiarism (using intellectual material without acknowledging source)
  3. Furnishing false information (i.e. making up data)
  4. Creating improper academic (dis)advantages
  5. Interference with instruction
  6. Theft or damage of academic materials
  7. Selling lecture notes
• Ask Ay 300 class for examples of cheating and list them on the board.
  • Be sure to include stuff like:
    • Homework - copying, falsifying work, plagiarism
    • Labs - copying, falsifying data, plagiarism
    • Quizzes/midterms - copying, non-approved notes or notecards
• How to detect cheating
  • When does 'working together' become cheating?
    • We ask the students to collaborate, so we owe it to them to make this distinction clear.
    • Unambiguous: a student takes ideas from another student and writes them down without stopping to think through the problem himself/herself.
    • Borderline: a student explaining to another student in great detail what steps to do to solve the problem. (Don't let borderline things happen in TALC, by the way.)
    • Borderline: giving away the answer with an incomplete solution.
  • Warning signs:
    • Identical open responses, math errors, spelling errors, use of sig-figs, or layout of the page.
    • Similar strangely wrong answers
    • Typically, graders will flag homeworks for you.
• Preventing cheating
  • Make sure students know the guidelines for what is and is not acceptable
    • Link to the University and Department cheating policies in your syllabus
    • Explain early and often in section the difference between cooperation and cheating
    • Be extremely explicit to students that labs must be their own work and that data fabrication will be dealt with harshly
  • Space students out during quizzes and exams as much as possible
  • During packed-room quizzes, warn students that cheating will not be tolerated
  • Be visible and look vigilant at all times (i.e. wander around the class room during a quiz instead of reading or working on homework at the front of the room the whole time)
• Responding to cheating
  • Typically this is head GSI or professor territory: always contact one of them before taking any action. In many cases they will choose to deal with the issue themselves. (This is often best - it does not spoil your relationship with the student.)
  • In cases of copying (the vast majority of cheating incidents), both the copier and the copyee are guilty of plagiarism.
  • Incidents should always be reported to the Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards (CSCCS) - don't try to handle the situation yourself or 'off the record'.
  • 99 percent of cases: “Faculty Disposition” (AKA you deal with it)
    • Meet with the student(s) in your office (or the professor's)
    • Discuss the incident
    • Student admits to cheating
    • Student signs a form; you get the professor's signature and mail form and copy of HW to Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards (CSCCS)
  • 1 percent of cases: formal hearing
    • Student refuses to admit to cheating and you have hard evidence to back up your accusation
    • Mail form+evidence to Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards (CSCCS)
    • At some point you may have to testify in a formal hearing
  • Treat students as innocent until proven guilty.
    • It is possible that you are wrong (but you probably aren't)
    • It's better to let a guilty student free than to unjustly reprimand an innocent student.
  • Dealing with difficult students
    • Some students fold immediately to get the ordeal over with as soon as possible. Others will fight tooth and nail until they sense that they've gotten somewhere.
    • Don't be too threatening or accusative. Keep them off the defensive. Stick to the facts and use the letter of the law to back you up. Appeal to higher powers.
    • Be open to their explanations. Listen. (But don't fold yourself unless you really think their explanation is unassailable - which can happen.)
    • 'Compromise' without compromising. Admit that they didn't really 'mean' to cheat but insist that they broke the letter of the law and you do have to deal with it.
    • Word the formal signing as simply a way of notifying the Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards (CSCCS) that you have dealt with the incident and that no further action needs to be taken. Nothing will appear on their permanent record.
• Hand out the handout on cheating. It gives further information and more detailed instructions about what to do if a cheating incident arises in your section.
• The department policy page has a few links to other resources about how to deal with cheating.
• Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards (CSCCS): Guide for Instructors (contains summary of campus procedures and necessary forms)

• Get students to list problem situations or students that could arise in their section and list them on the board (some examples follow):
  1. the student who keeps asking questions (answering some questions is great, but some students go overboard with this)
  2. the student who thinks they know it all already and keep trying to correct your or add irrelevant information (some of the extra info can be good, but this can quickly get out of hand and off topic)
  3. the student who's nit-picky about exact numbers (as opposed to rounding) or who gets caught up in the tiny and minute details of a topic (it's pointless to know 1 AU in cm to 50 decimal places, but some people can get very wrapped up in things like that)
  4. the student who hates worksheets or group work or just plain doesn't want to be in section
  5. the student who can't get over the fact that you're young or “just” a student or aren't as crazy and/or amazing as the professor
• Get students to list some possible solutions to each student/problem (examples corresponding to the situations above follow):
  1. defer to office hours, after section, email. then if they actually follow up (which they usually don't), maybe give them some websites or papers or books to read, or maybe even an extra credit project (if that's what they're looking for and if that's OK with your Prof and Head GSI). if they feel Ay 10 is too easy, suggest switching to Ay 7A?
  2. same as above.
  3. defer to office hours, after section, email. try to (briefly) convince everyone that percentage-wise, the 50th decimal place doesn't matter EVER! give the student some calculations to work out figuring out how big a difference these “errors” actually make in the final answer of a problem (i.e. their calculator isn't nearly that accurate).
  4. you should be doing a variety of types of work (group, worksheets, lecture, etc.) and not everyone will like all types, but hopefully all students will have SOME PART that they like and find useful. if they really just don't want to be there, remind them that they can leave at any time…but they will fail the Section Grade (however many points that might be for your version of Ay 10). (Holly Maness has a policy that students who never show up receive a bad-but-nonzero section grade, while those who show up and are disruptive receive a zero. The idea is that everyone is better off if such students just aren't in the room, rather than if they're in the room and causing problems.) Point out to them that they'll get a chance to express their opinions fully and anonymously on a mid-semester evaluation and if many students agree on something, the section can certainly be changed for the rest of the semester.
  5. similar to above, again, this stuff shouldn't take up much section time, so defer to office hours, email or after section time.

• Explain that we'll ask them to do quickie mock lectures. Ask them to start idly thinking about what topic to discuss.
• Recap good lecturing tips ~ 5 minutes.
  • Speak loudly and to the class (not the board)
  • Explain what you write, both verbally and in text if necessary (e.g., label equations, figures, and plots – if used)
  • Be choosy about what you do/don't write and take care with figures
  • Don't erase too quickly
  • Write the topic at the upper left; use dividers to signal when you've moved on
  • Enunciate important expressions
  • Check for understanding in a meaningful way (EXPLAIN); give sufficient wait time.
  • Be interactive and make eye contact
• Choose 4 or 5 students randomly to give a mock lecture (not ones who did the roleplaying):
  • One at a time, have a chosen student come to the board.
  • Explain for 3-4 minutes a concept of their choice as if doing a quick lecture review for an Ay 10 section (e.g. a weekly recap).
  • The audience, acting as an Ay 10 section, might ask a question or two during the lecture. Keep to a question or two (at most) per person.
  • Get a few comments/suggestions from the audience and instructors on their lecture style.
• Include a problem, as mentioned above, for some of the mock lecturers.
• People who didn't give a mock lecture today will give one next time.

As always, spend a few minutes exchanging ideas for what to do next week.

• Enroll and complete the GSI Resource Center's Online Ethics Course. You are all required to enroll in this course and complete all five online modules during the first 3 weeks of the semester. You can do one module at a time (or all of them at once) and each module will take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes to complete.
  • straw poll of who's not finished it.
• Attend the New ASE Orientation:
  • next Monday at 9am
  • next Thursday at 415pm

• Begin (or continue) the Teaching Log (a short description of what you did in section and some reflections on how it went).

• Read “Collaborative Learning 101”, distributed in class. At least skim pp. 7-12 (“Types of Groups” through “Theory and Research on Collaborative Learning”) and definitely read pp. 19-26 (“Lessons of Experience: Tips from Teachers”); the other parts of the handout can be skimmed or skipped (i.e., ignore the extended river metaphor…).
  • Be prepared to discuss next time.
  • Consider the following questions in prep for the discussion (perhaps jot down a few notes):
    • Are you convinced that collaborative learning is always superior to lecture learning?
    • What kinds of further evidence would you like to see about the efficacy of collaborative learning?
    • Do any of the guidelines in the second portion of the required reading seem especially appropriate or especially inappropriate to your section(s)?
    • Do the claims in this article jibe with your experience leading section so far?

• Since there are two weeks till we next have class… Also read “Six Ways to Discourage Learning”, at http://aas.org/education/Six_Ways_to_Discourage_Learning.php. This is an awesome reading!
  • Again, be prepared to discuss next time
  • Harken back to your days as an undergraduate and consider which rules your professors violated, and how that may (or may not) have affected your learning in that class.