For the last week of classes we just helped with clicker questions. No one really came to my office hours which was surprising considering a lot of people didn't understand the new wave topics. Overall this was a very fun experience. I definitely enjoyed UTAing for Physics and will love to do so again in the future.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Week of 12/4 Final Week
This week was difficult in that I was not as comfortable with the wave equation as I should have been. However, I was able to help the students who came to office hours. Not many asked about the final. Just as a last reflection, the same people attend office hours every week, UTAs should make a point to learn names.
This experience has been great. I got to take a leadership position and help people with information I found to be interesting. I got to learn not only how to teach, but to evaluate. Grading homework gave me a new outlook on how time consuming and frustrating it can be. Lastly, I am much more comfortable with the course at the end of this experience. I would recommend this to someone who is looking for the above.
This experience has been great. I got to take a leadership position and help people with information I found to be interesting. I got to learn not only how to teach, but to evaluate. Grading homework gave me a new outlook on how time consuming and frustrating it can be. Lastly, I am much more comfortable with the course at the end of this experience. I would recommend this to someone who is looking for the above.
11/20
I did not attend lecture, grade, or have office hours, as this is the week of Thanksgiving recess.
Week of 11/13
This week there were not many people in office hours this week, which is surprising because the midterm was this week. I believe students come to UTAs for homework rather than deep understanding of the physics. Proctoring the test was fine, no issues.
Week 11/27.
There were about 6 students in office hours today, and they asked typical homework related questions. I find it easy after the whole semester of office hours to address common issues everyone seems to have. Also, I find having them work together sometimes generates the correct answer or at least correct thinking. It was a slower week because it is the first week back from break.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Week of 12/4
In the final week of office hours, I once again had no one come. In class, we just did review problems that incorporated a variety of concepts into specific problems.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time as a TA. Despite not having many people to tutor, I appreciated being able to strengthen my understanding of the course material by attending the class and helping the few students that did come in for help.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time as a TA. Despite not having many people to tutor, I appreciated being able to strengthen my understanding of the course material by attending the class and helping the few students that did come in for help.
last week
its been a pleasure to UTA for Dr. Broccio again. and thank all the student and other UTAs. it was a lovely semester! and good luck to all the student on their final! and have a lovely break and Christmas!
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Week of 12/4: Last week, fast week!
This past week seemed to have passed by the quickest so far. The VR setup continued to attract students to come in and work on the labs. Also I stayed a bit extra on both days to give the kids time to work on the VR labs. I understand how important it is to max out the extra credit, and it has never bothered me to stick around for a little while longer.
Overall I'm really glad that I was a UTA this semester. It gave me the opportunity to realize effective tutoring methods. One thing that I found very interesting was the ability to sit in lectures as a spectator. Having gone through the same class last year (except for the slight change in curriculum), it gave me a chance to fortify my understandings of the aspects that I didn't quite grasp the first time around.
Overall I'm really glad that I was a UTA this semester. It gave me the opportunity to realize effective tutoring methods. One thing that I found very interesting was the ability to sit in lectures as a spectator. Having gone through the same class last year (except for the slight change in curriculum), it gave me a chance to fortify my understandings of the aspects that I didn't quite grasp the first time around.
Week of 12/4
On Wednesday, three students came to office hours. Most of the questions involved waves, since that is the newest topic the students learned. We had to find the position, velocity, and acceleration of a cart on a spring as well as similar questions for a simple pendulum.
Overall, I enjoyed being a UTA. Sometimes it felt like going to lecture was a waste, because usually students do not want to ask questions. Office hours were my favorite part because you get to directly help students with problems. It was also nice to relearn some of the material I have not worked with in a while and get better at problems I used to have trouble with. Good luck on finals everyone!
Overall, I enjoyed being a UTA. Sometimes it felt like going to lecture was a waste, because usually students do not want to ask questions. Office hours were my favorite part because you get to directly help students with problems. It was also nice to relearn some of the material I have not worked with in a while and get better at problems I used to have trouble with. Good luck on finals everyone!
Friday, December 8, 2017
Week of 12/4- last week
No one came to my office hours this week, was hoping to see more people come and ask questions. I did not expect so few people come to my office hours this semester but hopefully I will have a different experience next semester.
Overall it was a fun semester helping the people I did with physics and it was nice to have a refresher on the concepts in physics. I hope to gain even more out my experience as a UTA next semester with Dr. Broccio and hope to gain an even better understanding on the subject! Happy holidays :)
Overall it was a fun semester helping the people I did with physics and it was nice to have a refresher on the concepts in physics. I hope to gain even more out my experience as a UTA next semester with Dr. Broccio and hope to gain an even better understanding on the subject! Happy holidays :)
Week of Dec. 4th + Finishing Up
This was the final week of classes for students, so I expected a few students to show up for some extra help. No one showed up, making my grand total for the semester zero. I don't know why there wasn't any students who came to my office hours, but its in the past now. The class continue its discussion on sound waves this week.
Overall, this was not a very fun experience. I spent a lot of my time going to lecture and office hours to help not a single student. I supposed that since this was a first year class, and the office hours of other TA's and the professor where online, is the reason why I didn't receive anyone. I hope that the students from the class use the resources the university has given them to improve, for the class averages were below the 70 mark. But, I did like Roger Mong's teaching style and I highly recommend him, compared to the other physics professors I've had in the past. I wish that I had a bigger effect on the class as a whole and wish them luck in their upcoming finals.
Overall, this was not a very fun experience. I spent a lot of my time going to lecture and office hours to help not a single student. I supposed that since this was a first year class, and the office hours of other TA's and the professor where online, is the reason why I didn't receive anyone. I hope that the students from the class use the resources the university has given them to improve, for the class averages were below the 70 mark. But, I did like Roger Mong's teaching style and I highly recommend him, compared to the other physics professors I've had in the past. I wish that I had a bigger effect on the class as a whole and wish them luck in their upcoming finals.
Week of 12/4 and reflection
This week was the week before finals and I had less people come to office hours than usual. Those who did come typically came to complete the VR lab for extra credit. The few questions I did get were rarely about concepts but more about how they should study for the final. Based on how nervous some of the students seemed for the final I was surprised that more did not show up.
Overall I had fun being a UTA this semester. Being a UTA not only allowed me to help students struggling to learn the information, but it also helped me. Many of my current classes still rely heavily on material from physics I so this class worked as a good review. Even at the end however I was surprised by how few students still came to office hours. Being that this is typically a first year class I think some students are just skeptical about going to somebody for help. I don't know how this can be improved. The people who did come seemed to enjoy using UTAs as a resource and many came regularly to office hours.
Overall I had fun being a UTA this semester. Being a UTA not only allowed me to help students struggling to learn the information, but it also helped me. Many of my current classes still rely heavily on material from physics I so this class worked as a good review. Even at the end however I was surprised by how few students still came to office hours. Being that this is typically a first year class I think some students are just skeptical about going to somebody for help. I don't know how this can be improved. The people who did come seemed to enjoy using UTAs as a resource and many came regularly to office hours.
Week of 12/4 + Thoughts
Week before final, had no students come to office hours.
Strangely I expected a lot more people to come to office hours. I know many friends who while taking physics I or II ask me questions constantly, so I can't imagine it's solely in my friend group that kids are confused about physics. This content is challenging and confusing, and even for me there are questions that stump me once in a while, even after taking this course once and sitting through lectures a second time around.
I'm excited to TA next term [I know so many people who are about to take physics II so I'm expecting a LOT more in terms of office hours attendance], but I wonder how to get the struggling students who are uncomfortable asking for help - help. Clearly they don't come to office hours when they don't personally know the TA, which I guess makes sense, it's strange to ask someone you don't know for help, especially if you're inherently a quieter person.
Hopefully I'll be able to tackle this problem as I continue onwards as a TA [and if any other TAs have had successful ideas about this, please do share!]
It's been a great term
#Perk Out
Week of 12/4 & Reflection
This past week I had a few students come to office hours to talk about their past exams and what they should gear their studying towards for the final. I answered their previous questions and encouraged them to take a holistic approach to studying, focusing on the concepts and problem-solving techniques rather than specific details of each problem. In lecture, I answered students' questions about waves and interference; the final topics of the year.
I enjoyed being a UTA this semester and can't believe the term is already over. Overall, the experience was rewarding and fulfilling. I learned a lot by participating in this program and I'm excited to be participating again next semester. Good luck to everyone on their finals and have a great break!
I enjoyed being a UTA this semester and can't believe the term is already over. Overall, the experience was rewarding and fulfilling. I learned a lot by participating in this program and I'm excited to be participating again next semester. Good luck to everyone on their finals and have a great break!
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Week of 12/6
This is my final week UTAing for the semester! This semester went extremely fast. Overall, UTAing was an extremely rewarding experience, and I learned a lot from it. I was not expecting it to be as enjoyable, gratifying, and intense (at times) as it was. This week, no one came to my office hours once again, but I was definitely able to help out in lecture as usual. I am really hoping I'll be able to return next semester.
Week of 11/27
No one has really been showing up to my office hours lately. I have a feeling it's because it's finals season, and they are busy focusing on studying for exams and writing papers. However, I was able to help a bunch of students in lecture with clicker questions. One question tricked most of the UTAs, including myself, so we steered some students in the wrong direction. Luckily, Dr. Broccio did not count this question. Other than that, it was a successful week.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Weeks of 11/13,11/20,11/27
Sorry for the update drought, went through a bit of a slump coupled with exams and essays, and the week of 11/20 has nothing to say because there was one lecture and nobody visited my office hours that week.
It's remarkable how often the contents of the course that students are learning overlap with what I'm learning/reviewing as a computer engineer. Right now, the class is finishing series RLC circuits and is moving on into light, the final unit. Students were coming in to ask me how to do phasor arithmetic right after the circuits lecture where I learned it! A similar instance happened earlier in the year when one of their homework assignments on basic circuit analysis introduced Thevenin equivalent circuits.
This term has really made me conscious about the importance of discussing course materials with the professor you're UTA'ing for. I had Dr. Nero when I took 0175, and although the course content is more or less the same, the teaching style and the style of the work is immensely different. Most of these times I'm able to adapt to helping with the new work just fine by parsing my Nero notes for relevant equations and derivations, but almost every week there'd be some new homework question that even stumped me, because I'd have no precedent for it. Fortunately, I've never been stumped to the point where I absolutely couldn't help anybody with it, but it's made me very conscious of the work that I need to take on my part to be sure I can help people out, instead of just showing up to the UTA room and learning what the homework is the first time a student asks me how to do a part. I'm hoping that I can get assigned to Nero's 0175 course this Spring so I'm a bit more familiar with the content and more effective in that regard.
As for lecture presence, I still feel as though the UTAs are fairly underutilized. I feel like an average attendance of 2 or 3 UTAs out of 6 is suitable, but I don't feel like we're being used much in the lecture. When I was a student in Nero's flipped course, it seemed like UTAs were more utilized because the lecture was mostly clicker questions. But since Hong's course is non-flipped, most of the lecture is derivations, and only once or twice per lecture do we have clicker questions to help with. And since assignments are handed out online and handed back in recitations, there's not really much use for extra hands in the lecture itself. So perhaps outside of flipped courses, UTA lecture presence is overvalued? There really isn't much for us to help with.
It's remarkable how often the contents of the course that students are learning overlap with what I'm learning/reviewing as a computer engineer. Right now, the class is finishing series RLC circuits and is moving on into light, the final unit. Students were coming in to ask me how to do phasor arithmetic right after the circuits lecture where I learned it! A similar instance happened earlier in the year when one of their homework assignments on basic circuit analysis introduced Thevenin equivalent circuits.
This term has really made me conscious about the importance of discussing course materials with the professor you're UTA'ing for. I had Dr. Nero when I took 0175, and although the course content is more or less the same, the teaching style and the style of the work is immensely different. Most of these times I'm able to adapt to helping with the new work just fine by parsing my Nero notes for relevant equations and derivations, but almost every week there'd be some new homework question that even stumped me, because I'd have no precedent for it. Fortunately, I've never been stumped to the point where I absolutely couldn't help anybody with it, but it's made me very conscious of the work that I need to take on my part to be sure I can help people out, instead of just showing up to the UTA room and learning what the homework is the first time a student asks me how to do a part. I'm hoping that I can get assigned to Nero's 0175 course this Spring so I'm a bit more familiar with the content and more effective in that regard.
As for lecture presence, I still feel as though the UTAs are fairly underutilized. I feel like an average attendance of 2 or 3 UTAs out of 6 is suitable, but I don't feel like we're being used much in the lecture. When I was a student in Nero's flipped course, it seemed like UTAs were more utilized because the lecture was mostly clicker questions. But since Hong's course is non-flipped, most of the lecture is derivations, and only once or twice per lecture do we have clicker questions to help with. And since assignments are handed out online and handed back in recitations, there's not really much use for extra hands in the lecture itself. So perhaps outside of flipped courses, UTA lecture presence is overvalued? There really isn't much for us to help with.
Week of 12/5
This week two students came in, I prepared a final exam review but we didn't have time so I just emailed it to them. This week was nice but I thought way more people would come in. I like having a small number of people though, because then I can focus on giving more instructive help than a quick suggestion. I think one of the most effective ways of communicating ideas is through pictures, especially if you're trying to convey something really abstract like friction force, which only resists motion and is 0 when there is no other force to resist. Today I explained how friction force only matches the force being applied up to the max value of µ*Fn and I tried a couple ways of explaining it, but drawing seemed to work the best. Not only drawing it once but redrawing it in steps also seemed to help for when µs became µk and how motion affects friction.
Overall, I had a really great semester and even though I was only able to help a few people out, I think I was able to make a difference and that is exactly what my goal was. I really enjoyed getting to meet new people, think about problems in new ways, and give help to those who needed it. I wish more people would have come in but I am still happy with the work I did and I look forward to taking this experience and applying it to other things throughout the course of my life. I am truly grateful for the opportunity and I wish anyone reading this good luck with the rest of the semester and happy holidays!
Overall, I had a really great semester and even though I was only able to help a few people out, I think I was able to make a difference and that is exactly what my goal was. I really enjoyed getting to meet new people, think about problems in new ways, and give help to those who needed it. I wish more people would have come in but I am still happy with the work I did and I look forward to taking this experience and applying it to other things throughout the course of my life. I am truly grateful for the opportunity and I wish anyone reading this good luck with the rest of the semester and happy holidays!
Week of Nov. 28
This week was a little better than last week, one student came in. This student comes in almost every week and is the only student that has come in more than once. I really like him and as I mentioned in a previous post, I think I am really helping him out, since he comes in regularly to talk about his homework. He doesn't immediately ask for help but instead looks at his problems and asks for help when the solution to one of the problems isn't clear to him, which I really enjoy because I can try to help and solve things along with him, but he doesn't need every step explained. I appreciate peoples' struggles and I always want to help, but sometimes it is a little frustrating when every step is unclear, as most teachers try to make their problems related to things they've gone over in class. If I did come across a student like that I guess I could still learn a little more about my patience by working with them, but thankfully no student has come in without some idea of what they are doing so far.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Week of Nov. 26th
Second to last week of classes and yet still no one showed up at my office hours. Its looking like I will have no one show up at all. The class learned about sound waves this week.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Week of 11/26
Tom Reynolds
Physics 175
Dr. Hong
This week I had one student come on Wednesday and around 10 on Thursday. It was a manageable amount of people and I was pretty easily able to answer all their questions. The homework is a bit ahead of the lecture so it's been a while since I've seen this material but it all came back once they started asking me questions. It's weird that next week is the last one. I've gotten pretty good at helping these students with their homework. It's always the same students who come every week.
Physics 175
Dr. Hong
This week I had one student come on Wednesday and around 10 on Thursday. It was a manageable amount of people and I was pretty easily able to answer all their questions. The homework is a bit ahead of the lecture so it's been a while since I've seen this material but it all came back once they started asking me questions. It's weird that next week is the last one. I've gotten pretty good at helping these students with their homework. It's always the same students who come every week.
Week of 11/27
This week we continued our discussion of waves in lecture. We are quickly coming to the end of the semester and students should be preparing for their finals. Unfortunately, no one came to my office hours again this week, so I have not had the chance to help any students with their questions. With next week being the last office hours I will hold, I am really hoping someone comes in so that I can help them prepare for the final.
Nov 27 - Dec 1
Office hours were relatively crowded this week; went over some help regarding properties of waves and simple harmonic motion as well. Reviewed the homework due previously on fluid and pressure with one student, largely covering basics and foundations. Some of the students asked the best way to study for the final exam, which I told them in my opinion is to cover foundations extensively (aka know the modules/checkpoints/lectures notes inside and out). I've always found that to be the best way to prepare for the exams, as well as doing challenge textbook problems for additional review.
Week of 11/27
This week I did not have anyone come to office hours, I helped some kids outside of class with the homework regrading mirrors, they were having trouble figuring out how to manipulate the lens equation to derive the object distance. Hopefully people are beginning to prepare for their final!
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Week of 11/27
On Wednesday, I had five students come to office hours due to the homework being pretty difficult.
The main problem that had questions was finding the acceleration of a cart, a hoop, and a disk rolling down a ramp. This had to be done symbolically with a lot of substitutions from other equations.
Another difficult problem involved a cable holding up a metal beam. The students were required to find the tension in the cable, and the force the hinge was exerting on the metal beam.
On Thursday, a student from a different class needed help involving the tuning of a guitar. You needed to find the diameter of a string that would change the mass per length enough to give the guitar a new frequency.
On Friday, a student came in trying to get a head start on the homework due next week. We talked through the first two problems and came up with solutions for them.
The main problem that had questions was finding the acceleration of a cart, a hoop, and a disk rolling down a ramp. This had to be done symbolically with a lot of substitutions from other equations.
Another difficult problem involved a cable holding up a metal beam. The students were required to find the tension in the cable, and the force the hinge was exerting on the metal beam.
On Thursday, a student from a different class needed help involving the tuning of a guitar. You needed to find the diameter of a string that would change the mass per length enough to give the guitar a new frequency.
On Friday, a student came in trying to get a head start on the homework due next week. We talked through the first two problems and came up with solutions for them.
Friday, December 1, 2017
week of 11/27
I do not get any student this week. on the third exam, surprisingly, the average lower than we expected. even the Multiple choices, which we were thinking is easier, actually get lower than normal. I personally talked to my friend and about the exam, she said MC is definitely easier. but she did not know why people do badly either.
Week of 11/27
This week I had a few students attend office hours asking questions about previous exams in preparation for the final exam. I also answered several questions about waves, period, and frequency in lecture. As we're reaching the end of the semester, the students are solidifying their understanding of the material and asking relevant questions that incorporate multiple concepts from previous sections. I hope they continue to work hard and come in with their questions, because it'll definitely help their performance on the final exam.
Week of 11/27
This week I did not have many people come into office hours. The majority of the people that did come, came to do the VR labs. I was not asked to many conceptual questions, or to help anybody with homework problems or studying. Most people who did have questions just wanted to know how they should begin studying for finals. I expect to see more people and get more questions next week once people begin to study.
Week of 11/27
No one came this week to office hours either. I do sometimes receive emailed questions about the homework, but office hours have been quite anticlimactic this term.
Week of 11/27
On Tuesday, one girl who usually comes to my office hours came in for help. We're working on simple harmonic motion and she had some questions about the sapling homework. Also on Tuesday Dr. Nero came in to work on setting up the VR labs.
On Thursday, the VR station was set up and I had around 5 students come in to work on them. I tried the VR headset out and I thought it was pretty cool. They seemed to understand everything and were able to work through it. I stayed a little bit extra and signed off on their lab sheets.
On Thursday, the VR station was set up and I had around 5 students come in to work on them. I tried the VR headset out and I thought it was pretty cool. They seemed to understand everything and were able to work through it. I stayed a little bit extra and signed off on their lab sheets.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)