Week of 3/25

This past week, I worked with one of my regular students on some more difficult Sapling questions for Physics 2 and another one of my regular students on collisions and the conservation of momentum for Physics 1.

Week of 3/25

This week, I helped a student navigate the concepts of Lenz's Law and I helped my professor after class putting away a demo. The next test is coming up so I anticipate more students to come to my office hours this week.

Week of 3/25

This week I worked on some worksheets for the next exam and helped a couple of students on homework problems. Overall, this week was spent in preparation for the upcoming exam.

Week of 3/25

I did not have any students in office hours this week. They do have a test this upcoming Wednesday, so hopefully some students will stop by my Monday office hours.

Week of 3/25

I had planned to write and post this on Friday, but something came up suddenly that kept me pretty busy. Now that I have a free moment, though, I can actually write this.

...not that there is too much to say. I only had 1 person come in this week. I'm not surprised, however; Monday was their last midterm, and there is no longer an extra credit opportunity for coming to my Office Hours.

Week of 3/25

This week I was able to help a girl with her Physics lab and we also covered how the topics from lab relate to the topics she was learning in class.

Week of 3/25

No one came to this week's office hours.

Week of 3/25

This week I had three people on Tuesday and Thursday come in with concept questions pertaining to rotation and angular motion.  We worked through some examples together from the book and I believe they left with a better understanding of the material.  I also someone come in on Wednesday with some questions about her last exam.  I gave her some tips on how she could phrase her answers to more clearly demonstrate her understanding of the concepts and increase her score. She found these helpful.  They have an exam next week so I will be holding extra office hours to review concepts and practice problems before the exam.

Week of 3/25

I had no one attend office hours this week. In class students had a lot of questions on static equilibrium so I think students will bring in more questions next week.

Week of 3/25

This week was another busy week for me. I had probably about ten students come in again this week, some with homework questions, some with general concept questions. The emphasis was on rotational energy and angular momentum, which is traditionally a tricky topic for students. Again, students seemed to leave with a much better understanding after going through the homework problems. They have an exam next week and I am holding additional review sessions to help them review and go over other concepts.

Week of 3/25/19

This week I had one student attend office hours.  We worked on the homework that was assigned which dealt with momentum.

Week of 3/25

5 students stopped by my office hours this week - three were people I haven't met before, so it was nice to work with some new people.

A couple of students wanted to review the lectures - with Prof. Paolone out of town, we had guest lectures this week, and I think the change in teaching style was difficult for them to adapt to.

In addition, I worked through approximately 10 Sapling problems across the 5 students. In most cases, students had a calculation error or didn't know what formula to use (there are a lot in this section); it's reassuring that they weren't making any huge conceptual errors. In any case, I was able to help them solve and understand the problems.

The class has their third exam next week, so I spent some time this week developing a powerpoint with review questions, which will be used in two review sessions next week.

Week of 3/25/2019

This week, no students attended my office hours, even though exam 3 is on Monday. Hopefully, more people will stop by as we get closer to finals.

Week of 3/24

This week I did not have any students attend my office hours. There is an exam next Wednesday so I am guessing a few students will come in prior to that.

Week of March 25

This week, no one attended my office hours. Hopefully more students will come the closer it gets to finals week.

Week of 8/3

I didn't get any student this week in my office hours. Although the difficulty of the subjects have increased, the number of students attending office hours decreased. It might be that they started going to Dr. Broccio for help or the homework questions are solvable.

Week of 3/18

I didn't have any students come to my office hours this week, but I did help a couple students in class with clicker questions. I had to miss Tueday's lecture for a job interview.

Week of 3/18

This week not much happened since the exam was the week prior. Most students did well but some asked to go over questions they messed up. I had a few students come to office hours to ask for help with homework and concepts as well.

Week of 3/18

This week, I had a few students come to my office hours, surprisingly for Physics II even though I am not a Physics II TA. Unfortunately, I am far removed from Physics II and didn't remember much. The students are learning about torque and rotational kinematics in class.

Week of 3/18

This was my busiest week thus far UTAing for Physics 2. I had 51 students come in in Tuesday to ask questions; in a room with 5 chairs. Thursday was similarly busy, and I simply was incapable of answering everybody's questions. For this reason, I decided to hold two extra hours of office hours on Friday in Hillman, which was almost as busy as Tuesday and Thursday.

Week of 3/18

Coming out of Spring Break, I worked with one of my regular students on some interesting Sapling questions involving the second right-hand rule and clarified questions involving application of magnetic flux and induced current.

Week of 3/18

Three students stopped by my Wed. office hours. We worked through one challenging Sapling problem that involved finding the magnetic field due to two rotating discs. We were able to solve this problem by 1) using symmetry, 2) working through it piece by piece, and 3) relating magnetic field problems to electric field problems. We also re-solved some conceptual questions embedded in the lectures - these related to the right-hand rule. With their third exam coming up shortly and the information becoming more difficult, I'm sure more students will have questions in the upcoming week.

Week of 3/18

This week in office hours, I helped a few students with circuits and answered questions they had for their Physics lab for this week.

Week of 3/18

I was able to help one student with the concepts on their homework regarding AC circuits in office hours today.

Week of 3/18

My office hours were incredibly busy this week; I had about eight or nine people come in for help on the homework. Many of them stayed for the entire three hours, and I stayed for an extra hour for two others. The discussion was primarily focused on torque-based problems and how they are similar to the sum of forces problems in some aspects and different in others. Overall, most of the students seemed to leave with a much stronger understanding of how to approach these problems.

Week of 3/8/19

This week I had two students come in for homework help.  The homework was on inelastic collisions and we were able to talk through all the problems during my office hours on Friday. 

Week 3/18

Sadly, no one came to my office hours this week. I was able to answer a couple students questions in class though. Hopefully, as the next test comes up more students will come to office hours with questions.

Week of 3/18

This week I only had one student stop by my office hours on Tuesday. After looking at some B field derivations of known geometries we were apply them to the configuration at hand and arrive at the answer. With the course really ramping up after spring break with the introduction of magnetic fields, I'm looking forward to helping more students tackle this particularly tricky subject. I would not be surprised to see an uptick in attendance at office hours in the final few weeks of the semester.

Week of 3/18/19

This week no one attended my office hours. I think the reason for this was because the test for my class was the week before break.

Week of 3/18

This week I had two people come in with questions from Sapling.  We discussed strategies involving the angular kinematics equations to approach the problem.  I also recommended solving the problems symbolically so that the relationships between the variables would become more apparent.

Week of 3/18/2019

This week I had two people come to my office hours on Tuesday. For both, I helped them with some conceptual questions on Sapling. It's important to remember that an induced current in a coil will generate a magnetic field that will OPPOSE the changing magnetic field. Additionally, when you are facing a bar magnet toward a loop, it's easier to generalize that the field lines are either going into the loop or away from the loop. On Thursday, one additional person came to my office hours. We simply went over the conceptual concepts for Module 20 and 21. I just reminded them that the step up voltage was for minimizing loss when transmitting electricity across power lines and that the step down was for a usable voltage in a household. Additionally, I emphasized the analogy with springs and stated that the resonance frequency helped maximize current as the reactances from the inductor and capacitor cancelled each other out.

Week of March 18

This week, one person came to my office hours on Wednesday needing help with Sapling homework. He was having trouble understanding how to counteract a change in flux by inducing an EMF and therefor a current in a loop to create a magnetic field that would oppose the change in flux. Using the second right hand rule, I was able to help him better understand the concepts.

Week 3/4

This week, we covered electromagnetism in class. It was after the midterm and the homework is due after the break so no one showed up for office hours. I expect more students to come next week probably in the earlier days right before the homework due.

Week of 3/4

This week I held extra office hours on Sunday to help the students prepare for the exam on Thursday.  I had one person come in and we worked a few problems from the exam review.  During the week I had three people come into my office hours. One had a question about the conservation of energy from the study guide. We worked on the problem and some"hints" that could be found in the phrasing of the question.  The other two had a question about a book problem involving centripetal acceleration that we were able to work through.

Week of 3/4

This week, I didn't have any students come to my office hours. I had to miss my Friday office hours for vacation travel plans. I did help a couple students in class with clicker questions that the Professor assigned.

Week of 3/4

This past week was very quiet because my students just had their second midterm of the semester. Most of my office hours were spent assisting a student in Physics 1 with doing problems incorporating both forces and kinetics in preparation for his exam.

Week of 3/4

This week I held a review session for the exam that was this Tuesday. I had about 50 students come and made sure that they were ready for the exam. I also proctored the exam and had several students come to my office hours on Monday to ask questions before.

Week of 3/4

I had one student attend office hours this week and it was on Tuesday. We worked on problems the student was having on their practice exam. Some of the topics included energy conservation and centripetal motion. I think the student benefited from the one on one interaction of the UTA resource room for the student was able to learn the materials they were struggling with at a slower pace. With midterm exams concluding I don't foresee students attending office hours.

Week of 3/4

This week I shortened my Friday hours since it is right before spring break and my students just had an exam yesterday, so I did not expect many students. No students came to those, but I did hold extra hours on Tuesdays to help students study for the exam. I had several students come to those. We mostly focused on the process for how to actually work through problems, knowing what method to use, etc. I helped them work through book problems as well as example problems that the professor posted.

Week of 3/4

No one came to my office hours this week since the students just had their first midterm on Tuesday, I did not expect many students this week.

Week of 3/4

No one came to office hours this week.

Week of 3/4

Surprisingly no one showed up to any of my office hours this week even though they had their second exam on Wednesday. I did meet with a student last weekend to help her with some practice problems she was having trouble with for the exam. Hopefully I have more students after spring break.

Week of 3/4/19

In my office hours on Monday, I worked with a couple students on their Lon Capa assignment.  It was on forces and energy.  On Wednesday, I had a couple more students and we worked on the practice exam.  Their main questions dealt with energy and how friction factors into their equations.

Week of 3/4/19

Like I predicted last week, I had lots of people come in this week; I think about 10 in total. We are entering the really tricky parts on Magnetism, both Math wise with Biot Savart Law, and conceptually with Lenz' Law. In addition to normal office hours affairs, I shared links to different websites and videos I used to understand Magnetism better when I took this course.

Week of 3/4

With springs break right around the corner it came as no surprise to me that it was a slow week during office hours.  One student stopped by a quick question about circuits. She had already worked through most of the problem and her methodology was very close. I worked through the problem the way I would have done it and noted key steps across the way. Through this the student was able to recognize their mistake and correct it to get the answer.

Week of 3/4/2019

This week there was an exam on Monday. Only one person showed up to my office hours this week (on Tuesday). However, we didn't do anything Physic 2 related. I helped her on some MCAT Physics questions (mostly encouraging her to figure out the questions given the concepts she already understood). Hopefully I will be able to see more people after Spring Break!

Week of 3/4

This week, I had two students come to my office hours. This makes sense because there was an exam for Broccio's class on Wednesday. They students have already started the next module in lecture.

03.03 - 03.09

The class just had their second exam on Friday, so as expected, it was a quiet week. In lecture this week, Prof. Paolone continued with magnetism. One student came to my office hours to review the lecture slides and re-try the embedded concept questions after my explanation of concepts.

Week of March 4

This week they had an exam on Monday, so no one attended my office hours Monday afternoon or Wednesday morning due to no new content being learned.

Week of 2/25

This week I had fewer students than expected; only two of my regulars showed up with homework questions. Overall, students seem to be struggling with knowing what method is the best method to solve a problem, since they now have three methods of doing so. The homework problems generally seem to help them learn how to combine these methods. They have an exam in less than a week and I am hosting extra office hours on Tuesday, so I am hoping I will get students coming in with questions.

Week of 2/25

This week, I had one student come to office hours to discuss a couple questions pertaining to this past Thursday’s exam. I helped the student with general concepts and a homework problem.

Week of 2/25

I had one person come in this week with questions about old homework in preparation for his exam.

02.24 - 03.02

This was a particularly fun week for me – probably not so much for the students!

Nobody came to my office hours on Monday morning, but on Wednesday, I talked with two students who just wanted some insight on preparing for the exam.  I was able to help them feel less anxious.  On Thursday, a student came in, and we worked through some examples related to Gauss’ Law and capacitors.  He felt more comfortable at the end of the office hour.

Tyler and I also decided to hold a review session to help students prepare for their exam.  I had a really busy week myself, so it was challenging to find time to put together questions; however, I was able to put together a pretty good presentation using old HW questions from my PHYS 175 class as well as some additional online resources.  There was one review session at 4 and one at 6:30, and both were very crowded!  I stayed after the 6:30 session to answer students' outstanding questions.  I’m glad we did this as many of the concepts we discussed appeared on their exam this morning.  It was nice to work with Tyler on this; I hope we can do something similar for their final midterm.

I also helped proctor the exam this morning.  Our professor allows us to answer students’ questions, which is always interesting.  It was nice to be able to help clarify their questions.  

Week of 2/25

This week I had a couple of students come in and ask about certain concepts prior to the exam, which is next Tuesday. Next Monday I will be holding a review session for any students, and hopefully this exam will go better than the last for the students.

Week of 2/25

What seemed to be a slow week in office hours was swiftly made up by a packed house for a review session held Thursday evening.  With an exam Friday, my fellow TA Cailyn had the idea to offer a review session for students Thursday evening. I arrived as the session was beginning and much to my surprise there was not an empty seat in the house. Cailyn put together an awesome slideshow centered around the main four topics of Exam 2. We went through the slides and gave the students time to give the problems their best attempts before we worked through our methodology to solving them.  I ended up sticking around afterwards for about 20 minutes answering additional questions from students. After helping to proctor the exam this morning I am confident that any student who attended this session saw benefit from it. I would eagerly accept the task of hosting another review before Exam 3 and even the Final if my schedule allows.  Being able to reach out and help so many students at once in a collaborative environment was extremely fulfilling.

Week of 2/25/19

No one attended office hours. 

Week of 2/25/19

I had one person come in on Tuesday, and one on Thursday, and that was it. I wasn't expecting too many people, though, as they took their 2nd midterm on Monday, so we are just starting new material. This new material is on magnets, so I think attendance will increase once we start discussing the weird parts of magnetism.

Week 2/25

I had a student come to my Friday office hours and I was able to help him with a couple homework problems, and I was able to explain some conceptual ideas about tension that he was having trouble with. I also had a student reach out who is not able to come to my office hours so I will be meeting with her for an hour this weekend. Their test is this Wednesday and I think students are getting nervous about it so I expect a lot of students in my office hours on Monday.

Week of 2/25

I had a lot of people come into office hours this week in preparation for their exam. Outside of helping a student in physics 1 with understanding forces and drawing force diagrams better, I worked with most physics 2 students on some complex circuits and applications of RHR. I really had to try to let them struggle to figure things out piece by piece with very little guidance from me in preparation for their exam.

Week of 2/25

No one came to office hours this week, however, I was able to answer a few questions that a student had regarding electric fields, before class!

Week of 2/25

I had one person during office hours this week. We discussed a variety of topics (electricity, circuits,etc) that will be covered on their midterm that is coming up this Tuesday.

Week of 2/25

I had no students attend office hours this week. With midterm exams continuing I hope to see some students attend office hours next week.