Weeks of 10/16 and 10/23

Again, apologies for the double-post, first week's post slipped my mind entirely.
Now that we're well into second-exam material, I've noticed the course content is getting significantly more sophisticated.  Most notably, circuit analysis and magnetic fields.  The former I'm able to help with very well, since I'm taking circuits right now, but magnetic fields haven't come back to me as easily as the other concepts.  For the first time, I've actually had to look back in my old notes and re-learn the concepts myself!  A lot of the time, enough students come to my office hours at once that they like to collaborate with each other while I'm helping one out, but it's slightly humiliating trying to work out an answer for a concept you don't fully remember and then getting the wrong answer anyway.  I'm definitely reaching a point as a UTA where I'm going to have to put in more effort than just showing up to class, grading, and office hours if I want to make sure I'm not as equally lost as the students coming into my hours.
Grading and lecture attendance has been going as usual.  I haven't been able to make some lectures on account of interviews, but I do consistently make Friday lectures.  It's certainly getting harder to find the motivation to wake up and get to a lecture 2-3 hours before my next class when I only answer maybe 1 or 2 clicker questions per lecture.  Perhaps there's a better way to utilize UTAs in this regard?

-Jeffrey Socash

Week of Halloween 10/31

This week was not particularly busy, which is always kind of a bummer, but at least I was able to get some work done for other classes. A student who regularly comes in came in today which was nice, and I was able to help him out. I think I'm making a good impact on him, because he is trying to figure out more of the problems on his own before asking for help. This feels really good because I haven't really felt useful or helpful these past few weeks and now I am helping at least one person. This is the sort of thing I was expecting when I signed up for being a UTA and it makes me excited to come to office hours. 

Week of 10/23

This week only two people came in, which is much better than the last few weeks. I was able to help with their problems and it didn't seem like they were too lost in class, just looking to verify their answers. One of the students was from Physics 2, which I do not normally TA for, but nobody else was in and I am currently in a Linear Circuits class that helped me answer her circuit questions, so I was grateful I knew what I was doing and able to help.

Week of Oct. 23

New week, same thing. No one came to my office hours, so once again I had very little to do this week. My UTA position is starting to bore me a lot, and this experience has definitely made me not want to do it again.

Week of 10/23

This week I had the same student come to my office hours that I've been getting every week. I helped her out with physics, and we bonded over our hatred for organic chemistry. The clicker questions in class are definitely taking more thought lately, but all in all things are going smoothly.

Week of 10/23

On Wednesday, three students came to office hours. They all had questions about a problem where a bomb is 80m in the air and explodes. They needed to find the velocity of one of the fragments, how far apart the fragments land, and the energy given off by the explosion. I think the hardest part was finding how far apart they land, because you needed to use a combination of energy and kinematics.

On Friday, a student from Physics 2 came to office hours. She had questions regarding circuits. The first was regarding a voltage source with an internal resistance, and the second was regarding a circuit with two capacitors. I had forgotten some of the equations needed, but after working through the problems together for a few minutes we found the solutions.

week of 10/23

there is not any student came over my office hour, they just had an exam on Monday, and the average is 75, it is not too bad! and it's already over half of the semester, we are getting there! good luck everyone! keep up the hard work!

Week of 10/23

No one came to office hours this week, but I did help some people before class with homework problems! Hope to see more people coming as the exam date comes closer.

Week of 10/23

Instigated by the upcoming exam and the incentive to come see me at office hours, I received a plethora of students seeking my assistance.

On Tuesday, my 2 hour block, I had kids coming in mainly asking about the sappling homework. There was a rocket problem that most people were confused about, and it really was a difficult problem. In order to solve you had to use an integration, one that they won't learn until the end of calc 2. I was able to derive an equation for them and they understood pretty well. I stayed for a while after to help them out with everything that they needed.

On Thursday again many students came. This time I mostly received requests for problems involving centripetal forces, and how they calculate the normal force/tension on an object in circular motion at the bottom of the circle. Also popular were problems involving aspects of energy conservation. Again I stayed after to address all concerns.

Week of 10/23

This week Professor Nero's class had a test.  Due to this I had a large amount of students come to my office hours.  I mostly just helped them through the study guide.  Some students came in the day before the exam to ask for study tips.  I gave them a few tips, but if they were really struggling they should have come into office hours earlier.

Week of 10/23

One person came to office hours to ask about a Lon Papa questions regarding 2 capacitors in series. We worked through it successfully! I also received multiple texts from friends in this class who were also struggling with this same problem, so I'm surprised only one person came to office hours to discuss it.

Week of 10/23

This week, I once again had no one come to my office hours. We started rotational motion last week so I was really expecting people to come in with questions. I hope more students start coming to office hours so they can get their questions answered in time for their next exam in two weeks.

Week of 10/23

The students had their second exam on Monday and I hope they did well. The rest of the week was pretty quiet, as a result. I helped a few students during lecture, answering questions on the new material we had just begun. I had 2 students come to office hours and ask about homework that was past due, which they did not understand. I was able to explain the concepts to them and clear up any lingering doubts. As the students get back into the swing of things post-exam, I hope to see more of them in office hours with questions.

Week of 10/16

This week was a bit busier, I finally got students from Dr. Nero's class who came. He set up an extra credit incentive but the kids who visited didn't even ask about it so I think that they just genuinely came for help with the physics. I think that now the material is getting a bit harder so people will continue coming for office hours.

Week of 10/16

I had one person come to my office hours Monday and we went over all her doubts for the exam for the full two hours. She came with a list of conceptual questions and I used her lecture notes as well as my lecture notes from when I took the class to help her out. Another UTA and I held a review session Thursday which went well and we had ten students show up. The review session consisted of practice problems as well as going over conceptual topics. Once again, I had the same group of girls come to my office hours on Friday and we went over homework that was due on Saturday rather than doing exam review. The students had an exam on Monday and I hope it went well for all of them!

10/16

I don't have anything to comment on this week for office hours.

10/9

This week I answered many questions about capacitance as it had not been taught yet in the class. I helped show people how to work out certain types of true or false questions.

10/2

Week of the midterm the class still had homework so I proctored the room but didn't get a ton of questions. It was mostly people working together in the room.

9/25

Due to multiple midterms my blog posts have declined but now they're back and more that full strength. During this week I didn't get many homework questions. One guy came in on my friday hours to ask questions about the upcoming midterm.

Week of Oct. 15th

Classes this week were strange since two of them had to be in a different location. Not much has happened during my office hours since I have yet to have any one student stop by. I do not know why this is, but my guess is maybe the time of my office hours isn't very useful. Would love to know how I could get more involved with the students in my class.

Week of 10/15

Tom Reynolds
Physics 175 Hong

This week I had a few students come to my office hours.  This homework was on Thevenin equivalent circuits which can be tricky if you've never seen them before.  In my circuits class we did these for days but this class did them in a fraction of a lecture.  So I expected a large crowd.  Fewer students, however, meant I could explain things in more depth.  There was a ton of algebra and I spent a lot of time just working through students' math because people kept screwing up.  Overall not a bad week.

Week of 10/16

This week we had very few visitors for office hours. On Wednesday, most people who attended my office hours did not have many, if any questions, for me but wanted to work together with other members of Professor Kuo's class to figure out a few homework questions. Some students were stuck and required my help because they did not understand that there is still potential energy when the spring is compressed. On Thursday, nobody attended office hours.

Week of 10/16

This week I had a lot of people stop by my office hours.  This was largely because extra credit was offered to them by the professor if they came.  Most of the students admitted that they came largely for the extra credit, but they still had questions ready to ask.  Hopefully they will continue to come now that they see that I can help them through some of the topics they are struggling with.  I expect to see a lot of students next week before their second exam.  The material is also beginning to get a little less intuitive, so I expect to get a lot more questions from students soon.

Week of 10/16

This week no one came to office hours, really hoping to see more people stop by for questions. I also did not see many students come to lecture either due to the location being changed for this week. Hopefully we are back on track next week with everything and people have more questions. Circuits are coming up, hopefully this drives people to come and ask questions :)

Week of 10/16

Students from Professor Kuo's class only came to office hours on Wednesday this week. There were two students who needed help on two of the homework problems. The first was a problem that mixed energy and kinematics. You needed to find the final velocity of a box at the top of a ramp, given that it had energy from a compressed spring. Then you needed to use the final velocity to see how far it would travel before landing.

The second question involved a cart that rolled downhill, back uphill higher than it started, and then landed on a frictional surface. You needed to use energy conservation to find out how far it traveled on the frictional surface before stopping.

Week of 10/16

This week I had almost no one come to my office hours. There was a few physics 2 students when I first got there, so I tried to help them with their material, but I do not think I was able to explain it very clearly. In class we are beginning rotational motion, which tends to be very confusing for students, so I assume people will be coming to office hours more for questions they have about this material.

Week of 10/16

No one came. If people aren't coming by now I doubt that they will, shame, because the test average was around a 70, so there are kids who just don't care enough to learn apparently. Overall, quite a boring experience as a UTA.

Week of 10/16

The past week was rather busy with student questions in lecture and office hours. I had several students come to me for homework help during office hours and I was able to answer their questions. In lecture, we talked about work-energy theorem and conservation of momentum, which raised a few questions. However, after going through some concepts and practice problems, students were better able to understand the material. There is an exam this coming Monday, so I held a review session to help the students prepare for it. I covered some problems regarding work, kinetic & potential energy, Newton's Second Law, and conservation of momentum. The students seemed to struggle most with drawing free-body diagrams, so I went over those in detail, as knowledge of these diagrams is essential to the course. All in all, it was a busy week and I felt quite useful. Good luck to the students on their next exam!

Week of 10/9

This week I only had one student come to my office hours. It was the same student who came last week for homework help. He tried to rely on me a lot for this assignment he was working on and would try asking me questions that would essentially give him the answer. I did my best not to just give him the information he needed and asked him question that would help him come to the conclusion on his own.

Week 10/9

Office hours were busy this week, with about 15-20 students. They are having trouble differentiating work from force. Also, sign is messing them up consistently across all problems. The fact that energy problems deal with change in energy seems to be a confusing concept. Lastly, it seems to be difficult to the students that energy doesn't care about what happens in the middle of the problem (it only matters how it starts and how it ends). I believe conservative forces need to be explained, and I also believe advice on the negative side, i.e. stay consistent/use smart coordinate systems, needs to be given.

Week of 10/16

This week, I had the same student come to my office hours as last week. I spent the full two hours working through homework problems with her, and we were eventually successful with all of them. I only had a few questions in lecture but was able to help those few people out too.

The Chronicles of UTA Ted: Week 3 - 6 - Hazy Days

Ok so I've been slacking on these blog posts, but rest assured the wait is finally over. I do not have a photographic memory so bare with me as I try to recollect every exhilarating detail that has happened in OEH 304 the past few weeks. So without further a due...

3 weeks ago...

Overcast skies was the weather report for today, an ominous sign that it was going to be a very boring day. Pittsburgh was finally showing it's true fall colors and I couldn't be more pleased with the start of sweater weather (well minus the rain).  It was just an average Tuesday with everything seemingly going as expected. I scrolled through my phone on the way to office hours grimacing at the unsightly record that has stained my fantasy team 2 and 1...

The dream was over before it even really started, I had gotten all worked up after the first two weeks thinking that maybe, just maybe, this year would be the year in which I break an unprecedented barrier that man have theorized to be impossible... To have the perfect season in fantasy. But atlas reality came barreling in before my hopes could actually materialize and I was left with the taste of disgust and anguish. What made it even worse was it came from a source close to me, another fellow UTA. Not gonna name any names, but he has an unyielding command over the rest of the UTAs and has been given the honorific of "head."

Although the prefect season was gone I was still motivated to lead my team to the promise land. But first I had to fulfill my obligation of UTA and help a few kids with their physics homework. 

---

2 weeks ago...

3 - 1 
Physics test!!!
Students?
Nope.

That is all. 

---

1 week ago...

You would think that I'd have the clearest memory of what happened the week before but since it was the fall break, I didn't have my office hours on Tuesday and Thursday was uneventful. So I'm just gonna leave you guys with this: 

the field mouse is quick but the owl sees at night

Week of 10/16

This week was quiet, only one student came in so far and it was for homework help. I suppose that most of the students did well on the first exam, which is good. I've said this before, but I really wish more people would come. I don't know how to advertise my office hours any more than putting it up on the course's CourseWeb, except for telling students to tell their friends. I might prepare more extensive reviews for the students that do come in so that they are interested in coming, but honestly I don't think it will be *that* enticing and I don't know if they'd be willing to do more work on top of their homework. I have yet to talk with the professor since he is currently quite busy, but once I do meet with him I will ask him if there's a way to get more students into the office hours. I just feel like I am pretty much useless right now and I want to be coming to office hours for a reason, not just to sit and do work.

Week of 10/9

This week, we only had a few members of Professor Kuo's Physics 1 class visit on Wednesday. Almost everyone who came in asked about question 4 because they were confused on the wording. It was unclear to some of the students why the change in kinetic energy of mass 2 was not equal to the change in potential energy of mass 2 if energy is always conserved. We had to explain that some of the potential energy was converted to kinetic energy for mass 1 even though mass 1 did not lose any potential energy. On Thursday I did not have any students visit for office hours.

October 9-13

This week Tuesday classes were cancelled due to fall break, so there were no office hours for that day. Instead, Monday classes were set for Tuesday - my research lab however did not have a schedule switch, and so I was unable to host my normal Monday 11am office hours.

During the only office hour I was able to teach at this week, I only had one student come in for a few homework problems. The gravitron problem is something that apparently a lot of students struggled with, as I received multiple texts from different students asking about it as well. Dr. Broccio went over it later in lecture, so hopefully most students ended up on the same page regarding that question.

Week of 10/9

Tom Reynolds

Physics 175 Hong 

Last week there was an exam on Wednesday but still homework so I had way more students than expected at my Thursday hours.  Homework was pretty straightforward so I was able to solve it and help the students. 

This week there was no written homework this week so I did not have many students. Just one came with questions about the online homework.  It was actually really nice to have just one student as opposed to the usual 15.  That way I was able to work with him individually and it was a lot more relaxed. It definitely benefitted him more and it was a lot easier for me.  

Week of 10/9

For this week's office hours, I had no one come into office hours but Monday but once again had several people come to my office hours Friday. This time, I did most of the hard problems before Friday so I was able to go through 5 long homework problems during my hour to help people with their homework. I see the same group of girls come into my office hours on Friday so I'm glad that they think my help is actually useful and find the motivation to come every week. 

Week of Oct. 9th

This week was the first week of new material for exam 2. Our class went over collisions and momentum. On Thursday during my office hours I had no one come to me for any questions. I have yet to have any students come to my office hours, but I believe that is because there are 3 other TA's working for Mong.

Weeks of 10/2 and 10/9

Class: Phys 0175 - Hong

Apologies for neglecting to post last week!  Fall break turned my brain off for a little bit.  Fortunately between an exam last week and a shorter week this week, these two weeks are fine to double up on.

Lectures went fine as usual.  I did not attend the Wednesday 10/4 because it was an exam day and I was not assigned to proctor the exam.  I also did not attend Tuesday 10/10, but every other lecture I attended.  I feel as though us Physics 2 UTAs have to work out a solid schedule for attendance, though, as I usually show up slightly late under the assumption at least one other UTA is there.  This Friday wasn't the case, though, as the other UTA who is usually there with me didn't show, and I walked in late as the only UTA there.  Sorry, Dr. Hong! At least I found a quicker way to get from upper campus to Alumni Hall!  It didn't seem to be a huge deal (we were spared the reprimanding tmhong email we usually get in those cases), but it would probably be good to discuss specified lecture attendance with the other UTAs to avoid these things from happening again.

As for grading, this week's grading session was cancelled due to adjusted Fall break hours.  However, the homework that was typically due was also moved back due to the exam, so that should balance out this upcoming Tuesday.  Aside from that, grading is going as smoothly as ever.

Finally, office hours.  Again, boring Tuesdays and hectic Thursdays.  I was surprised nobody visited my Tuesday hours last week since the exam was that Wednesday.  Hong ended up moving homework due the Friday after the exam back to Tuesday on account of Fall break, but not before the usual ~6 students came to me all at once on Thursday to explain capacitance despite it not being taught yet in lecture.  I think I managed it fine, though.

-Jeffrey Socash

week of 10/9

few people came in for homework help, the thing is getting difficult! in order to do it and know it well, definitely need some effort. never being lazy to go to class without watching videos. it will get lost super fast if you have no idea what the concept is.

Week of 10/9

On Wednesday, three students came to office hours. They had questions pertaining to energy since they just started learning it. One problem involved a cart rolling down a ramp, where you needed to find its final velocity. Another problem involved two masses connected by a string hanging over a pulley. These problems compared using kinematics and forces to using energy, and we found that in many of these cases thinking about the problem using energy is easier.

On Friday, one student from Physics II came to office hours. He had some questions about the exam they just took and LonCapa problems. They mostly involved dielectrics and finding the electric field from multiple point charges.

Week of 10/9

This week was rather quiet, I assume as a result of Fall Break on Monday. I only had office hours once this week, but a few students did come in asking for help with homework problems. We started discussing conservation of energy in class, so I explained some concepts regarding potential and kinetic energy that would help with the homework. During lecture, we went over conceptual problems and several students asked for help. I was able to answer questions and I'm glad that students are asking questions right away, rather than waiting for the day before the test. All in all, it was a pretty quiet week, but hopefully next week will be busier.

Week of 10/9

My predictions were right.  I had a few more people attend office hours this week once they saw their scores on the first exam.  I think that my point of view having been a student in this class just a year ago was very beneficial to these students because I was able to tell them directly what it took to be successful in this class.  This is a unique and beneficial point of view to the students because I have experienced the same challenges trying to study and balance the same schedules that they currently have.  I'm looking forward to helping more people in the future.

week of 10/9

No one came to any of the office hours, on Monday or Friday. Hopefully once the circuits are explored more in depth, I hope to see students come in for more clarification.  :)

Week of 10/10

I wonder why so few students come to office hours? Clearly it's not just an issue I face, most other the other UTA's note this as well. I doubt its because the general population of Pitt students are significantly more comfortable with physics than they are with biology (which office hours for that are usually quite full).

Maybe more students will come in the future, although trend wise it's not looking so hot.

At least I get a couple more hours in studying for my other classes

Week of 10/9

My office hours were cancelled this week so I don't really have anything new to say from my previous post. I look forward to seeing students at my office hours and helping them through their problems. My guess is that next week will not have many students at all, if any, just because there's a new chapter that was just started and I don't know if anyone would have questions at this point. I am excited to see what next week brings.

Week of 10/11

I finally got a student at my office hours this week. She actually spent the full two hours there asking homework questions. I was able to successfully help her out with all of them. I also got a lot of questions about clicker problems in class and was able to lead a bunch of people on the right track. Overall it was a pretty productive week of UTAing.

Week of 10/2

This week I did not have any visitors during either day for office hours. Students did not have any homework and the exam was the class period before so students did not need any help from me.

Week of 9/25

This week was a busy week with the exam coming up. Most people still only had questions on the homework problems, but a few students asked us for some more general physics advice on how to approach questions on the exam. Thursday, no students attended my office hours.

Week of 10/2

This week the students did not have homework due to an exam, so no one came to office hours except one student who decided to get ahead on next weeks homework. The students thought the test was hard and they are supposed to get it back next week.

Week of 10/2

Office hours were a lot more difficult this week, especially on Friday, because a lot of students came with SEVERAL homework problems. I usually try to look at the homework problems before my office hours on Friday but this week I had no time to do so. Turns out, I should have looked them over because it was very difficult to answer 3-4 different homework problems fully in a span of fifty minutes. Monday office hours were easy as only one student came regarding the lecture material presented that day. 

Week of Oct. 2

First week after the first exam, and office hours were the same as usual, empty. I don't know how to get more attendance to my office hours since the hours are posted in class. On Friday (day after my OH) the students got back their exam grades, so I am hoping that this will push students into taking the time to come visit OH for help to understand the material. The topics that the class is currently working on is energy, work, and springs.

Week of 10/2

Nobody came to office hours this week. I think this this is due the fact that it is the first week after the exam. We're getting into harder material, so I am hoping to get more visitors in the following sessions.

Week of 10/2

No students came in Monday or Friday, hopefully there will be more people coming in as the electricity unit progresses to clear up confusions about circuits, potential, etc.

Week of 10/2

This week I only had one person come to my office hours. However, I ended up helping him for almost the entire three-hour block. He was going home this week and was trying to complete the homework, but it covered content that had not yet been discussed in class. I did my best to help him without holding his hand through the entire process, which was difficult since he was not yet fully familiar with the content. This week my class also got their midterms back, and the results were not very good. I imagine those who did not do very well will start coming to office hours more to prepare for the next exam they have.

week of 10/2

this week, I only got a student came in and ask me about homework questions. in my perspective, its harder than theexpertTA, but really utilize the concept and knowledge! I will say the students who did those by "their own" did a hell of a job and continue on this hard work, they will succeed in class! and people who are struggling, not to worry too much, but hopefully, they can come to our office hour and search for help!

Week of 10/2

This week I had nobody visit my office hours.  This was expected because they had just taken a test last week and had not yet received grades for it yet.  Once the students get grades back and start their studying for the second exam I expect to see more people in my office hours.  I still had people asking questions in lecture, so I do expect to see more people soon in my office hours.

Week of 10/2

No one from Professor Kuo's class came to office hours this week, probably because there was an exam on Monday and no homework due.

On Friday, I helped two students work through a problem involving two men pulling a sled. There was an angle of elevation as well as an angle between each of their ropes, which made the problem especially difficult.

I also helped a Physics II student understand the difference between high and low potential, as well as why work is negative in some situations when a point charge moves through a potential. After the explanation, he worked through several examples on his own and understood the topic a lot better.

Week of 10/2

I had a pretty good turnout during office hours this week. A couple students came in on both days to discuss some homework problems and conceptual examples from class. We're currently discussing Newton's Laws of Motion and easing our way into centripetal force and angular motion. The students seem to struggle with vectors and trigonometry, particularly in drawing free-body diagrams. I went over different examples to help explain how to set up free body diagrams and how to use Newton's Second Law to solve for net force, acceleration, or mass. There were plenty of questions during lecture too, so all in all, I kept busy this week answering all variety of questions and concerns. When I first thought of being a TA, I imagined it would be busy like this most of the time. So I'm happy with the increased curiosity and volume of questions I'm receiving.

Hopefully, this trend continues in the coming weeks!

Week of 10/2

Two students came to office hours this week (!). We discussed electric potential and the exam.

In class Dr. Clark has begun the electricity unit (#hype). I expect more students to come as the information gets tougher and now that the first exam has come back.

Week of 10/2

My office hours were even less popular than last week's unfortunately. I think either the first test was really easy, or the students have sought help from the teacher or the other TAs/UTAs. I really hope that all the students did well on the class and that they do need help, but I feel like I am missing out on opportunities to improve my abilities with physics and explaining concepts, so it is bittersweet. Looking back at my freshman physics year I remember not going to office hours at all until the third test, so it might be that everyone will come down around then or maybe around the second test. In any case, I look forward to seeing if anyone comes to my next office hours.

Week of 9/25

Despite being only a day before the test, only one person showed up to my office hours, and it was not related to studying for the test at all. If I had to offer test studying advice, it would be to construct and test out an equation sheet, regardless of whether the students are allowed one, because it really helps find holes in your knowledge when you attempt to tackle problems with all the equations from just your memory. It was disappointing that I couldn't be much help this week but it's not too discouraging, I am hoping that the students will show up next week to ask questions about the test afterwards, once they see what kind of questions they had trouble with. I am looking forward to seeing what the next week holds and preparing myself. 

Week of 10/2

In class this week, I did not receive any questions regarding actual physics issues. However, I did have a student ask me how to do well on Dr. Broccio's exams since she failed the first one. I assured her that she still has a shot at a good grade in the class if she does well on the rest the exams and does all the extra credit. I also suggested doing all of the assigned practice problems to help prepare for future exams. I had no one come to my office hours.

Week of 9//28

This week was the same as past week. About 10 people arrived during office hours. They asked not only for homework help but for test tips for next week. I am interested to see what they say about the test and how proctoring a test is.