new graduate ta orientation 2014-2015

8/11/2019 New Graduate TA Orientation 2014-2015

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https://sakai.unc.edu/portal/tool/666c3839-76a4-4d98-9183-95a3499dc3fc/printFriendly

Orientation Syllabus

Overview of the Orientation

The outline for the GTA Orientation is divided into five sections. They are outlined below:

1. Welcome and Introductions

2. Connecting with Learners3. Big Questions4. Guiding Learning5. Specific GTA Roles at Carolina

1. Welcome and Introductions

The main purpose of this orientation is threefold:

1. to heighten awareness of how teaching and learning are viewed at Carolina,2. to facilitate networking with other graduate students within and outside of their disciplines, and3. to introduce participants to teaching and learning resources at Carolina.

In this segment of the Orientation, we want you to introduce yourself and share a bit of about how you cameto Carolina. In online classes, one of the most important activities to do is to help members of the communityknow each other beyond names. By having members introduce themselves and share something aboutthemselves, a sense of camaraderie can be developed that fosters interaction and learning just as it does inthe face-to-face setting. To help begin these interactions, take a look at the attachment providedbelow, Getting to Know One Another, and respond to the questions you are comfortable answering in aposting to the discussion board. An example is provided for Donna in the discussion space.

2. Connecting with Learners

This section is designed to help you get a sense of who the learners are at Carolina. To accomplish thispurpose, the first activity is to take a look at the demographics of last year's entering class. As you review thdata, consider the impact that some of this information has on how you develop your lessons for the courseyou are facilitating as a grader, recitation leader or instructor.

AdmissionsGo to the following URL and review the admissions data on undergraduates and graduate students for 2013

First Year Full-Time Undergraduate Profile

Think about the following questions as you examine the data and comment on them in the Connecting withLearnersdiscussion forum:

What does the high number of North Carolina undergraduates mean for your class?Think about their experiences, opportunities, and understandings.

Approximately 71% of the students ranked in the top 10% of their class, what does that mean forhow you facilitate the ir learning, continue their dev elopment as adults, and assist them tocontinue the ir deve lopment in basic academic skills such as reading, writing, talking, calculating,and thinking?Think about how they view themselves as learners, how you can help them see their academic program asan opportunity to develop as lifelong learners.

Every student attends the campus orientation program which includes emphasis on the Honor
https://www.google.com/url?q=http://oira.unc.edu/files/2013/10/First-Year-Full-Time-Undergraduate-Student-Profile-Fall-2013.pdf&sa=U&ei=oey_U52ON5CgyASSvoKIBA&ved=0CAgQFjAB&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNEmhzIb9PC7yTPt8rfihGW-UnmXcA


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System at Carolina. Go to The Honor Code at http://honor.unc.edu/. Review the Honor Code siteand read the Instrument of Student GovernanceConsider these questions:

How does the Honor Code help to assure appropriate behavior for everyone at Carolina?What implications does the Honor Code have for you in your role as a Graduate Teaching Assistant(GTA)?What questions does the Honor Code raise for you in your GTA role?

Go to the Connecting with Students Discussion Forums and share your observations, questions, and insightabout these characteristics and expectations of undergraduates at Carolina.

3. Big Questions

Each discipline has their own set of big questions. In this session, we want you to think about the bigquestions in the course you are participating in as a GTA. While the discipline has big questions, eachcourse has its own big questions that are related to the discipline big questions. These big questions orareas of focus are usually outlined in the course goals.

To get a sense of how your department sees the big questions in your course, review your department'shome page on the internet. Most of the time, the department chair or dean has developed a welcome

statement that has the departmental focus embedded into it. One common theme across disciplines is thedevelopment of leaders in the discipline who are focused on work that helps us understand where we havebeen, where we are at, and where we are going as a discipline, department, campus, state, and nation.These understandings are designed to help us achieve the Carolina mission,

"With lux, libertas light and liberty as its founding principles, the University has charted a bold course oleading change to improve society and to help solve the worlds greatest problems"(UNC Mission, 2009).

In the discussion, Big Questions, for this section, share what you see as two or three of the big/essentialquestions in the course you will be teaching. As you think about the essential questions in the course, selectthe provocative questions that will foster inquiry, understanding, and transfer of learning? It is fine to usequestions from your experience as an undergraduate. What we want you to be able to do in your course is

develop and refine teaching and learning materials that you can reuse if you happen to be a GTA in thecourse again. These materials can also be useful in developing your teaching portfolio. Additionally, they caform the basis of your own instructional materials if you plan to become a faculty member upon yourgraduation.

4. Guiding Learning

No matter what your role in a course, planning is essential. In addition to making a plan, it is a good idea towrite your plan down. There are varieties of ways to create the documents that show planning in a course.This session is designed to introduce you to the basics of syllabus development and lesson planning. Thesetwo documents provide you a road map for what you want to accomplish in the course and in a lesson.

A course also includes several other groups of documents that help guide your instruction and the studentlearning. These include assignment descriptions and worksheets, class activities, assessments andevaluations.

For this session, look at the syllabus you will be using. Using the Questions that a Syllabus ShouldAnswer Checklist, see if a student would be able to answer most of the questions on the list. If not, how cayou help students with understanding the expectations that you and your faculty supervisor have for them inthe course?

Keep in mind that even if you are the instructor (Teaching Fellow), you may be required to use a standardsyllabus by your department. Some departments use a standard syllabus so each section of the course is
http://honor.unc.edu/


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taught and evaluated in a similar manner.

If you are developing your own syllabus, the article, The Purposes of a Syllabus, (Parkes, 2002), can giveyou ideas on how to create a sound syllabus. If you are using Sakai or Blackboard, you can also developyour syllabus within the course management system templates.

A department often mandates course syllabi requirements. To find out if your department has a syllabustemplate, ask one of the administrative support staff. Departments are required to retain copies of syllabi fora period of time so you can often get access to a course syllabus, even if you do not know who taught thecourse previously.

Lesson plans are usually the property of the instructor. Selecting a template to use for developing yourlesson plans is an efficient way to accomplish this teaching task. If you are a new instructor, writing yourlesson plan down helps you to review what you plan to do in class or in the lab/recitation and consider howmuch time you need to allot to the different elements of the lesson. Generally, preparing for an individualclass should not take more than 4-9 hours. Of course, this depends on your level of experience as aninstructor. Even if you are leading a recitation, it is a good idea to create a lesson plan. Lesson plans helpyou to make sure that you address the topics you want to address within the time that you have for the classlab, or recitation session. The Lesson Plan Templateis a good starting point if you have not done a lessonplan before.

Take a look at the article, Constructing a Lesson Plan (Saunders, 2003), along with the other template

examples and share your ideas and questions about developing syllabi and lesson plans in the discussionforum, Guiding Learning.

5. Specific GTA Roles at Carolina

Each of you are assigned a specific role as a GTA at Carolina. The different GTA roles at Carolina aredescribed in theProfessional Development of Graduate Teaching Assistants at UNC Chapel Hill(GTA Guidelines). The roles include instructional assistant, teaching associate, teaching fellow, and seniorteaching fellow. Instructional assistants (IAs) include graders and lab assistants. Teaching associates (TAs)are often recitation leaders. Teaching fellows (TFs) teach their own course. Senior teaching fellows (STFs)supervise other levels of teaching assistants.

Your faculty supervisor can help you understand the expectations of your role and they will be spelled out inthe contract that you receive for your GTA appointment. Training is part of your departments responsibility tyou as a GTA. To address immediate questions you might have about your role as a GTA, go to the specificdiscussion forum for your role and post your questions.

Getting to Know One Another.doc

Getting to Know One Another-Donna's Example.doc

Parkes 2002.pdf

Lesson Plan Template.doc

Saunders 2003.pdf

Questions Students Ask That a Syllabus Should Answer-Ass ignments.pdf
https://sakai.unc.edu/access/content/attachment/39ac8750-1017-4850-a583-18378614e285/Orientation%20Overview/51450102-1f6d-4a49-9b1b-7e0c89a3cf81/Questions%20Students%20Ask%20That%20a%20Syllabus%20Should%20Answer-Assignments.pdfhttps://sakai.unc.edu/access/content/attachment/39ac8750-1017-4850-a583-18378614e285/Orientation%20Overview/ae50b5e9-e831-4021-9a9a-c06f7ff9cbe7/Saunders%202003.pdfhttps://sakai.unc.edu/access/content/attachment/39ac8750-1017-4850-a583-18378614e285/Orientation%20Overview/5052c1fe-c96e-4753-848f-c677c465628c/Lesson%20Plan%20Template.dochttps://sakai.unc.edu/access/content/attachment/39ac8750-1017-4850-a583-18378614e285/Orientation%20Overview/80c029b1-667c-4595-8dba-d49ac3fccfc6/Parkes%202002.pdfhttps://sakai.unc.edu/access/content/attachment/39ac8750-1017-4850-a583-18378614e285/Orientation%20Overview/23d5dc5c-377f-4a22-88ff-6e2548be170f/Getting%20to%20Know%20One%20Another-Donna_s%20Example.dochttps://sakai.unc.edu/access/content/attachment/39ac8750-1017-4850-a583-18378614e285/Orientation%20Overview/fd929790-8145-4383-9125-ad70a81c5519/Getting%20to%20Know%20One%20Another.dochttp://provost.unc.edu/files/2012/09/gtaguidelines.pdf

new graduate ta orientation 2014-2015

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