Molecular Biology AI Manual

Preparing for Each Week

Choosing Material to Cover
In many cases, the topics for discussion will be in the lab manual (for lab courses) or outlined/suggested by the Prof in charge of the lecture course (for precepts). Often, lecture courses will assign papers for discussion in precepts. These courses tend to use the precept as an extension of the lecture. In other cases, the precept is employed as a study aid for the student; ie, to work through problem sets and address specific topics. The type of course you will be assisting in will dictate the choice of topics.

The manner in which you choose to run the class will depend on your own personal style. If you are the pedagogical type, and prefer to lead the class, this is fine. But, if you decide to allow the class to be more participatory and you are comfortable in that sort of situation, go with it. Whatever style works for you and the class, is the right choice. You may find that it takes a couple of sessions to find the ideal approach. Don't be afraid to make changes. For example, if the question and answer method (ie, you asking and they responding) is not working, let them ask.

Preparing for Class
The single most important issue is that you understand the material. It is essential that you are well versed in the topic. That means, if the material is unfamiliar to you, it is entirely your responsibility to learn it. The following tasks are recommended:
do the readings and/or problem sets
take notes on the material
review lecture notes for that week
research background info to fill any gaps
prepare an outline of issues/concepts to cover in class
make a list of questions to use in class
assemble visual materials as necessary
meeting with the professor and other TAs to discuss the week's material
Additionally, the following tips may also work well for you:
making a handout of topics to discuss in class
making a study guide to hand out in class
making overheads with solutions to problem sets
designing an assignment for students to prepare for the discussion in a future class
preparing a short supplemental reading list
preparing supplemental handouts on methods, concepts, lab techniques, etc.
making up quizzes (usually used as a last resort as this is quite unpopular)
devising small group discussions or other interactive projects

Though it is probably not necessary to say, if you are unfamiliar with the material, or do not understand the relevance of the week's topic to the overall course, your performance in the class will suffer, as will your students'. It is important that you are well prepared for your lab or precept.

Taking Care of Business
If attendance counts toward the grade, you need to find the easiest way to accomplish this task. At first, roll call may be best as it will familiarize you with the students (you can learn their names). Once you are comfortable with the students, it may be easiest to establish a sign-in sheet.

The business of handing back problem sets, quizzes and exams can be tricky. If the problem sets, etc. will be used as the center of the discussion, then you may want to hand them out at the beginning of class. Otherwise, they can be saved until the end of class--a strategy that can serve the purpose of keeping the students until the end of class. This can also work for collecting papers/work from the students. You alone can determine which works best for your situation. If you do choose to hand back sets at the beginning of class, you should ask your students to hold questions about their individual answers and grades until after the precept.

At the end of the precept you may want to take a few minutes to jot down notes about how the precept went and how individual students are performing. This is a good way to keep track of students who may be in academic trouble and help them before their problems become serious.

Organization
Use of the board or projector can facilitate organization. Important concepts or nomenclature can be emphasized visually as you discuss them. The board or projector can be used for outlining the class plan, for writing questions for discussion, to list key terms or concepts (before class or as they arise from discussion) and to map out formulae and or equations.

Be sure to write clearly and large enough. It is a good idea to check from the back of the room to make sure your writing is legible. Be conscious of how quickly you erase/replace what you have written. Be aware of where you stand and where you position your hand in relation to what you write. Be sure your students can see, and have time to transcribe the information.

Overheads save on writing time while allowing you to add to them as you teach. Use of the board allows much flexibility. Whichever visual aid you choose, remember to maintain eye contact with your students as you are speaking to them and not the board or screen.

Teaching Tips for Precepts
Teaching Science involves the dissemination of both the factual and the hypothetical. The manner in which you choose to present the material depends on many variables. By addressing the following issues, you will be better prepared to tackle this task:
What are the key terms/concepts the students need to learn?
What do they need to understand each week?
Where are they having the most difficulty?
Your presentation of the material will be met with varied responses, from genuine interest to utter confusion. Try to remember what it was like to be in their seats.

There is a considerable amount of flexibility in the way you teach the class. Your strategy of choice will depend on the course. These suggestions may help:

1) You may want to begin class with questions about the week's lecture. If this takes up the whole session, this could be a sign that the students are struggling with the lecture material. You may want to discuss this at the next TA meeting to get feedback from other TAs and the instructor. Such a problem may necessitate getting together a short supplemental reading list, handing out your class outline as a study guide, or making up problem sets or quizzes. It may also be useful to ask the students what they find useful. For example, you may only need to spend time on the most difficult topics rather than to rehash the entire lecture. Alternatively, leave time for students questions at the end of precept.

2) An outline of the major points of the week's lectures followed by a list of examples for each topic/concept will help your students to understand and organize the material.

3) Steer the class in the direction you have chosen; ie, to cover the relevant material. Try not to rely solely on their questions to initiate discussion as they may side track you on minor points and prevent you from covering the pertinent topics.

4) Try to present the "big picture." You may want to bring up facts/concepts from previous sessions/lectures in order to show how the present material fits. Key points should be repeated or written on the board. Typically, if you write it on the board, students are convinced that it must be important.

5) If the precept time is set up for discussion of primary papers, you need to have a plan as to how you wish to present the material in the paper. You may want to present the background as a mini-lecture yourself if the data is complicated and time is limited. Alternatively, you may want to extract the information from them in a question and answer format. You can decide which works best. The discussion of the data and conclusions should be interactive. Your role should be to guide them toward their own interpretations and conclusions in order to compare them to those of the authors. This is critical reading of the manuscript. It is always a good idea to leave them asking the next logical questions based upon the work they just read.

The TA's must often explain difficult terms and help students to understand challenging lectures. In addition, the TA is faced with the challenge of compensating for the students' lack of basic factual knowledge. This may impede the progress of the discussion section. You may want to come up with different ways to help your students fill in these knowledge gaps. Fact sheets, reading lists or study guides can help. In addition, you may need to give short presentations in class, or to a subset of students during office hours.

6) Finally, don't bluff! If there are questions you cannot answer or are unsure of, it is best to tell your students you do not know and that you will research the topic and have an answer for them at the next session. But, don't forget to follow through. Students can often sense when the teacher is trying to bluff, and doing so will undermine your credibility and authority. You may also want to assign the unanswered question to the entire class to be discussed at the next meeting.

Teaching Tips for Lab Sections
As a lab TA, you will meet with fellow TAs and instructors on a weekly basis to learn and discuss the week's work. This is your opportunity to thoroughly familiarize yourself with techniques to be used. Be sure you are comfortable with the procedures as they will rely on you for hands on assistance. There are certain factors you need to be aware of before the session begins.

1) Safety is the most important concern for you as the TA. It is imperative that your students understand the hazards of each lab situation and obey the rules set forth by the instructor and TA. For example, it is important that they know how to handle fire on the same bench as a beaker of ethanol and that the flames produced from combustion of ethanol are colorless.

2) Keep introductory comments succinct, emphasizing and simplifying the details of the lab. In many cases, you can explain to them how the lab relates to the lecture part of the course. This lends purpose to the session and they won't view it as a meaningless task to cheat them out of four good hours of their week.

3) You will be working quite closely with the students because of the lab setting. It is easy for students to view TAs as peers in such a situation. Both you and the students must remember who is in charge. Maintenance of, and respect for your authority must be ensured for lab safety.

4) Stress cleanliness as this will ensure safety. Improper storage or disposal of chemicals and waste can lead to many dangers. Students new to lab may not be aware of the proper procedures for disposal of lab waste such as, sharps, chemicals or biohazards. Stress the need to clean up after themselves as the work area is used by many students each week and there is no tolerance for leaving a mess behind.

5) Try to keep your students moving along through the procedures. Help them to manage their time by giving them an idea as to how much time each step should take. Of course, there will be disasters and in these cases, you may decide to double up the groups for a particular experiment. The lab instructor is usually nearby and can assist you in these situations.

6) Make yourself available during lab as this helps to prevent mistakes. You may even want to ask them questions to test how well they are following the experiments. This will also help them to answer the lab report questions. Try not to simply give away answers. Instead, help them to work through the problem until they arrive at the answer.

7) Encourage collaboration between students. Suggest that they try to work through questions among themselves first. Often, due to equipment limitations, each student has at least one lab partner. Try to encourage them to work together logically. For example, one partner watching the other do all the work is not productive, and it is not a collaboration.