With September comes fall quarter, and with the arrival of fall quarter so too comes your new class and TA assignment. Perhaps this is your first time TAing here at UCR and the hardened sailors of high tide (by this I mean the TAs with more experience!) have already made you apprehensive about the challenges that come with being a TA. Perhaps you are already a seasoned TA, ready to meet your new class. Either way, both new and experienced teaching assistants often have a common question—how to deal with students who are unwilling to participate in class.

Studies claim a student’s average attention span is about 10-15 minutes, yet most undergraduate classes last for 50-90 minutes. With this in mind, it’s natural for student attention levels to alter depending on their state of mind, motivation, and perceived significance of the material. Even knowing that, I know you’re still asking yourself if there are strategies you can use in your classroom to keep students interested for longer periods of time.

The answer is yes! Below are 3 useful tips for successfully engaging your students and creating a positive learning environment.

[Image Description: A corggie struggling to hop over a small gate set up in a doorway.]

Pictured: How it feels when you have a class of unresponsive students

 

Integrate Active Learning in your classroom 

Student engagement requires taking students outside of their comfort zone. Often, TAs wonder why students don’t ask them any questions. Consider this: for a student, it is always easier to sit during a lecture as a passive recipient of knowledge than it is to engage in discussion and problem-solving. That is why I always recommend breaking up a lecture by adding components of active learning to your class schedule.

You may be wondering what I mean by active learning. The term “active learning” refers to an expansive spectrum of teaching methods that engage students as active participants in their learning during class time. Typically, these strategies involve students working together during class, but can also involve individual work and reflection. Some approaches you can try are:

 

• Using Questions: At the beginning of class, ask the students an open-ended question about that day’s material. Ask them to write down keywords relevant to the answer to this question and then use these keywords to generate discussion. You can also try an online polling system like PollEverywhere or Socrative to build word clouds with student responses, which stimulate visual learning. You should ask questions that promote analysis and synthesis of the material. For example, you may ask students to summarize the reading, to predict how the new topic connects with the previous one, or to connect the new topic with the course objectives.
   
• Think-Pair-Share: I have often found the think-pair-share strategy to be helpful for keeping student’s attention. Stop in the middle of a presentation and ask students a question. Have them think about this question, writing down ideas surrounding this question on their own for two minutes. Afterward, ask students to discuss their answers with neighbors. After these small groups have had a chance to speak with one another, ask a few pairs to share their ideas with the class as a whole.
   
• Think-Convince-Share: Another variation of the strategy mentioned above is think-convince-share. For this activity, pose a question with several possible answers to the entire class. Give students a couple of minutes to think about the question, then make them vote on what they believe to be the right answer. Ask them to turn to their neighbors to compare answers and to persuade each other to agree on the correct answer. The class votes again and, this time with your assistance if required, it becomes visible which answer is the correct one. Students LOVE this kind of brainstorming!
   

Now, I know you're thinking about how awesome it would be to discover more active learning strategies. Guess what? We hear you loud and clear! Our Effective Starts & Finishes workshop will be held on October 21 from 2-3 PM. This workshop will detail strategies for introducing material in an engaging way to begin a class session, as well as effective ways for concluding a class.

We are also offering Active Learning Approaches on November 12 from 11 AM- 12 PM. In this workshop, we will discuss designing instructional activities for students to construct knowledge and understanding.

 

[Image Description: Daisy, from The Secret Life of Pets 2, whispers in Snowball the rabbit's ear. Snowball tips his head closer, looking interested.] 

Pictured: Your students practicing their think-pair-share skills

 

Energy and Enthusiasm 

It is absolutely normal to be a little nervous and uncertain on the first day of TAing a new class. If you’re aiming to foster a productive learning ambiance, however, projecting a positive attitude to your students should be your top priority. A teacher’s attitude towards teaching impacts students’ attitude towards the class. In the classroom, your thoughtful and clear comments will elicit a similar response from your students. You may want to consider taking the following steps to ensure student engagement:
 

• Students want to have an organized, competent and confident instructor. Even the best, most experienced instructors don't stand in front of the class without adequate preparation. One easy way to ensure you're prepared for each session is to read the material for every TA session. This is especially applicable advice for those TAing for an unfamiliar class!
   
• Set high standards for your students and be clear about these expectations right from the start. Students will rise to meet the standards you set for them. Treat them like the capable people they are by encouraging them to achieve their full potential. If you are TAing for an upper-division physics class and think the students have no hope of really learning much of it, this will gradually be clear to the students and they slowly but surely lose interest to interact with you.
   
• The most vital attribute of a good TA is enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is seconded only to having a profound knowledge of the subject matter. You're in graduate school because you are excited about your field of study; channeling this passion into your teaching is a persuasive tool. If your students see that you know what you’re talking about, find your subject exciting, appreciate student achievements, and grade fairly, then students will respect you as a good TA.

Our Fall TADP workshop Motivating Your Students on November 6 from 10-11 AM is all about these soft skills and more. Join us as we explore verbal and non-verbal communication techniques you can utilize in your own classroom.

 

[Image Description: Sid the sloth, from Ice Age, spreads his paws excitedly as he smiles and says, "My favorite!"]

Pictured: You talking about your field of study in front of your students

 

Self Reflection

ask yourself: how did today’s session go? Self-reflection is often the most underestimated key to success. After each class, reflect on and assess how effectively your class went in order to ensure that your instruction met the learning objectives of the course. This can be a moment for you to list what worked well, what was modified from your original session outline, and what you would like to change when you teach the lesson again. Once you take this step, you'll have this document for future reference. Additionally, reflecting on previous sessions helps you become more aware of how to best manage your classroom, how to support student learning, and most importantly how to motivate them.

Some questions that can help you reflect on your class and your teaching are:

• Did my class meet the overall learning objectives of the session?
• How did my discussion/lab session supplement what students learned during lecture?
• Was my class well organized (e.g., time management, instructions, activities, etc.)?
• Were there multiple and different opportunities for students to participate in the discussion and engage with the content, with one another, and with me?
• Did I assess the understanding of students after the lesson?

 

[Image Description: Tyler Oakley moves his hands in a semi-circle across the screen as he smiles and says, "The more you know."]

Pictured: You, reflecting on today's session in order to engage your students tomorrow

 

We also have your grading needs and our international TAs in mind. The Fairer and Faster Grading Strategies workshop will be held on October 31 from 12-1 PM. This workshop will explore effective rubrics that can save you time while grading.

If you are an international TA or work with international students, join us for our International TA Roundtable on November 20 from 10-11 AM to share your experience. All workshops take place in LFSC 1425. You can sign up to reserve your spot today! 

Not enough exciting news for you? Well here’s one more: TADP is introducing text notifications just for you! If you don’t want to miss any of the TADP workshops this quarter, you can now sign up to receive a text message reminder! To sign up for workshop alerts, send the code @tadpucr to the number 81010 we will send you a reminder before every workshop. It's that simple.

 

[Image Description: Alex, Marty, Melman, Doria, and two additional lions, from the movie Madagascar, dance with their backs to the viewer as they look out at Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance]

Pictured: You and your fellow TAs feeling excited and ready to teach after attending TADP workshops

 

Whether you're a first time or experienced TA, the TADP team is always here to help you with any teaching or pedagogy questions you might have. Contact Sarah, the TADP Coordinator (tadp@ucr.edu), or Antara, the TA Lead Consultant (tamentor@ucr.edu) to schedule a time to meet. Happy TAing!