Teaching Methods in CS –

Joe Gibbs Politz (Instructor)

Basics - Schedule - Policies – Practicum - Portfolios

This web page serves as the main source of resources and assignments for the course, as well as the syllabus. There’s a Piazza board that we will use for announcements and discussions as well.

Basics

  • Instructor: Joe Gibbs Politz (jpolitz@eng.ucsd.edu)

  • TA: Reshul Dani (rdani@ucsd.edu)

  • Lecture: CSE/EBU3 1202, 2-3:20 Wednesdays

  • Piazza: https://piazza.com/ucsd/spring2018/cse599/home
  • Readings: Each week there will be several readings, linked from the schedule below

Schedule

The schedule below outlines topics, due dates, and links to assignments.

Syllabus

By the end of this class, you will be able to:

Effectively carry out the basic roles and responsibilities of TAs at UC San Diego.

More specifically …

  • Communicate with your instructor to align expectations about the specific roles and responsibilities of your TA position in a given quarter.
  • Effectively plan and deliver discussion sections with clear learning objectives and implementing active learning strategies.
  • Create and use rubrics to support efficient and replicable grading.

Connect professionalism to teamwork and teaching and reflect on your development as a professional.

More specifically …

  • Reflect on your and your teammates’ collaborations to assess what’s working well, what can be improved, and how to improve it.
  • Identify priority areas for attention and improvement, and identify where efficiency can help decrease time spent on non-priority areas.
  • Connect skills and insights from your role as a TA to future career goals.
  • Describe several theories of how people learn and apply them to teaching and learning strategies.

More specifically …

  • Design specific, low-stakes activities to find out what students do and don’t know.
  • Use techniques for creating inclusive communities for learning.

You will be evaluated on:

Completion of required pre-class assignments.

At the start of the quarter, you must complete the CSE 599 student contract and pre-class survey. At the end of the quarter, you must complete the CSE 599 post-class survey.

Professional behavior and attendance.

You are expected to fully participate in every class session, including arriving on time (or early), engaging in group activities, and participating in large- and small-group discussions. On (rare) occasions when unavoidable circumstances require you to miss a class session, you are expected to notify your practicum teammates, the CSE 599 TA, and the instructor ahead of time, and to propose and carry out a plan to make up the missed work.

Regular reflections on your TA activities.

At the beginning of the quarter, you will define your TA role and responsibilities (using the ASES form). Each week, you’ll track what and how you do to carry out these duties, and you’ll reflect on successes and on areas for improvement.

Engagement with themes discussed in CSE 599.

The CSE 599 themes include communication, feedback, how people learn, educational technology, assessment, inclusiveness, and next steps. Each week in class (and out), you’ll reflect on the background readings and/or CSE 599 discussions related to one (or more) of these themes.

Teaching observations and feedback.

Throughout the quarter you will practice and observe teaching by recording yourself on video, micro-teaching in the CSE 599 practicum, and leading your own discussion section as a TA. You will track your growth throughout the quarter and give feedback to your peers on their teaching.

What work is required for this course?

As CSE 599 is a 2-unit course, expect to spend up to 6 hours per week on this course, including the 80 minute weekly session. The additional three-and-a-half or so hours per week will be spent evaluating and refining your TA activities, preparing for CSE 599 practicum sessions, and consulting background research papers, information guides, and videos.

Specifically, here is an overview of each component:

Teaching Portfolios

These will be a collection of weekly TA activities reflections, feedback you receive on your teaching, and feedback and reflections of others’ teaching. More details on what is required of your teaching portfolio can be found here; TBA

Practicum Assignments

Each week our CSE 599 session is divided into two parts: a larger-group class and a small-group practicum. In practicum, you will practice some essential teaching skills in small groups, guided by mentor TAs, who are experienced TAs in the department. There will an assignment that you must complete to prepare for practicum most weeks.

Class Preparation and Participation

To prepare for class, you will review a set of resources related to the theme of the week, which are posted on the schedule prior to the class. Each week, a few of you will be designated to read the resources extra-carefully and prepare a short introduction/overview/reflection of the resources to help set up our class activities. You are expected to attend class and participate each week.

So how do I pass?

To pass this class you must:

  • Attend class on time and participate in each week’s class session. You should be prepared, especially when you are part of the group who is presenting the resources.
  • Participate in every practicum, having clearly prepared beforehand.
  • Maintain your portfolio over the quarter and submit a complete portfolio at the end of the quarter.
  • Complete the end-of-course survey given at the end of the quarter.

We understand that you sometimes have to miss class, and you might sometimes fall behind. You must clear any absence with us in advance, and if we notice you are falling too far behind on the portfolio or in preparation for class, we will warn you that you risk not passing CSE 599. Please take this class and the work involved seriously, and you will get a lot out of it.

This course uses material from the offering in winter 2018 https://sites.google.com/eng.ucsd.edu/cse-599-winter-2018/home