Computer Science Teaching Assistant Orientation & Tips for Balance

Computer Science Teaching Assistant Orientation Spring 2022

Introductions Faculty Dr. Zongming Fei, Department Chair Dr. Simone Silvestri, Director Graduate Studies Dr. JurekJaromczyk, Director Undergraduate Studies Staff Diane Mier, graduate records Beth Lutin, payroll / finances Paul Linton, systems manager help@cs.uky.edu

TA Supervisors Dr. Debby Keen, CS 101 Mr. Kevin Eby, CS 115 Dr. Yi Pike, CS 215 Dr. Yi Pike, CS 216 Dr. Calvert, CS 270 Dr. Truszczynski, CS 275 Graders for various classes 270, 315, 316, 335, 371, 378

Semester starting on Monday 1/10 MLK Holiday 1/17 (Mon) Midterm March 14 grades due THEN Spring Break March 14-19 Last week of classes ends April 27 (Wed) Reading days no class on Apr 28-29 Finals happen the week after, May 2-5 NO finals on May 6 (Friday) Calendar Changes

Try to keep your balance! You have a teaching job, classes, research and a LIFE! How do you balance it? TALK to your supervisor AND your advisor if you are getting overloaded Schedules can be adjusted with some notice! Tip for time management Track how you use your time for a week or so Evaluate how your time expenditures compare with your personal goals Try to eliminate unnecessary time demands to increase the time you have for the things that really matter (from https://tomprof.Stanford.edu/posting/1494)

If you are teaching a section or a class and discover that you have a friend / relative / significant other enrolled in the class, Notify your supervisor at once If possible, rearrange the situation so this is NOT the case! It is impossible to be objective and professional in this situation. Relationships with Students

If you work with students on assignments (in lab, recitation ) You should have looked at the assignment ahead of time and solved it on your own. Don t assume that this stuff is trivial and I can solve it at a glance if someone asks . Know what the instructor had in mind as the solution, and know the REASON for the exercise if you can t figure it out, ask the instructor! Before class starts! Be Prepared!

Class / Section assignments of TAs Rules for changing assignments are online Tell your supervisor what you want to change TO, not just what you want to change FROM Write down what sections are changing and who else is involved Both people sign the request MUST be done before first day class meets

Observations / Evaluations Every TA is observed by a faculty member every semester (usually their supervisor) Every TA is evaluated by their supervisor at the end of every semester The TA gets a copy of each form and a chance to respond to it Copies are kept by TA, Dr. Keen, DGS and Graduate School PLEASE help us by making sure your form is filled out and signed by the end of the semester!

Useful Information TA page www.cs.uky.edu/~keen/tas/tas.html All TAs should KEEP ALL emails sent to them by students and all emails sent to students, at least until final grades are done Make sure your University account is set up and that your supervisor has an email address for you

If you are a new TA or if you have been off the payroll a year or more See Beth Lutin, Marksbury 102C, as soon as possible to get on payroll!! They need a new I-9 form. I-9 forms for Payroll

Your Class Schedule If you are a returning student, you should have already registered for classes if not, then do it NOW! Please do not make changes to your class schedule unless absolutely necessary! If you make a change or have made one in the last few days, TELL Dr. Keen NOW!

Last day of the semester May 6 Please don t make plans to leave town until after 5/6/2022! Start of Fall 2021 Semester August 22, Monday is the first day of class Just before then will be the Fall TA orientation by Dr. Pike Mark your calendars now!

If you have to MISS If you know that you are going to miss a TA meeting Class meeting Office hours Exam proctoring Exam grading Let your supervisor KNOW about it! Even if you have it covered, they need to know! In advance if possible but even after the fact!

Your clothes dont have to be elaborate! no tie required! Dress so that you are NOT distracting having to pull things up or down or constantly readjust Think very hard about wearing T- shirts with text or logos that are controversial or rude Sarcasm, another service I provide um, no, just don t. Dressing for Teaching

TA common goal: the students learning The TAs who work in the same class should be a community we know more together than we do individually Experienced TAs, please reach out to the new TAs tips for grading, for dealing with students, anything can be useful when you re new to the job! Community

You care about the students; show them that you care! Document how you are communicating with them Try to get names of people who come to office hours Keep all emails and written communications Check on people who miss classes, miss assignment deadlines Send them a short note to ask what is wrong Pay attention to the poor performer!

Biggest part of the job in terms of time taken Very important part! Feedback is where learning happens! Rubrics should be provided by supervisor If not, make your own and show to supervisor Follow them as closely as possible Grading If you disagree with a rubric, take it up with your supervisor Our goal is to keep the grading consistent across all sections of a class

YOUR OFFICE HOURS You can do office hours by Zoom if you want, as long as you ALSO offer the students an opportunity for face-to-face meetings (UK policy) Face-to-face can be done in EE Annex Rm 205, swipe reader with your ID. You need to apply for access, link at top of TA page Make sure you post your hours where students can see! BE there when you are scheduled! Students can show up at any time, NOT just the start of the hour Try to help every student who asks, even if they are not in your section

Be careful with your students privacy, including grades! Do not discuss a student s grade in front of the class. If you want to encourage someone or congratulate them, do it in private. Do not announce grades in specific when returning a test, quiz, etc. Summary (average) is ok. Protect your records if they re on a USB or external disk, use encryption Protect Their Privacy!

Do not leave records where other people can access them FERPA get written permission before discussing a student s grades with anyone but the student and your supervisor If a student wants to discuss his/her grades with you either on a specific assignment or overall in the class, you MUST correspond via the uky.edu email addresses yours and theirs. It s a legal thing Answers to general questions can go to any email you like. Protect Their Privacy!

http://cs.uky.edu/~keen/tapics/spring22/ tas.html These are usually images from your student ID. If you want me to use another one, just mail it to me. If you don t want your picture posted at all, please let me know, I ll take it down. Your picture

Your job is COMMUNICATION! Whether graduate TA, lab assistant, grader You are communicating with Your students via feedback on assignments, labs, emails, office hours The other TAs in your course Your supervisor Communication should be clear, concise and Frequent! Don t let problems pile up before you say something! Your job

https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/spring-2022- guide-0 Masks required inside Covid Testing for non-vaccinated weekly Wash your hands, no large crowds, be safe!

https://www.uky.edu/see/severe-weather- procedures Bad Weather! NO CLASS IS WORTH YOUR LIFE!

How can grading policy options influence student learning? Grading Policies http://cs.uky.edu/~keen/tas/ppts/Spring22/Spring2 2.html

Whats next? 115 TA meeting Immediately after this meeting, https://uky.zoom.us/my/kevin.eby 215 TA meeting Dr. Pike right after this meeting, https://uky.zoom.us/j/88341844814 216 TA meeting Dr. Pike 3:45 pm today https://uky.zoom.us/j/88341844814 TAs assigned to other classes contact your supervisors for instructions