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Effective Methods of Training Biology Laboratory Teaching Assistants II: Preparing TAs To Be Effective in the Laboratory

Abstract:: One of the most important factors in the success of undergraduate biology laboratories rests with the instructors, often undergraduate or graduate students, who teach them. This ABLE 2000 workshop, which continued a session presented at ABLE 1999, focused on the theme "teaching effectively in the laboratory." Topics included preparation, organization, supervision of group work, and involvement of students in discussion. In addition to presentations by the workshop organizers, participants engaged in lively discussion of their own experiences and methods.

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Effective Methods of Training Biology Laboratory Teaching Assistants IV: The Use of Skits, A Teaching Plan, and Dealing With Plagiarism and Grading

Abstract:: Each year since 1999 ABLE has provided a forum for presentation, discussion, and sharing of ideas concerning the use of undergraduates and graduate students to run labs and teach in the Departments of Biological Science. There have been lively films, games, examples, and discussions of the many university training sessions and/or workshops to Train Graduate Teaching Assistants to handle students, labs, and even teaching assignments. This year we will offer four other areas of discussion for you. Ethics in the classroom; a powerful subject in most colleges and universities, we will offer a skit to lead into a discussion on ethics and how easy it is for faculty to cross the line with students concerning ethics. Also we will offer a skit on the first day of class or the first day teaching. Each of you can certainly add a suggestion or warning to this topic and we welcome your experiences with the first day teaching also. And then we will move to an exercise on performing investigative labs and how to develop and set up these labs for your teaching assistants. And we will address plagiarism and grading to follow up on last year's workshop.