Math 300 GSI Workshop

Instructor: Jameel Al-Aidroos
Email:
Office: 741 Evans
Office Hours: Tu8:40-9:30, W3:45-4:45 and by appointment, please email.

Course Goals

assist you with the details and quirks of teaching in the math department
introduce some of the many resources available for teachers and students at Berkeley
discuss challenges of teaching mathematics, and strategies for overcoming these challenges
begin to develop teaching philosophies and portfolios

Important Dates

Wed., Aug. 22	10:10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.	First meeting of Math 300 (70 Evans - on the ground floor)
Thur., Aug. 23	8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.	Graduate Division Teaching Workshop I Mandatory for all new International GSI's Registration is at 8:30 a.m. in Dwinelle Hall Lobby
Fri., Aug. 24	8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.	Graduate Division Teaching Workshop II for all new Domestic AND International GSI's Mandatory for all new Domestic and International GSI's Registration is at 8:30 a.m. in Pauley Ballroom Lobby, MLK Student Union Building (at Telegraph and Bancroft)
Mon., Aug. 27		Fall instruction begins.
Wed., Aug. 29	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	First regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry.
Wed., Sept. 5	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry.
Thurs.,Sept. 6	12:30 to 2:00 p.m.	"Developing your teaching portfolio" GSI Workshop in Tan Oak Rm, MLK Student Union.
Fri., Sept. 7	4:00 p.m.	Last day to make room change requests for your discussion sections.
Wed., Sept. 12	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry. Deadline to submit Experienced GSI Observation summary.

Fri., Sept. 14	5:00 p.m.	Deadline to complete On-line Professional Standards and Ethics course
Wed., Sept. 19	12:00-1:30 p.m.	"Techniques to Maximize Student Engagement and Learning" GSI-TRC Workshop in 301 Sproul Hall.i
Wed., Sept. 19	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry.
Wed., Oct. 3	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry.
Thurs., Oct. 4	8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.	ASE Orientation about UAW Contract Terms in 150 University Hall (Attend one of these only.)
Thurs., Oct. 4	12:30 to 2:00 p.m.	"Strategies for Effective Grading" GSI-TRC Workshop in 301 Sproul Hall.
Wed., Oct 10	4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.	ASE Orientation about UAW Contract Terms in 150 University Hall (Attend one of these only.)
Wed., Oct. 17	12:00-1:30 p.m.	"Learning from Peers: Video Clips of GSIs Teaching" GSI-TRC Workshop in 370 Dwinelle Hall.
Wed., Oct. 17	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry. The preparatory material for this meeting can be found here .
Mon., Oct. 29	1:30-3:00p p.m.	"Helping Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills through Reading" GSI-TRC Workshop in 370 Dwinelle Hall.
Wed., Nov. 7	5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry.
Wed., Nov. 14	12:00-1:30 p.m.	"Teaching to Different Learning Styles" GSI-TRC Workshop in 370 Dwinelle Hall.
Wed., Nov. 28	5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.	Regular meeting of Math 300 in 3108 Etcheverry.

Handouts and Links

Here is an article that addresses some of the problems associated with changing the mental model that students have of the Earth. Thanks to Danielle for this link: Vosniadou, S. (Ed.). (1994). Capturing and Modeling the Process of Conceptual Change. In S. Vosniadou (Guest Editor), Special Issue on Conceptual Change, Learning and Instruction, 4, 45-69. (You can see this article here in pdf format)

Here is a link to the Registrar's calendar of Add/Drop/Grade-change Deadlines
And here is a link for calendars and schedules at Berkeley.

Some of you have asked me for more info about the SLC. There is lots available on their web pages:
For 1A, refer your students to: SLC 1A
For 1B, refer your students to: SLC 1B
For 16A, refer your students to: SLC 16A
For 16B, refer your students to: SLC 16B
For 53/54, refer your students to: SLC 53/54
The SLC offers "drop-in hour" for most of the core lower-division classes in the Math department. Those are very useful for students who need more face time with a GSI than they can get from your office hours alone. They will find a GSI specifically hired to help stuents with their classes material - this GSI's office hours are located on the web-page above.

You might be interested to read this short NYTimes interview with Eric Mazur. More on Mazur's pedagogical research.
Here is the MathDepartment VIP list (for GSI concerns).
Here is the Experienced GSI Observation Summary.
Here is the pre-semester checklist handout that we saw at the GSI conference. Hope you find it useful.
Ari Nieh, who ran the Math/Stat Discipline Cluster Workshop at the Gaduate Division Teaching conference in 2006, has posted some notes. They include some very helpful tips for the first day.

Here are some scans of a few pages of tips for first time GSIs:

Summary of the lower division math courses

Flowchart of prerequisites for those courses.

A checklist for the first few days: Page 1 Page 2.

Some Dos and Don'ts for GSIs.

I just found this the other day - A Guide to being a TA from the MAA.

Head TAs

The role of the Head TA is to deal with all enrolment/waitlist concerns. You should make sure that your students know that they need to talk to the head TA, and fill out the "Section Preference Forms" (available from the head TA) if they are waitlisted, or if they need to change sections for any reason. Please find out from your head TA his or her contact info. The head TAs are as follows:

Math 1A : Ivan Matic. (math email is matic)

Math 1B and Math32: Darren Rhea (math email is drhea)

Math 16A and 16B: David Farris (math email is farris)

Math 53 and Math 54 : Aubrey Clayton (math email is aclayton)