TA Workshop Handouts (Sat., Aug. 23 2008)

• Collaborative Learning in an Inquiry-based Laboratory
• Strategies for Testing and Grading in Lab

Lab TA Contact Information - Spring 2009

Lab Section Assignments - Spring 2009

Teaching Resources

• Biology 101 Lab Manual; TLNs and Instructor Guide
  
• Collaborative Learning Resources (Team-based learning; Concept Mapping; Using class passports to form diverse teams; Using peer evaluations)
  
• RubiStar - A neat little web site which helps teachers create grading rubrics for writing assignments.  Rubrics are a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of student work.  A good rubric will list the things the student must have included to receive a certain score or rating. Rubrics help the student figure out how their project will be evaluated, and provide a way for teachers to standardize grading practice.  I've also found that good rubrics make the process of grading writing assignments easier and faster. 
• Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) - The newly revised version allows instructors to gather learning-focused feedback from students. The SALG survey asks students to rate how each component of a course (e.g., textbook, collaborative work, labs) helped them to learn, and to rate their gains toward achieving the course goals. The SALG survey can be customized to fit any college-level course, and can be administered multiple times per course. A baseline instrument allows faculty to compare gains relative to incoming student characteristics.