Fall 2016 TA Training Day - Saturday, September 17th, 2016
2nd Floor Tory Building
Concurrent Workshops #1: 10:00 – 11:30am
Room
Title
Audience
EDC Credit
All FASS
& FPA TAs
Yes
All TAs
No
All FS &
FED TAs
Yes
All TAs
Yes
All FASS
& FPA TAs
Yes
Teaching Talk #1—Keynote Speaker Series: 11:45am – 12:45pm
Room
Title
Presenter
Audience
EDC Credit
Claudia Buttera, Dept.
of Biology
All FS &
FED TAs
Yes
204 TB
206 TB
215 TB
“Teaching New Dogs Old Tricks:
Engaging Students in Research”
“In the Know and on the Go:
Identifying Academic Support
Services for Students”
“Fostering Student Engagement
in Problem Analysis Sessions”
217 TB
“Personalities in the
Classroom: Strategies for
Teaching and Meeting with
Different Characters”
219 TB
“Incorporating Activities in
Discussion Groups”
360 TB
Presenter
Martha Attridge
Bufton, MacOdrum
Library
Lakin Dagg, Centre for
Student Academic
Support
Ehsan Ghias-Begloo,
Dept. of Electronics
Ryan Coulling (TA
Mentor), Samantha
McAleese, & Matthew
Sanscartier, Dept. of
Sociology &
Anthropology
Anita Grace (TA
Mentor), Dept. of Law
& Legal Studies
“What Makes a Great TA?”
Teaching Talk #2—Keynote Speaker Series: 1:15 – 2:15pm
Room
Title
Presenter
360 TB
“Understanding Diversity and
Building Understanding through
Relationality”
Special “Bell Ringer” Session: 2:30 – 4:00pm
Room
Title
University
Centre
Galleria (4th
floor)
Student Services “Bell Ringer”
Session
Concurrent Workshops #2: 2:30 – 4:00pm
Room
Title
204 TB
206 TB
217 TB
“Simple and Effective Feedback:
A How-To Guide”
“Active Learning for
Undergraduate Students”
“A Marathon, Not a Sprint: The
Life-Cycle of a TA”
Audience
EDC Credit
Rodney Nelson, Centre
for Initiatives in
Education
All FASS
& FPA
TAs
Yes
Presenter
Audience
EDC Credit
David Lafferty, Faculty
of Graduate &
Postdoctoral Affairs
All TAs
No
Presenter
Audience
EDC Credit
Evan Jones, Dept. of
History
Christine Polihronis,
Dept. of Psychology
Stuart MacKay, Dept.
of History
All FASS
& FPA TAs
Yes
All TAs
Yes
All TAs
Yes
Session Descriptions:
Concurrent Workshops #1: 10:00 – 11:30am
1. Teaching New Dogs Old Tricks: Engaging Students in Library Research (1.5 hrs)
Martha Attridge Bufton, MacOdrum Library
Generation Y students like search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo, so much so that “googling” is
now a verb. So how do we get these students into the library, either in person or “on the cloud”? Martha
Attridge Bufton, a subject specialist at the Carleton University MacOdrum Library, will share teaching
strategies to raise awareness of the need to use library resources to find “good” information when
delivering in-class workshops to large groups—it’s all about filter bubbles, YouTube, and peer instruction.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Engaging students, managing a classroom
EDC Credit: Yes.
Restrictions/Limitations: All FASS and FPA TAs, max. enrolment of 30
Location: 204 TB
2. In the Know and on the Go: Identifying Academic Support Services for Students (1.5 hrs)
Lakin Dagg, Centre for Student Academic Support
Feeling overwhelmed by the academic demands of your students? Know that you are not alone! This
workshop will provide detailed information regarding the academic resources that are available to TAs at
Carleton helping you to address the concerns and obstacles that many of your students face. Participants of
this workshop will engage in an interactive overview of the academic support services that are offered
through the Centre for Student Academic Support.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Managing a classroom, adopting institutional standards/procedures
EDC Credit: No.
Restrictions/Limitations: All TAs, max. enrolment of 30
Location: 206 TB
3. Fostering Student Engagement in Problem Analysis Sessions (1.5 hr)
Ehsan Ghias-Begloo, Department of Electronics
This workshop will focus on enhancing the learning experience in science and engineering Problem
Analysis sessions by further engaging students in the learning process via active learning pedagogy.
Moreover, it will explore the importance of a lesson plan and explore creating one for each session.
Participants will be encouraged to share their experiences and thoughts in this highly interactive session.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Engaging students, developing a lesson plan
EDC Credit: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All FS and FED TAs, max. enrolment of 20
Location: 215 TB
4. Personalities in the Classroom: Strategies for Teaching and Meeting with Different Characters (1.5
hrs)
Ryan Coulling (TA Mentor), Samantha McAleese, and Matthew Sanscartier, Department of Sociology &
Anthropology
This workshop aims to help you identify some of the different personalities you will encounter as you teach
and meet with students that you TA. This workshop will also allow you to be able to develop strategies to
deal with these students, while recognizing unsuccessful tactics.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Managing a classroom
EDC Credit: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All TAs, max. enrolment of 25
Location: 217 TB
5. Incorporating Activities in Discussion Groups (1.5 hrs)
Anita Grace (TA Mentor), Department of Law & Legal Studies
After a while, even the most lively discussion group can become stagnant. At this point, it’s time to get
creative! This workshop will demonstrate a number of different teaching techniques that can be customized
to your discussion group, including small group activities, games, and worksheets.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Managing a classroom, facilitating a discussion, incorporating and
managing activities
EDC Credit?: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All FASS & FPA TAs, max. enrolment of 20
Location: 219 TB
Teaching Talk #1—Keynote Speaker Series: 11:45am – 12:45pm
1. What Makes a Great TA? (1 hr)
Claudia Buttera, Department of Biology
Traditionally, and by definition, the role of the Teaching Assistant has been to assist the teaching of the
course. A TA can be a tremendous help to faculty, instructors, and lab coordinators by assisting in the
operational demands of the course they are assigned to—grading assignments, presenting material,
demonstrating in labs, and running tutorials. So what makes a TA a great TA? That they do all of these
things very, very well? Or is it something more? This session is a conversation about the evolution of the
role of TA and the value of the part you play, and it’s about becoming aware of some things that can help
you in your role and the importance of not just being a TA but of being a great TA.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Engaging students, managing your responsibilities
EDC Credit?: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All FS & FED TAs, max. enrolment of 190
Location: 360 TB
Teaching Talk #2—Keynote Speaker Series: 1:15 – 2:15pm
1. Understanding Diversity and Building Understanding through Relationality (1 hr)
Rodney Nelson, Centre for Initiatives in Education
An important part of teaching today is about building relationships and how we interact and communicate
with students. Yet, what if there are cultural differences? Can we find a place of mutual understanding that
promotes good open communications? This talk will address some of the issues of relationality with
students from a cultural perspective, including Indigenous students at Carleton.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Creating an inclusive learning environment
EDC Credit?: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All FASS & FPA TAs, max. enrolment of 190
Location: 360 TB
“Bell Ringer” Session: 2:30 – 4:00pm
1. Student Services “Bell Ringer” Session (1.5 hrs)
David Lafferty, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs
In this session, you'll have the opportunity to speak with Carleton University staff about the services
Carleton provides for both graduate and undergraduate students. Understanding the range of services
available will allow you to better help the students you work with, and may also benefit you in your own
studies.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Adopting institutional standards/procedures
EDC Credit?: No.
Restrictions/Limitations: All TAs, max. enrolment of 60
Location: University Centre Galleria, 4th Floor
Concurrent Workshops #2: 2:30 – 4:00pm
1. Simple and Effective Feedback: A How-To Guide
Evan Jones, Department of History
Giving feedback can be a stressful event in the life of any teaching assistant, and for good reason. Giving
poor or unclear feedback may cause frustration and resentment, while giving clear and concise feedback
will create the proper environment for the long-term success of your students. This training session is
designed to give you the tools and the confidence you need to give effective and constructive feedback with
a focus on practical strategies that can be directly applied to your next marking endeavour.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Giving effective feedback
EDC Credit?: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All FASS and FPA TAs, max. enrolment of 30
Location: 204 TB
2. Active Learning Strategies for Undergraduate Students (1.5 hrs)
Christine Polihronis, Department of Psychology
Are you looking for some creative ways to get your students interested in course material, engaged, and
motivated? This workshop will focus on introducing and practicing various active learning strategies for
TAs to use in the classroom, and on how to provide meaningful feedback when marking assignments. We
will also focus on the importance of making learning relevant to students daily lives by including aspects of
humour, case studies reported in the media, as well as the use of new and conflicting research to stimulate
conversation.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Engaging and motivating students
EDC Credit?: Yes.
Restrictions/Limitations: All TAs, max. enrolment of 30
Location: 206 TB|
3. A Marathon, Not a Sprint: The Life-Cycle of a TA (1.5 hrs)
Stuart MacKay, Department of History
Being a Teaching Assistant can be rewarding experience... but it can also be a challenging one! You must
be an instructor, a mentor, and a referee, all the while navigating the ups and downs of your own academic
career. In this workshop, we will journey together through the academic year, examining obstacles in time
management, how to avoid TA burnout, cultivating a deeper interest in classroom discussions, and
facilitating student ownership of discussion groups.
Skills/Knowledge Developed: Managing your time, engaging students, facilitating discussions
EDC Credit?: Yes
Restrictions/Limitations: All TAs, max. enrolment of 25
Location: 217 TB