Reflecting Upon Your Own Experiences
• Think of an example of a time when you helped a student
and felt it was successful. Recall in as much detail as
possible, then reflect:
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What did you do that made it successful?
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What did the student do that made it successful?
• Think of an example of a time when you tried to help a
student yet felt it wasn’t so successful. Recall in as much
detail as possible, then reflect:
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What was challenging/what got in the way of it being
successful?
A Quick Review: the Tools in Our Toolbox
• Learning as a constructive process
• Learning as an interactive, social process
• Learning as an emotional process
• Engagement as essential (influenced by felt
competence, autonomy, social relatedness,
self-expression, sense of progress)
• Motivation-to-learn as critical (influenced
by perceived task value and self-efficacy)
• Learning as situated in/tied to context
• Expertise as a way of thinking
A Quick Review: Tips from Handbook
1) The main role of the TA is to ask students questions to (a) gauge the gap in their
understanding and (b) get them to bring existing understandings to the fore.
2) Help students understand the overall concepts (rather than memorize).
3) If you need to show a student how do do a problem, use an example separate
from homework, or show them where they might find an example in a textbook.
4) If students understand basic direction of problem, allow them to struggle a bit
on their own or with peers
5) If you see student doing something incorrectly, correct them immediately and
help them understand why it was wrong
... but at the same time, give space for students’ to take their own path for
solving problems (even if different than your preferred approach).
6) If you see students working on same assignment, have them sit together (to take
advantage of opportunities for peer learning).
7) Be aware of how belief-in-ability/self-efficacy might affect students’ learning,
and do what you can to support them in developing self-efficacy
More on Self-Efficacy
•
Self-efficacy is “a persons’ situation-specific belief that he or she can
succeed in a specific domain”
•
Recall: We’re motivated to learn something when (a) we perceive it’s
valuable/relevant and (b) we believe we’re capable of learning it (selfefficacy)
•
Research has shown:
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Self-efficacy is a stronger predictor of grades and persistence than
interest
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Self-efficacy predicts performance beyond prior performance/ability
•
Related concept: View of ability as malleable (growth mindset) or static
(fixed mindset) – we want growth mindset!
•
Note: Your self-efficacy (regarding whether you can help students) affects
your ability to help them!
More on Self-Efficacy
• Self-efficacy is affected by:
- Enactive mastery: Learners’ recognition of the degree to
which they succeeded on task
- Vicarious experiences: Seeing others with whom they
identify model success
- Social persuasion: Information from others that
increases or decreases learners’ confidence in their
ability to succeed
- Physiological experiences: Includes negative reactions
that might occur as a result of stress, depression, or
anxiety
Applying This to Your Own Experiences
• In your group, pick one or more of the examples of a time
when you tried to help a student yet felt it wasn’t so
successful
-
What might you do differently to make the
interaction(s) more successful?
• Practice role-playing one or more of the examples (we’ll
ask for volunteers to do a role play for the whole group).
An Encouragement Moving Forward
• Use your experiences helping students as an opportunity
to learn more:
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About how to help students (what works, what
doesn’t)
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About the students themselves (including what
misconceptions they have, where they get stuck, and
what gets in the way)
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About yourself (including what misconceptions you
have, where you get stuck, and what gets in the way)