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Ensuring consistency among GTAs in an online context

Ensuring consistency among GTAs in an online context. Melanie Misanchuk Distance Learning Program Development Specialist Office of Open Learning -- University of Guelph. DE at UoG. Office of Open Learning works with faculty from all over campus Offer 45-90 undergraduate courses per semester

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Ensuring consistency among GTAs in an online context

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  1. Ensuring consistency among GTAs in an online context Melanie Misanchuk Distance Learning Program Development Specialist Office of Open Learning -- University of Guelph

  2. DE at UoG • Office of Open Learning works with faculty from all over campus • Offer 45-90 undergraduate courses per semester • 5000-6000 registrants per semester • 1 in 5 students on campus taking a DE course • $70 buys you: flexibility, interesting format, no 8:00 am lectures

  3. “Ten thousand students in one class” PSYC 3080Organizational Psychology 232 BIOL 2060Ecology 217 BIOL 2210Introductory Cell Biology 290 ZOO 1500 Humans in the Natural World 439 REXT 3040 Communication Process 531 SOC 2750Serial Murder 541 3 4 8 10 8 2

  4. What do TAs do in DE context? • Monitor/facilitate discussions • Grade participation • Grade assignments • Administrative tasks

  5. Monitor/facilitate discussions • More monitoring than facilitating • Keep the discussion civil • Correct misconceptions • Once the instructor/TA speaks, the students stop

  6. Grade participation • Different strategies for marking participation • Very basic rubric/checklist more subjective feeling of overall participation • Easier to quantify participation in DE setting: student disputes could be revisited

  7. Grade assignments • Some assignments very objective; some more subjective, essay-style, learning logs, etc. • Detailed grading keys/rubrics/checklists • Students and TAs made aware of expectations • “Pre-grade,” then meet to compare, then go off and grade • Most experienced TA posts grades/comments first

  8. Grade assignments • Given range of expected grades • TAs talk to each other while marking • TAs trade grading duties in order to meet strict deadlines • Complaints department: TAs are first line • Final exam: each TA grades a particular question

  9. Administrative tasks • Not as much as I’d expected • Primary point of contact for students • Responses may be different if I’d interviewed TAs…

  10. Communication • Variation in amount/type of communication • Some instructors and TAs met frequently as a group; some met once • Some communicated often on email, much more so than in a F2F setting

  11. Training • Variation in amount/type of training • Most TAs met with instructors at beginning of semester • Most had hand-outs; some elaborate packages • Some had sample questions and answers • Some graded sample questions • Some graded real questions together

  12. Administrative nightmare • Three hours to collate separate final exam pages • Time invested in • preparing TA packets • doing orientation sessions • pre-assignment meetings • giving TAs feedback on their grading/comments • dividing/tracking assignments • making sure TAs/students are “spread around” • 95% of time spent on course is administrative—very little interaction with students or TAs on content • Managing 5 TAs is work; twice as many is twice as much work

  13. Things to consider when working with multiple TAs • Maintain consistency with responses to questions; policies/answers posted in main conference • Organization, organization, organization • Maintain balance between “grunt work” and mentoring future faculty

  14. Questions? Comments?

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