Physics TA Training Session

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Physics Lab Policies

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Rules, Rules, and More Rules…

• The University of Iowa is a large institution made up of many different colleges.– The larger and more complex the organization, the larger the

number of policies.– There is a University of Iowa Operations Manual (It’s massive),

but most colleges have their own particular policies as well.– In particular, I will focus on physics lab policies.

• Why should we be aware of and follow these policies?– They protect the students.– Following the polices protects instructors (That means you!) in

the case of lawsuits.• If you don’t follow University or departmental policies, you and/or the

University could be found liable.

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Useful Links• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:

– http://clas.uiowa.edu/faculty/teaching-policies-resources• University of Iowa Operations Manual:

– http://www.uiowa.edu/~our/opmanual/index.html • Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity:

– http://diversity.uiowa.edu/eod/policies

• Laboratory Policies for Physics TAs:– http://www2.physics.uiowa.edu/~amoeller/TA_Materials/Physics Laboratory Polici

es.docx• This Presentation:

– http://www2.physics.uiowa.edu/~amoeller/TA_Materials/TA_Training_Fall2013.ppsx

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Physics Lab Policies

• Attendance at the TA training session at the beginning of the semester is mandatory.

• Email a copy of your lab syllabus to anthony-moeller@uiowa.edu.– Include the title of the lab manual and the lab schedule.

• Friday afternoon lab meetings (meetings for a few courses may be on other days) are mandatory. – These meetings are important for both new and

experienced TAs. Substantial changes are sometimes made to labs that experienced TAs have taught in the past.

– Discuss problems with previous week’s lab.

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Lab Policies, Cont.

• You must do the lab and fill out the lab report. – They are due in the holder outside of VAN 203 on

Mondays at 10:00 am. If you have done the lab yourself, you are much better prepared to teach that lab.

– I will be “grading” your lab reports on a 10 point scale. The results will be given to Aaron at the end of the semester.

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Years of Experience

1 2 3 or more

Average Score

9.283 7.533 5.1667

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Much Better!

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Lab Policies, Cont.

• Turn in lab cards at the end of each semester.– You must fill out a lab card for each student

which contains their name and grades for each lab. Blank lab cards are available in 203. Turn in completed lab cards to 203 at the end of the semester.

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Lab Policies, Cont.

• Lab Group Sizes – VAN 262 is now set up for groups of 3.– Optimal group size for other rooms is still 2.

• Don’t read the newspaper or use a laptop computer, cell phone, MP3 player, etc. during lab.– Walk around the room instead. Students will

ask you questions if you make yourself available.

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BEON

TIME!

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Lab Policies, Cont.

• Being on time does not mean arriving at the scheduled lab time.

• Being on time means arriving early enough to START the lab at the scheduled lab time.– Be present and have the lab unlocked 5-10

minutes before lab is scheduled to start.

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Before You Get To Lab

• Prepare a lesson plan.– How detailed is up to you, but you should at

least have an outline of what you are presenting to the students.

– Even if you’ve taught the lab before, you’ll probably regret it if you just wing it.

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The First Day

• Take attendance.– Instead of calling out names and having

students raise their hands, have them introduce themselves.• You can hear how they pronounce their names.• I generally request that in addition to their names

that they tell me their major and the last math and science classes they’ve taken.

• Go over the syllabus (briefly).

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Introductory Material

• Two extremes to avoid:1. Tell the students what lab they are doing, and let them start

immediately.

2. Go through every step of the lab in extreme detail, basically doing the entire lab for them in your introductory lecture.

• Instead, give an introduction to the lab that is ~15 minutes long.

– Go through introductory material that actually explains the physics of what they’re doing.

– Give a brief overview of the procedure they will follow.– Mention any common problems that students tend to have

with the procedure or equipment.

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End of Lab

• Instead of having the students turn the lab report in at the front of the room, have them leave the report at their bench.– This is the easiest way to assign cleanup

points, because if a lab station isn’t cleaned up, you will know who was sitting there.

• Avoid letting lab go longer than the allotted 2 hrs. 50 min.– Some students may have another class.

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Emergencies• Fire Alarm: Exit the building. Use the stairs, not the elevator.• Tornado Siren: Take students to basement hallway. Avoid windows.• Minor Injuries: Use first aid kit in the room. Report incident to me.• Major Injuries: Call 911, use the first aid kit if applicable. Contact me

as soon as possible (Tending to injured student should be priority).• Unruly Student: Ask student to leave. If that doesn’t work, depending

on the perceived level of threat to you or other students, contact me or University of Iowa Department of Public Safety.

• Contact numbers in case of emergency:– Emergency: 911– University of Iowa Department of Public Safety ( Non-Emergency): 335-5022– Anthony Moeller (Laboratory Coordinator):

• Office: 335-1754• Cell: 319-541-2959 (Call, DO NOT text)

– Professor Mary Hall Reno (Physics Department Chair): 335-1689– Environmental Health & Safety: 335-8501

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Becoming a Better Teacher

• Ask professors and experienced TAs for advice.

• Don’t be afraid to take a class or two in the education department.– I highly recommend 07P:217 Seminar in

College Teaching taught by Mitch Kelley.• The Office of Graduate Teaching

Excellence:– http://www.education.uiowa.edu/gte/

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Radiation Badges

• Most of you won’t need a radiation badge for teaching purposes.– If you have anything to do with

Advanced/Intermediate lab, you will.– Some of you may need one for research

purposes.– If you are doing anything with sealed sources,

you will need one.• The next few slides guide you through the

process of obtaining a radiation badge.

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Obtaining a Radiation Badge

• Go to hris.uiowa.edu and login.• On the “Personal” tab, probably

close to the bottom, you should see a box that looks (more or less) like what you see to the right.

• Click on “My Training”.• You should end up on a page

that looks like what you see on the next slide.

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Badge, Cont.

• The course you need to take is W023RD for sealed sources. Note that it only appears on the example to the left because I have taken the course.

• You will need to click here and find it in the list that looks like this:

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Badge, Cont.

• Enroll in the course.• Follow the instructions. You will go through a set

of slides, and at the end you will take a test on working with sealed sources.

• Once you pass the test, you will be able to apply for a radiation badge. Note that it may take a couple days for the system to acknowledge that you completed the course.

• You will need to fill out the form found here: http://ehs.research.uiowa.edu/dosimeter-request-service