Originally Posted by Mowicz

I guess this depends on which specific course I get, like whether it's for math students, business students, etc.

But do you suggest I outline how things change in upper years (if it's a core math course at least)?

Yeah I think that would be good for them, maybe you can tell them during the last tutorial or something. They might be preoccupied with just first year right away :p

I think the ideal math TA doesn't lecture and just goes through lots and lots of problems.

It's intimidating when the prof assigns a million homework problems. But after going to tutorial and seeing the TA painlessly and step-by-step whip through 2 dozen problems in an hour, I feel much more motivated and confident to approach the homework.

My MATH 1AA3 tutorial had the same value as 5 lectures, and was the only class I would make sure not to miss. The concepts and underlying theories of first year calculus became very apparent to me just by doing lots of problems.

The fact that you ask this and are genuinely concerned is very positive. It shows that you care and are dedicated to being a TA. These attributes, along with your academic record probably landed you the job in the first place.

As for what to do the first tutorial, I would say let them know about you and give them a few tips. This helped me in first year and was much appreciated. Then having everyone introduce themselves in an ice-breaker, something like asking each student to name 3 facts about them with 2 being true and the third being false and having the class try and figure out. This works best in smaller groups so that its not overdone. Perhaps finish the tutorial by explaining the outline of the course and its contents, major themes, etc.

Best of luck!

Icebreakers, awesome. I've always thought of that working better in more 'discussion' based tutorials, but perhaps it would have some merit in a math classroom as well? I just have to think of a way to do it in the event of having a larger classroom setting.

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Maybe I can encourage people to exchange contact information (like email?) with other students on the first day, in case someone wants to set up a study session or something like that, or needs lecture notes. Maybe I could even go so far as to circulate a 'mailing list' for everyone to get each others' names off of.

The only concern I have about that is: Does anyone feel as though giving their email to other people for this reason, is too personal?

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Thanks again for all of the help and support guys. This is helping to spark some creative thinking on my part (:

Originally Posted by Mowicz

Icebreakers, awesome. I've always thought of that working better in more 'discussion' based tutorials, but perhaps it would have some merit in a math classroom as well? I just have to think of a way to do it in the event of having a larger classroom setting.

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Maybe I can encourage people to exchange contact information (like email?) with other students on the first day, in case someone wants to set up a study session or something like that, or needs lecture notes. Maybe I could even go so far as to circulate a 'mailing list' for everyone to get each others' names off of.

The only concern I have about that is: Does anyone feel as though giving their email to other people for this reason, is too personal?

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Thanks again for all of the help and support guys. This is helping to spark some creative thinking on my part (:

I think we'd obtain the emails ourselves anyway And you could put it up as an "opt-in" option People who don't want to could decline

I have never gotten a single person's email (from a class/tutorial that is) because I'm kind of a shy person. I felt the compulsive need not to 'bother' people, so I'd always do my correspondence with the professor/TA...until like 4th year when I started working in groups I'd find scattered around Hamilton Hall.

I'd imagine not many people are as outgoing as you Bushra xD

But anyway, opting-in is a great suggestion, thanks. (:

Originally Posted by Mowicz

The only concern I have about that is: Does anyone feel as though giving their email to other people for this reason, is too personal?

I think it depends on the email you're giving out.

I technically have three accounts: My MAC ID (which I only use when I have to), my gmail (for business/work purposes), and my hotmail (which is completely personal).

I would likely give people my gmail (as I have done for group work) because it's not super personal and at the same time I check it often.

Students should have a work-appropriate email by the time they apply to university (as used to be suggested when you go to apply) which they can give out in situations like there (and technically the MAC ID can double for this too. I just fight with mine constantly).

I'll mull over that for a little while, and try and see if there's an appropriate way to do this. Maybe I can offer to make a class mailing list or, as you suggested, a blog. (:

In the meantime I have another question, if anyone could please give some input that'd be great. (:

Question: This is for the people who didn't regularly attend their tutorials (given that they were not mandatory).

Did you ever feel like you weren't welcome at your tutorial? Or intimidated to go back? For instance, suppose you show up at your first tutorial, think to yourself "This is lame, I don't need this." and then not show up for like 2, 3 months. Suddenly, you've gotten sick, or lost and need some help. Did you ever feel like the TA will notice that you're not regularly in attendance?

Do you think reassurance that I'd still want such people to attend if they need help is necessary? Or am I just thinking too much by this point? Haha.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

Question: This is for the people who didn't regularly attend their tutorials (given that they were not mandatory).

Did you ever feel like you weren't welcome at your tutorial? Or intimidated to go back? For instance, suppose you show up at your first tutorial, think to yourself "This is lame, I don't need this." and then not show up for like 2, 3 months. Suddenly, you've gotten sick, or lost and need some help. Did you ever feel like the TA will notice that you're not regularly in attendance?

Do you think reassurance that I'd still want such people to attend if they need help is necessary? Or am I just thinking too much by this point? Haha.

No intimidation or hostility. I didn't like tutorials because the TA would just go over a couple questions. I didn't find the tutorial to be very valuable, but that might just be because I learnt most of the material before university.

I think tutorials are there to help people. Students shouldn't be afraid if they haven't been going to tutorials for 2-3 months and then randomly show up. What's the point of going to tutorials if you already know the material or you aren't having any problems? It's important to use every minute to your advantage and if you don't need the tutorial then you don't need the tutorial. But as you learn more and more and come across material that you don't quite understand, I don't see why you should feel uncomfortable seeking help by going to tutorial.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

I'll mull over that for a little while, and try and see if there's an appropriate way to do this. Maybe I can offer to make a class mailing list or, as you suggested, a blog. (:.

For both of my Multimedia classes a wiki was set up - anyone who is a member of the wiki (by invite only, if you set it up that way) can go in and edit or create pages (I think you can set it so that you have to approve the changes). That might be a better option for your purposes than a blog.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

I'll mull over that for a little while, and try and see if there's an appropriate way to do this. Maybe I can offer to make a class mailing list or, as you suggested, a blog. (:

In the meantime I have another question, if anyone could please give some input that'd be great. (:

Question: This is for the people who didn't regularly attend their tutorials (given that they were not mandatory).

Did you ever feel like you weren't welcome at your tutorial? Or intimidated to go back? For instance, suppose you show up at your first tutorial, think to yourself "This is lame, I don't need this." and then not show up for like 2, 3 months. Suddenly, you've gotten sick, or lost and need some help. Did you ever feel like the TA will notice that you're not regularly in attendance?

Do you think reassurance that I'd still want such people to attend if they need help is necessary? Or am I just thinking too much by this point? Haha.

My Math 1M03 TA did nothing but confuse us more and talk kinda condescendingly, so I didn't ever want to go, even though I was having issues.

Question 1:
Yes, I think it would be helpful, there isn't that much actual content covered in the first week of first year courses anyways. Just make it clear that the next tutorial will be different.
Question 2a:
You could bring a few difficult problems to work through with the students, giving them a little time to try it themselves first. Just make sure they're challenging, it feels like a waste of time if it's a bunch of easy routine questions.
Question 2b:
I usually liked to ask my specific homework problems during office hours, so I'm going to say no, especially if the answers to the questions are in a book somewhere.
Question 3:
QUICK recap.
Question 4:
I've never had a TA do this, a small introduction with more than just a name would be nice
Question 5:
My favourite tutorials always compensated for the things missing from lectures. Like, if the prof only lectured and never did sample questions, then the tutorial was help with questions. Or, if the prof ran a lot of discussion on the content, the TA covered the basics of the content itself.
Skipping tutorials: I never skipped tutorials because I didn't feel welcome. If I did, it was because (a) it felt like they weren't worth the time, or (b) they stressed me out more than they helped. Any tutorials where it was mandatory to speak to the group or take turns solving homework questions that I knew I had gotten wrong were not good.
Hopefully this is somewhat helpful. I'm sure that if you care enought to research this, you'll be a great TA.

I've been notified I can host a website on McMaster's servers, so this is my next project. (But I still don't know what course I'm TAing, or even my contact information :p)

So I have a few more questions, this time in regards to a TA Website:

Question 1: How frequently would you visit a course webpage? (If it had what you wanted)

Question 2: ...What is it you wanted? Haha. What features would help you (first years in particular) to succeed? This could be anything, tutorial notes, solutions to homework problems, study tips, a summary / quick explanation of the topics discussed, etc.

Question 3: If you were in a course that was not the course I was TAing (like suppose I'm TAing Math 1A03, and you are in 1LS3), is there anything you'd like in an online medium? (The idea is, I want to try and have a databank for first year math courses, so that generally anyone can come visit and get a bit of extra help)

Question 4: Would you take advantage of tutoring sessions, if I posted my contact information in regards to private tutoring? (I suppose I'll do this either way, for my own benefit if anything)

So basically...I'm willing to do the work, compile some notes, write up solutions, give tips, etc.

I just need to know if, first and foremost, it's worth my time to do so, and secondly what is necessary to be done. (:

(Here's what it looks like btw...work in progress of course, and I haven't made a header image yet)

Question 1: Im all for less work

Question 2a: yes

Question 2b: I think it would be better if you find 1 or 2 questions that people found the hardest and take up that one.

Question 3: how about using examples to reiterate the idea. like do out a problem and show the proofs of certain points on a side. my ap calc teacher used to put up problems from exams by russian/korean/etc. schools as a warmup because they were uber hard but doable.

Question 4: yes its enjoyable as long as there are hilarious stories involved


for website:

Question 1: at least once a week

Question 2: notes/solutions/previous tests would be great

Question 3: i would like notes/previous tests

Question 4: depends on how im dealing with it. but everyone ive talked to said i'd be find because i took ap calc in highschool

Haha I think I might be biased towards it, because when I TA'd in second year (I TA'd engineering calc) they had an awful professor and they kept saying things like "Can you teach us Integration by Parts?" or things like that. I guess it may depend on good the prof is for the course, haha.

never felt nicer to know how to do integration by parts

I think that the questions that you do in the tutorial should go on the website. Well, not all of them but like different sample questions with their solutions and if possible the explanation of how the answer was attained.

That's something I really wished I had last year.