I could never put it all together. The course seemed like a bunch of isolated ideas. I couldn't figure out how information related to other material in the class or how any of it related to real life.
--Undergraduate Student
CLASS ORGANIZATION
|
Organizing a class requires two skills: (1) the ability to organize a class through the syllabus and to sequence the course material, and (2) the ability to help students see connections and relationships.
Although many TAs will be presented with a syllabus for the sections they are to teach, this will not always be the case. New faculty and experienced TAs often have independent responsibility for organizing a class section. We will focus on planning an organized class session and developing a syllabus.
Organize the Class
DECIDE ON KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ATTITUDE GOALS. What knowledge should a student acquire in a given class session? Identify the specific knowledge areas students are to master. These learning objectives help in course planning as well as in the development of examinations. Skill goals refer to activities students are expected to learn (e.g., students will be able to prepare the materials and complete a pH determination using titration). Some classes may have the goal of changing student attitudes toward the subject matter (e.g., students will learn to appreciate modern art).
PUT GOALS IN SEQUENCE.Generally classes progress in some logical way, for instance, from early infancy to late infancy, or from simpler math problems to more difficult ones.
DIVIDE GOALS INTO CLASS SESSIONS. What is the main purpose or what are the two or three main goals of this class session? Organization is enhanced when class goals are stated at the beginning of the class, then restated and summarized at the end (e.g., "Our purpose today is to explore three theories for explaining economic growth patterns in third world countries").
DEVELOP READING MATERIALS AND ASSIGNMENTS TO MEET EACH GOAL. Students can reach knowledge goals through attending class, reading resource materials, and conducting research assignments. Skills are often acquired through labs or through outside assignments that prompt skill development.
When students see how material in a course connects with other material, they can retrieve information more easily, stay interested, and be more effective learners. There are a number of specific things that instructors can do to help students see connections.
CONNECTIONS WITHIN A CLASS SESSION. Students are able to see the big picture when teachers tell them what will be covered in each session and make reference to previously covered material as well as that which will follow (e.g., "Last week we talked about 3-month olds. This week we'll see how they've changed at 6 months. Later we'll learn all a 2-year old can do").
CONNECTIONS ACROSS A COURSE. A teacher can tell students at the beginning how a course will flow (e.g., "This course will follow the artistic representations of Buddha as the religion moved eastward from India to Japan"). Sometimes, a central theme can be the focus that organizes the class (e.g., use a geological time line that is referred to frequently throughout the course).
CONNECTIONS TO THE LECTURE SECTION OR TO OTHER COURSES IN A SEQUENCE. It is helpful for new faculty and TAs to learn what is offered in other courses in the curriculum so that reference can be made to material covered in other courses (e.g., "In Biology 103 you studied ....; we will be looking at how that phenomenon is expressed in higher animals"). It is very important for a TA who leads a discussion section or a lab section for a large class to refer to concepts covered in the main lecture.
CONNECTIONS TO REAL LIFE. One way that teachers can elicit student interest and involvement is by connecting the course content to real life. A teacher can relate material to something a student may want to do (e.g., "This programming technique is especially useful for figuring out how much it will cost to ...."). Examples from real-life media -- newspapers, magazines, TV, and Internet -- can help to clarify concepts as well as make them more meaningful to the student (e.g., "Yesterday we were talking about rhetorical patterns. How does this editorial relate to our discussion of rhetorical patterns? What can we say about the editorial based on our discussion of rhetorical patterns?").
