STEM Teaching Hacks Workshop #3: - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

STEM Teaching Hacks Workshop #3:Office Hours & Mentoring

Brandon Campitelli, Sarah EichHorn, Keely Finkelstein, Kristin PattersonSlide2

Workshop Expectations

Mentoring can take place across many venues

–

we’ll share:

Hacks for use in the classroom

Hacks for during office hours / help sessions

Hacks for general mentoring

Letter writingSlide3

Hack #1a – First Assignment / Student Learning Survey

Collect student info & feedback on notecards during the first class in the form of a student learning survey.Have them share it with a partner during class.Slide4

Hack #1a – First

Assignment / Student Learning Survey

Example Questions to ask / Feedback to solicit

:

Name (or can be anonymous)

Year in School & Major

Prior course work or a few classes you really enjoyed / gained something from / learned a lot in

Current job(s)

Career Objectives

Characteristics of courses in which you’ve learned a lot

Teacher Feedback that is & isn’t helpful

Peer Contributions that support learningSlide5

Hack #1b – First Office Hour Visit

Instead of submitting learning survey in class during first day, have students turn it in in person during a first office hours visit.

Benefits:

Encourages students to attend office hours who might not otherwise

Highlights importance and usefulness of office hours to the studentsSlide6

Hack #2 – Advice to future students

Have students write letters to students in the next offering (future semester) of the class to provide suggestions for how to succeed in the class.Example prompt:

Write a letter to future students in this same class, letting them know what you feel is most important to succeed in this class. Items to consider: exams, assignments, readings, and classroom participation, etc.Slide7

Hack #2 – Advice to future students

Example:Slide8

Hack #2 – Advice to future students

Other examples / ways to implement: Storify

the Advice from Students & make it available to next semester’s students, example:

http

://ds106.us/handbook/success-the-ds106-way/advice

/

First day of class the following semester:

pass out letters randomly to new students. Have them read & identify the most important pieces of advice; share & discuss with others.Slide9

Hack #3 – Extracurricular academic opportunities

Expose students to additional academic opportunities.For example: Weekly campus star parties

Hot Science / Cool Talks

Not So Math

Science Under the Stars @ Brackenridge Field Laboratory

Study abroad

Summer Internships / ScholarshipsSlide10

Hack #3 – Additional Resources & Ways to Implement:

Include these opportunities on the course page / Canvas / course calendar. Encourage students to attend office hours to discuss opportunities with you.

Require a course “reflection assignment” on an external seminar, attendance at an extracurricular event, etc.Slide11

Hack #4 – Career / Alumni Panels

1. Invite professionals or experts to your class to discuss careers or give a guest lecture on a topic they are interested in2. Help or encourage young professionals to host their own career panels / seek advice from alumni:

Society of Physics Students (UT Physics undergrads) invites past graduates each year to talk with current students about career paths and opportunities

Astronomy GSPS (Graduate Students & Postdoc Seminar)

–

Internal monthly seminar created by this audience to discuss career related issues, offer professional development, invite speakers from different careers, & give peer mentoring / advice.

Most departments have an undergrad committeeSlide12

Hack #4 – Career / Alumni Panels

3. Invite past students / alumni to your class to host a panel – share where they are now, how this class impacted their future career choices, and answer questions from current students.

4. Invite past students / alumni to give short presentations about research they have done, or opportunities they have participated in, especially if their experiences resulted from enrolment in your course or interactions with you.Slide13

Hack #5 – Office Hours – Facilitating the Transfer of ownership to the learner:

Ways to support this . . . 1) No writing – try running office hours without doing any writing yourself, only having students write.

Pass the tool

–

give / move the writing instruments (pens, chalk to the students & away from you).

2) Ask questions

–

try running office hours without making statements, only asking open-ended / follow-up questions.Slide14

Hack #5 – Office Hours – Facilitating the Transfer of ownership to the learner:

Role Play:Team up in twos:Have one person be the advisor / mentor and one person be the student for the Problem #1, (if time, switch roles after 2 minutes for Problem #2).

Math problem solving examples:

Problem 1: Solve the following quadratic equation using factoring:

x

2

–

3x

–

10 = 0

Problem 2: Solve the

following quadratic equation using factoring:3x2 – 2x – 8 = 0Slide15

Hack #5 – Office Hours – Facilitating the Transfer of ownership to the learner:

Ways to support this . . . Read the shared handout:

A vignette on “Facilitating the transfer of ownership to an intern engaged in applied problem solving”

Need 2 volunteers to be “Anna” & “Omar”Slide16

Hack #6a – Letters of Rec - Questions to ask students:

When students request a letter of recommendation, give them a form or set of questions to request specific information that allows you to write more easily for them and helps them to be reflective about their application.Suggestions of questions to ask:

A brief paragraph describing nature of our relationship

–

the context in which I know you & for how long.

A brief paragraph describing the program / company you are applying to,

why you are interested and/or how related to career goals, and why you would be a good candidate. 

A paragraph describing, within context of our relationship, the accomplishments or experiences that I would use to speak to your capacity for independent problem-solving and/ or research (or design). 

A paragraph describing, within context of our relationship, what you have done that I can use speak to your work ethic and/or

excitement

for working in the field. Slide17

Hack #6b – Letters of Rec – Avoiding Gender Bias

Mention research & publications

Ensure that letters are equally as long

Emphasize accomplishments, not effort

Keep it professional

Stay away from stereotypes

–

keep in mind adjectives to avoid & ones to use

Be careful raising doubt

Recognize that we all share bias

Link to flyer from University of Arizona:

http

://

www.csw.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/avoiding_gender_bias_in_letter_of_reference_writing.pdfSlide18

Additional Resources:Science Magazine article: ”Top

10 Tips for Mentors” - http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2010/10/top-10-tips-mentors

Harvard Graduate Women in Science & Engineering Mentoring Program resources:

https://

projects.iq.harvard.edu/hgwise/discussion-topics

Training for question

driven conversations – videos 4.4.2 & 4.4.3

http

://stemteachingcourse.org/course-content/course-content-2/module-4-assessment

/

https://testing.byu.edu/handbooks/betteritems.pdf