A Handbook for Mathematics Teaching Assistants (Preliminary Edition) Tom Rishel, Cornell Uni ersity !

The MAA "Contents" #$ %ntrod&ction '(%ntrod&ction) *$ Ty+es of TA Assignments, Recitation, -ect&re, .rading '(Ty+es/*0of/*0TA/*0Assignments) 1$ 2efore 3o& Teach, A Checklist '(2efore/*03o&/*0Teach) 4$ 5ay 6ne '(5ay/*06ne) 7$ 8hat .oes 6n in Recitation9 '(8hat/*0.oes/*06n/*0in/*0Recitation) :$ 8hat ;ho&ld be on a ;yllab&s9 '(8hat/*0;ho&ld/*0be/*0on/*0a/*0;yllab&s) <$ -esson Planning, ;&r i alist Tactics '(-esson/*0Planning) =$ .rading %ss&es '(.rading/*0%ss&es) >$ Coo+erati e -earning '(Coo+erati e/*0-earning) #0$ Technology '(Technology) ##$ 8riting Assignments '(8riting/*0Assignments) #*$ Making U+ E?ams and @&iAAes '(Making/*0U+/*0E?ams/*0and/*0@&iAAes) #1$ Using Cogniti e Models to Make A++ro+riate Problems '(Using/*0Cogniti e/*0Model)(Bith Mary Ann Malinchak Rishel) #4$ The Acti e Classroom '(The/*0Acti e/*0Classroom) #7$ C8hat 8as That @&estion Again9C '(@&estion) #:$ Moti ating ;t&dents '(Moti ating/*0;t&dents) #<$ HoB to ;ol e %t '(HoB/*0to/*0;ol e/*0%t) #=$ Co&rse E al&ations '(Co&rse/*0E al&ations) #>$ .et Along Bith Colleag&es '(.et/*0Along/*0Bith/*0Colleag&es) *0$ 8hat is a Professional9 '(8hat/*0is/*0a/*0Professional) *#$ Teaching Methods for Dario&s Ty+es of Classrooms '(Teaching/*0Methods) **$ Problems of and Bith ;t&dents '(Problems)

*1$ ;t&dent Ty+es, 8ho is the A&dience9 '(;t&dent/*0Ty+es) *4$ HoB to .et Eired '(HoB/*0to/*0.et/*0Eired) *7$ Ad ice to %nternational TAs '(%nternational/*0TAs) *:$ ;illy ;t&ff$$$ '(;illy/*0;t&ff) *<$ $$$And Fot ;o ;illy ;t&ff '(And/*0Fot/*0;o/*0;illy/*0;t&ff) *=$ The ;emester in Ei e Min&tes '(The/*0;emester/*0in/*0Ei e/*0Min&tes) *>$ Gobs, Gobs, Gobs '(Gobs) 10$ -etters of Recommendation '(-etters) 1#$ Mathematical Talks '(Mathematical/*0Talks) 1*$ 2ecoming a Eac&lty Member '(2ecoming/*0a/*0Eac&lty/*0Member) 11$ Uni ersity and College .o ernance '(.o ernance) 14$ 8hat 5oes an E al&ator E al&ate9 '(8hat/*05oes/*0an/*0E al&ator/*0E al&ate) 17$ The Essence of .ood Teaching '(The/*0Essence/*0of/*0.ood/*0Teaching) 1:$ Case ;t&dies '(Case/*0;t&dies)

%ntrod&ction This is a te?t abo&t teaching college mathematics$ My ieB is +ersonal, informed by o er forty years in higher ed&cation, o er thirty of them teaching in some form or another, and almost tBenty of those in ol ed Bith training and e al&ating teaching assistants and H&nior fac&lty$ %f % seem to em+hasiAe firstIand secondI+erson narrati e in my Briting, it is beca&se m&ch of this te?t has come, literally, from disc&ssion Bith yo&, the TA or H&nior fac&lty member, abo&t the real Borld sit&ations Be are enco&ntering daily in o&r classrooms$ At most e ery H&nct&re in the te?t, % em+hasiAe n&ts and bolts considerations o er theory$ This is not beca&se % belie e that theory does not e?ist or is not im+ortant, b&t beca&se % think that good teaching starts Bith seeming tri ialitiesIICtalk lo&dly, Brite large, +re+are caref&lly, e?+lain a lot, be friendly$C 6nly after Be are familiar Bith s&ch sim+licities do Be begin to feel comfortable mo ing into theories of learning$ This last is not to say that s&ch theories are ne er &sef&l or im+ortantIIotherBise, Mary Ann Malinchak Rishel and % Bo&ld not ha e Britten the long section on hoB &sing cogniti e methods can lead to better e?aminations, for instance$ HoBe er, % do think that yo&, as a grad&ate TA or a yo&ng fac&lty member, Bill +rofit more and im+ro e faster from short, sim+le, clear s&ggestions that ha e immediate and ob io&s im+act in yo&r dayItoIday classroom$ %f this im+ro ement leads yo& to decide that yo& Bant to think more dee+ly abo&t yo&r

c&rrent and f&t&re teaching, so m&ch the better$ ;end me eImail so Be can talk trishelJmaa$org 'mailto,trishelJmaa$org)$ Einally, let me address a ery common ieB abo&t the disci+line of teachingK namely, as % Bas told again H&st last Beek, CTeaching canLt be ta&ght$C 8ell, maybe, H&st maybe, great teaching is lightning in a bottle and canLt be e?+lained, b&t % claim em+hatically that good teaching can be ta&ght$ 6f co&rse, % am biased in my ieB, if only beca&se % ha e s+ent the last tBenty years (ro&ghly) trying to achie e this aim$ 2&t, in fact, % belie e not only that teaching can be ta&ght, b&t that if mathematics is to +rogress, it m&st be ta&ght II to the bright yo&ng +eo+le Bho Bill carry it on after &s$ % ho+e that, by the end of this ol&me, yo& Bill agree Bith me$ ;o, letLs sto+ talking and get to Bork$$$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Ty+es of TA Assignments, Recitation, -ect&re, .rading Most teaching assignments for grad&ate st&dents fall into one of three categories listed in the title of this section$ Probably the most common TA assignment in mathematics, and the one Bith Bhich the maHority of the fac&lty began their careers, is that of recitation instr&ctor$ Those of yo& Bho ha e recei ed an &ndergrad&ate degree from a large &ni ersity Bill be familiar Bith the lect&reIrecitation format, a fac&lty member lect&res to a large class of st&dents tBo or three times a Beek on an assigned to+ic from a te?tbook, after Bhich a grad&ate st&dent ansBers M&estions abo&t the lect&re and disc&sses assigned homeBork +roblems$ %n this format, the lect&rer decides Bhich homeBork to assign, and often determines the str&ct&re of the recitation$ 2y this % mean he or she may say, C5onLt do all the +roblemsK H&st the ones that are designated not to be t&rned in for grading$C Alternati ely, the lect&rer may s&ggest that yo& begin each recitation Bith a co&+le of Ce?am+le +roblems$C .enerally, hoBe er, most instr&ctors Bill gi e yo& little or no ad ice, e?ce+t to say something like, CG&st do a standard recitation$C (Eor a sam+le Cstandard recitation,C Bhate er that may be, see the later section, 8hat .oes 6n in Recitation '(8hat/*0.oes/*06n/*0in/*0Recitation)$) Another common assignment for TAs is to be asked to lect&re$ ;chools ary as to Bhen in a grad&ate st&dentLs career this is to be doneK at some instit&tions yo& are handed an algebra and trigonometry te?t and told, C.o teach this$ 5onLt mess &+NC 6ther schools Bait for a year or tBo &ntil yo& ha e had some less demanding assignments before they ask yo& to +lan lessons, make &+ yo&r oBn e?ams, determine grading +olicy, and generally deal Bith the +roblems of teaching &ndermoti ated freshmen (or Borse, &ndermoti ated seniorsN) the Hoys of +recalc&l&s$ %t is +robably Borth +ointing o&t here that at some +oint in yo&r grad&ate career yo& sho&ld +&rs&e a lect&ring assignment, for tBo basic reasons, #$ A grad&ate st&dent Bho has lect&red has a real ad antage in the Hob market (see the section, Gobs, Gobs, Gobs '(Gobs))$ *$ 2y lect&ring before yo& take a first fac&lty +osition, yo& remo e

some of the stress o er teaching that goes into the ten&reI+ress&re$ A third common TA assignment is that of grading, sometimes in an elementary co&rse, more often in an ad anced &ndergrad&ate or e en a grad&ate co&rse$ Many TAs describe s&ch assignments as CeasyC or Cboring$C 8hile the assignments can be either or both, grading Hobs, hoBe er, can teach yo& hoB far yo& ha e come since the days Bhen this co&rsematerial Bas a real effort$ These assignments can also shoB yo& hoB hard it is to teach others to Brite clear, concise ansBers and +roofs$ A third benefit to a grading Hob is that yo& can &se it to re ieB the material that may be asked on a grad&ate com+rehensi e e?amination$ % Bill say more abo&t the M&estions in ol ed in grading +a+ers later on in the section titled .rading %ss&es '(.rading/*0%ss&es)$ Eor noB, think abo&t, 8hich ty+e of TA assignment a++eals to yo& most noB9 %s there one that yo& might ne er Bant to do9 5o yo& think that yo&r o+inions might change later on in yo&r career, or are they set in stone9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 2efore 3o& Teach, A Checklist " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " 5o yo& ha e keys for yo&r office or yo&r classroom9 Are the classrooms going to be o+en9 8ill yo& find chalk and erasers in the classroom9 8here is yo&r office9 8hat is yo&r office n&mber9 8hat is yo&r tele+hone n&mber9 3o&r email address9 Can yo& get a desk co+y of the te?tbook for yo&r co&rse9 Can yo& Brite in the margin of the te?tbook9 6r Bill yo& ha e to ret&rn the book at the end of the term9 8here is the library9 8here are the restrooms9 Can yo& get +encils and +a+er from the de+artment office9 or do yo& ha e to b&y yo&r oBn9 8hat is the +olicy on making co+ies of e?ams for yo&r class9 Are the co+y room and mail room accessible d&ring e enings and Beekends9 8here can yo& find the class sched&le so yo& knoB Bhere yo& are teaching9 Can yo& get old syllabi for yo&r class9 HoB abo&t last year9s e?ams9 Can yo& get an o erhead +roHector and trans+arencies9 5o yo& e en Bant these things9 HoB abo&t a +roHector for calc&lators9 HoB long is the semester9 %s the e?am sched&le made &+ in ad ance9 HoB many st&dents might yo& e?+ect to see in yo&r class9 HoB m&ch grading are yo& e?+ected to do9 Can yo& get yo&r teaching sched&le changed easily9 8hat is a ty+ical Borkload for a neB TA9 And, Bhere do yo& get yo&r +aycheck9

Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 5ay 6ne %t is fitting that % begin Briting this section noB, for today is the

first day of the second semester$ % ha e H&st Balked +ast a large lect&re hallK the instr&ctor is animatedK st&dents are listening intently, Banting to knoB Bhat is coming$ Eor me, the irony here is that % ha e +assed this room d&ring +ast semesters, often obser ing se eral st&dents slee+ing or reading the cam+&s neBs$ 5ay one of the semester is too im+ortant to throB aBay$ %f all Be do is call the roll and dismiss the class, Bhat message are Be sending9 3et, many instr&ctors do H&st that$ C% didnLt really think abo&t this class &ntil noB,C maybe, or, C3o& donLt need to be any more serio&s abo&t the material than % ha e been H&st noB$C 6n the first day of class, st&dents r&n, Bhat are the maHor to+ics, Bhy co&rse, CHoB Bill Be be graded9C %n Bhat can be done Bith day one9 Here " " " " " Bant to knoB hoB the co&rse Bill be is the material rele ant, and, of light of these st&dent interests, are some s&ggestions,

Call the roll b&t donLt sto+ here$ Hand o&t, read, and ansBer M&estions abo&t the syllab&s$ E?+lain hoB yo& intend to handle classes$ 5isc&ss the n&ts and bolts of homeBork, e?ams and grading$ ' 6ffer an o er ieB of the co&rse$

FoB letLs disc&ss some as+ects of each of the categories abo e$ 2y the seemingly sim+le act of calling the roll, yo& signal that yo& Bant to knoB the st&dents$ 3o& Bill get to knoB some names, and that Bill make the co&rse more +ersonaliAed$ This can lead to better attendance, feBer +roblems like cheating (since the st&dents feel more in ested in the class, and since they knoB that yo& knoB Bho they are), and better co&rse e al&ations for yo& at the end of the co&rse$ Handing o&t a syllab&s is another common first day acti ity$ %f yo& are neB to teaching, yo& Bill ha e many M&estions as to hoB to constr&ct s&ch a syllab&s, some of Bhich can be ansBered in a later section, 8hat ;ho&ld be on a ;yllab&s '(8hat/*0;ho&ld/*0be/*0on/*0a/*0;yllab&s)$ Many instr&ctors ass&me that st&dents Bill read Bhat is handed to themK % think this is incorrect$ E ery time % hand o&t a doc&ment, Bhether it be a syllab&s or a homeBork assignment, % read it to the st&dents$ 2y reading thro&gh the syllab&s, % alloB st&dents to ask M&estions that % may not ha e ansBered clearly in my te?t, and % also ens&re that, Bithin reason, st&dents knoB Bhat is reM&ired of them$ EirstItime grad&ate st&dents are often teaching firstItime &ndergrad&ates$ The &ndergrad&ates need to knoB hoB college o+erates, C;ho&ld % bring my te?tbook to each class9C C8ill yo& collect homeBork e ery day9C C5o yo& ansBer M&estions d&ring class, or do Be Bait &ntil later9C C5o yo& grade on attendance9C More ad anced st&dents Bill ha e M&estions, too$ Maybe they ha e ne er had a mathematics co&rse in college, or more likely, they H&st Bant to knoB Bhat the r&les are, C% ha e lots of Hob inter ieBs this semester$ 5o yo& reM&ire attendance9C C8ill yo& ha e ansBer sheets in the library, the Bay they did last semester9C 2y the Bay, there is nothing Brong Bith yo&r ansBering, C% donLt knoBK %Lll check it o&t let yo& knoB ne?t class$C G&st make s&re that yo& carry o&t yo&r +art of this bargain and gi e them a definite ansBer at the ne?t class$ As to more s+ecific comments abo&t hoB class is to be handled, Be Bill ret&rn to this to+ic

in the section, Ty+es of Assignments$ ;t&dents Bant to knoB Bhether and hoB often homeBork are going to be collected$ 8ill yo& grade each +roblem, or only some9 HoB Bill they knoB Bhich9 5o yo& ha e an idea of hoB yo&Lll assign grades to the homeBork9 Eor instance, Bill yo& &se a n&merical system Bhere each +roblem is Borth, say, from Aero to fi e +oints9 %f yo& knoB Bhat system yo& or the co&rse leader is &sing, noB is a time yo& can tell the st&dents$ ;imilarly, yo& can describe Bhen yo& Bill gi e e?ams, and Bhether they Bill occ&r in class or in the e ening$ 3o& can also describe Bhere the e?ams Bill be gi en, for instance, in a large lect&re hall Bith 400 st&dents, or in the classroom$ 3o& can also tell yo&r class that C3o& Bill ha e ninety min&te e?ams, and % Bill shoB yo& some old e?ams for re ieB$C Then yo& can e?+lain Bhat yo& knoB of the final e?am and grading +olicies$ %s the final c&m&lati e9 5oes it ha e the same length as the other e?ams9 5oes it co&nt for more +oints than the earlier e?ams9 There are other bits of information yo& also sho&ld gi e, The names of the te?ts for the co&rse, yo&r office ho&rs, and any s&++lemental te?ts or materials yo& Bill &se$ FoB that yo& ha e s+ent abo&t tBenty min&tes on the n&ts and bolts of the co&rse, it is time to t&rn yo&r attention to content$ 8hat are the to+ics yo&r st&dents Bill be learning9 HoB do those to+ics relate to other s&bHects they may be st&dying9 %n Bhat Bays Bill the material be &sef&l in the real Borld9 -etLs be more s+ecific abo&t detailsK many of yo& Bill start teaching Bith a first semester calc&l&s co&rse$ 3o& may Bant to say something like this, Calc&l&s is &s&ally s+lit into tBo ty+es, differential and integral$ 5ifferential calc&l&s deals Bith instantaneo&s rates of change, hoB things change right noB, not o er si? years or ten miles (those are a erage rates of change), not o er si? seconds or si? oneIh&ndredth of a second, b&t right noB, this instant$ 8e Bill be learning abo&t this instantaneo&s change this soIcalled deri ati e, hoB to find it, hoB to mani+&late it, and hoB to &se it in +roblems from +hysics and chemistry to b&siness and economics$ Eor instance, if the instantaneo&s change takes +lace o er time, then this deri ati e is the elocity of the obHect that is mo ing, and this conce+t is of s+ecial interest to +hysicists and engineersK it is one of their tools for e?+laining the +hysical Borld$ 8hen %saac FeBton Brote E O ma, for instance, he Bas saying that forces are related to acceleration, and acceleration is a deri ati e, a rate of change$ ;cientists are not the only +eo+le interested in calc&l&s$ Economists and b&siness +eo+le also &se the s&bHectK for instance, the cost of doing b&siness changes essentially instantaneo&sly o er timeK this change of cost is called marginal cost$ Monitoring marginal cost alloBs b&sinesses to track their changes today, not o er the last tBenty Beeks or tBenty months$ Then yo& might go on to e?+lain hoB taking a deri ati e reM&ires ha ing a f&nction to Bork BithK th&s yo& Bill begin Bith a re ieB of some contin&o&s and notIsoIcontin&o&s f&nctions$ After that, yo& can say that

yo& Bill go on to talk abo&t ario&s methods of taking deri ati es of more and more in ol ed f&nctions, and then yo& Bill disc&ss some a++lications of deri ati es, s&ch as hoB to ma?imiAe and minimiAe +rofits, say, or maybe elocities, or areas of land$ At this +oint, % Bill lea e as an e?ercise for yo& can decide Bhat yo& might Bant to say abo&t integral andPor differential eM&ations$ MeanBhile, letLs sh&t the door on this first day calc&l&s class, and mo e doBn the hall to the +recalc&l&s class, Bhere a more Cacti istC disc&ssion has beg&n, %nstr&ctor (%),C$$$ and BeLll also talk abo&t f&nctions$ Maybe some of yo& ha e seen some f&nctions, like, say, +olynomials$ Can yo& name some f&nctions that are +olynomials9C TBo st&dents together (;#and ;*), ;#, C;&re$ y O a?Qn R b?QnI# R$$$C ;*, CUnh maybe ?Q* 9C %, C6$S$ y O ?Q* Borks$ %tLs a +olynomial$ Any others9C ;T# , C?Q1 9C ;T* , CHoB abo&t y O ?Q* R ? R #9C %,C3es$C U8riting both +olynomials on the board$V CAnything harder9C ;T1 , CHoB abo&t the sM&are root of ?9C %, U8riting y O ? O ?Q#P* on the board$V CThat one doesnLt Bork$ 5oes anyone knoB Bhy9 C U;ilence$ ThenV ;T# ,C C&A oneIhalf is Brong$C %, C.ood$ 6neIhalf doesnLt Bork as a +oBer, right9 % mean, y O (#P*)?Q* is a +olynomial, right9 UPa&seV ;o, PthisP #P* +oints to the +oBer in ?Q#P* doesnLt BorkII% mean, itLs not LlegalL for being a +olynomial, altho&gh it PisP LlegalL for being some kind of f&nction, yes9 (This U+ointsV is called a +oBer, by the Bay, and the other is a coefficient of the +olynomial$ 8eLll define these terms +retty caref&lly d&ring the co&rse$$$C UA co&+le of min&tes later$V %, CHoB abo&t some other kinds of f&nctions9 Ha e any of yo& heard of trig f&nctions9 Can yo& name some9C ;T# , C;&re$ yO sin ?$C %, C3e+, sine Borks$ 8eLll st&dy it, and the others, like cosine and tangent and Bhy theyLre all different from +olynomials$ L;ineLsL +ict&re, by the Bay,is, sin (?) right9 And, it comes &+ in s+ring and +&lley mechanisms, and electrical st&ff, and things like that, and$$$C -etLs ti+toe aBay noB, Be get the idea$ This last instr&ctor can teach &s a lot abo&t managing the classroom$

Fotice hoB she acce+ted the ansBer she PneededP to her first M&estion, rather than going Bith the seemingly more com+lete res+onse from ;t&dent #, Bho ob io&sly knoBs a good deal of the material she may be s+ending the semester teaching to the others in the class$ ;he also did a good Hob ada+ting to the incorrect ansBer y O ?Q#P* s&ggested by ;t&dent 1$ ;he did so Bitho&t em+hasiAing the st&dentLs Brong ansBerK in fact, she t&rned a common mistake into a learning e?+erience for the entire class$ There are many good +oints to the classroom disc&ssion Be ha e H&st Bitnessed, b&t in the interests of kee+ing the disc&ssion short, letLs H&st say the folloBing, Most +eo+le say that teaching +recalc&l&s is boring, boring, boring, b&t this +artic&lar instr&ctor doesnLt make it seem so$ "E?ercises, " 8hich of the tBo methodologies described abo e for a firstIday disc&ssion of co&rse material Bo&ld yo& be more comfortable Bith9 Eill in the details of Bhat yo& Bo&ld say to a first semester calc&l&s class abo&t the to+ics of integration and differentiation$ (3o&r ansBers may be nothing, of co&rse, b&t yo& sho&ld then ha e an e?+lanation based on the syllab&s$) Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 8hat .oes 6n in Recitation9 6ne ty+ical format for a recitation is this, The TA begins by asking if there are any M&estions on the assigned homeBork +roblems$ A st&dent then asks to see Csection :$*, n&mber #<$C 6ther st&dents chime in Bith C% co&ldnLt do n&mber *>,C and CHoB abo&t n&mber 79C 6thers ask for some +roblems from section :$1$ 6ne fairly M&iet st&dent says, C% Bonder if yo& co&ld do an old +roblem from section :$#9C Then, for good meas&re, another st&dent asks yo& to try one of the M&estions from section :$4, the ne?t assignment, so Be can see hoB they are done$ 3o&, as the +erson in charge, can field M&estions in the order in Bhich they occ&r, taking section :$*, n&mber #< before n&mber 7 from the same section, say$ 6r, yo& can ask for a list of all the +roblems at the start of class, collect them on the board, and do them in the order in Bhich they occ&r in the te?tbook$ The ad antage of the first method is that yo& ansBer M&estions in the order in Bhich they arri e$ The disad antage is that the st&dent Bho co&ldnLt do one of the easy +roblems may be totally at a loss as to Bhat yo& are talking abo&t Bhen yo& start off Bith the hardest +roblem in the section$ The second method sol es the latter +roblem, b&t only at the risk of Cfalling behind in the material$C This is a +oint yo& may not consider too im+ortant, b&t st&dents alBays do$ A ia media for making the best of both methodologies is to collect the M&estions as abo e$ Then tell the st&dents yo& Bill do the section :$4 M&estion Cif there is time at the end of class$C ;tarting Bith c&rrent material, do tBo or three of the +roblems from section :$*, one or tBo from section :$1, and then go back to the one from :$#$ Einally, if there is time, yo& can Cs&ggest a hint to get +eo+le startedC on the :$4 e?ercise, Bhich, after all, essentially no one has looked at b&t the one st&dent Bho asked$ %n this Bay, yo& em+hasiAe c&rrent material of most

interest to the maHority of the class, that yo& are Billing to deal Bith Cold +ermits$ And, by gi ing H&st a hint as alloB the entire class the o++ort&nity +artic&lar +roblem$

Bhile at the same time shoBing and neB b&sinessC as time to hoB to do the neB +roblem, yo& to +&AAle o&t the secrets of that

%t sho&ld be clear by noB that, since recitation consists mainly of disc&ssing homeBork +roblems, yo& sho&ld shoB &+ on time and be +re+ared to disc&ss +ast and c&rrent assigned +roblems$ A shocking n&mber of TAs and instr&ctors try to CBing itC often Bith &n+leasant conseM&ences for themsel es, their st&dents, and for their end of term e al&ations$ ;o % Bill say this again, Bith em+hasis, PA recitation instr&ctor Bill shoB &+ on time +re+ared to disc&ss +ast and c&rrent homeBork +roblems$ Fo e?c&ses are acce+tableK this is +art of yo&r Hob$P This means that yo& Bill read thro&gh all the +roblems the night before recitation, yo& Bill +erform the reM&ired com+&tations (3es, the chain r&le is d&ll, and yo& ha e &sed it so often before, b&t, H&st Bhen yo& donLt +re+are a set of +roblems beca&se theyLre too easy, thatLs Bhen yo&Lll get st&ck in front of yo&r class on the day before the e?am$), and yo& Bill get Cthe ansBer in the back of the book,C beca&se thatLs the one the st&dents +riAe so highly$ 8hy do yo& Bant to +re+are metic&lo&sly Bhen yo& knoB this st&ff so Bell9 2eca&se, Peo+le ne er learn co&rse material as Bell as Bhen they ha e to e?+lain it to others$ E en tho&gh yo& took and +assed this co&rse some years ago, that doesnLt mean yo& canLt learn from a refresher$ After all, it Bas si? years ago in high school that yo& took AP calc&l&s, right9 Te?tbook a&thors lo e to +&t little tricks into the e?ercises to kee+ st&dents on their toesK these tricks can tri+ &+ &ns&s+ecting instr&ctors, too$ 3o& are getting +aid to do these e?ercises$ E en a TA Bho has done this co&rse three times already needs to recall Bhere the +itfalls are +laced$ 3o& can +robably add one or tBo more Bell +laced reasons to this list$ Remember those reasons Bhen yo& decide to take a day off from +re+aring$ 6ne final tho&ght on this to+ic, Co&rse e al&ations bear o&t the im+ortance of instr&ctor +re+aration in st&dents estimations of teaching$ E en those fac&lty Bho are described as CboringC and C&nmoti atingC &s&ally recei e o erall e al&ations in the 2Imin&s to 2Inat&ral range if st&dents say that they Ccan do the co&rseBorkC as shoBn by their being Bell +re+ared$ %n this section, % ha e em+hasiAed the im+ortance of being +re+ared in teaching recitations$ Pre+aration is im+ortant, b&t it isnLt the only thing$ Eor more ad anced ad ice, see the sections on The Acti e Classroom '(The/*0Acti e/*0Classroom) and Moti ating ;t&dents '(Moti ating/*0;t&dents)$ "E?ercise, " Fame some of the to+ics yo& think % ha e slighted or ignored in the abo e disc&ssion$ HoB essential do yo& think they are to good recitations9

Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 8hat ;ho&ld be on a ;yllab&s9 ;ome de+artments kee+ syllab&s files, Bhich +ro ide a maHor im+et&s for instit&tional, not to mention +ersonal, memory$ E en if s&ch a file is not readily a ailable, yo& can still find o&t Bho ta&ght yo&r co&rse last time, Bhat books they &sed, Bhich cha+ters they co ered, hoB +leased they Bere Bith the o&tcome, and Bhat they tho&ght of the st&dents$ %n the &nlikely +ossibility that the +re io&s instr&ctors all ha e retired or left toBn, yo& can get some hints and ad ice from members of the c&rric&l&m committee, or maybe e en from the staff member Bho deals Bith the cam+&s bookstore$ %f all else fails, yo& can look at the a++endi? of this te?t for some sam+le syllabi of randomly chosen &ndergrad&ate co&rses$ Eno&gh said abo&t hoB to find old syllabiK noB, Bhat sho&ld Pyo&rsP describe9 Eirst, gi e the name, n&mber and section of the co&rse$ Es+ecially if m&lti+le sections are ta&ght, yo& Bant to identify yo&rs as s+ecifically as +ossible$ Also Brite days, times and room n&mbers on the syllab&sK e$g$, M8E #0I#0,70, 104 8hite Hall$ P&t yo&r name on the syllab&s (some +refer Professor A$ 2$ C$ Gones others like 5$ ;mith), yo&r office n&mber and ho&rs if yo& knoB them$ %f yo& ha enLt decided yo&r office ho&rs yet, +romise to Brite them on the board as soon as yo& do knoB them, and "do so often o er the ne?t feB Beeks$" %t is Borth saying here that % am alBays amaAed b&t +robably sho&ld not be at hoB little erbal information is +rocessed, and % am reminded of this fact o er and o er again thro&gho&t my career$ (C% told the st&dents that that to+ic Bo&ld be co ered on the e?am, b&t they didnLt listen$C)$ Fame the reM&ired and recommended te?ts and readings, incl&ding edition n&mbers, s+ecifying Bhich te?ts are reM&ired and Bhich are recommended$ Then e?+lain Bhich cha+ters Bill be co ered (ThomasIEinney, Cha+ters #I<)$ %f yo& are neB to teaching, yo& may not be s&re as to Bhich cha+ters are reM&ired$ %t is ery im+ortant that yo& find this information, for if st&dents go on to the ne?t co&rse Bitho&t ha ing seen some of the reM&irements, a lot of +eo+le Bill be annoyed and &+set, and +eo+le donLt often forget Bhat and Bho ca&sed their +roblems$ Also on the syllab&s, disc&ss homeBork, e?ams and grading Pin generalPK if yo& try to get too s+ecific abo&t reM&irements, st&dents Bill come back to tell yo& hoB yo& ha e CPchanged yo&r syllab&sCIIC&nfairly,PC of co&rse$ (Eor more details abo&t grading schemes themsel es, see the section entitled .rading %ss&es '(.rading/*0%ss&es)$ Eor noB, Be Bill stick Bith Bhat goes into the syllab&s$) 8ill yo& be assigning homeBork by the class9 2y the Beek9 The month9 The entire semester9 8ill yo& collect and grade all the homeBork, or H&st some9 %f H&st some, Bill yo& be anno&ncing in ad ance Bhich ones yo& Bill grade9 8hen Bill yo& collect these +roblems, e$g$, CRight at the start of class each MondayC9 5o yo& Bant the homeBork Britten o&t in any +artic&lar format9 Then there are e?ams$ 5o yo& knoB Bhen they are to occ&r9 %f so, +&t

that information into the syllab&s, along Bith any other details yo& may ha e, s&ch as hoB long the e?ams Bill be and Bhere they Bill take +lace$ As far as grading is concerned, offer a general statement like, C$$$three eM&al e?ams, along Bith a com+rehensi e final e?am co&nting do&ble Ualternati ely, oneIandIoneIhalf9V the al&e of the e?ams$ HomeBork and class +artici+ation Bill also co&nt abo&t ten +ercent of the total grade$C %n this Bay, yo& offer the st&dents a frameBork, Bhile at the same time alloBing yo&rself some leeBayII CBhat is class +artici+ationC for instance, and hoB do yo& +ro+ose to meas&re it9 3et, itLs logical to s&ggest that s&ch +artici+ation is Borth something, and yo& do Bant to ha e a mechanism for reBarding st&dents Bho make an e?tra effort$ At this +oint, syllabi often di erge, de+ending on co&rse, material and style$ Eor instance, % ha e seen a feBII P eryP feB, act&ally II fac&lty +&t a short descri+tion of their academic credentials in the syllab&s$ 6thers, es+ecially those Bho are teaching in a fairly nontraditional Bay, Bill feel the need to describe the classroom sit&ation as they see it ha++ening$ Eor instance, they might describe hoB their C+roHectIorientedC calc&l&s sections Bill Bork, Bhat kinds of Briting assignments they Bill offer in their geometry class, or hoB they Bill handle gro&+ Bork in their +recalc&l&s class$ Regardless of Bhat yo& +&t into yo&r syllab&s, it Bo&ld be Bell to remember that this doc&ment takes on the character of a contract Bith the st&dentsK yo& are telling them Bhat yo& +lan to do, and in t&rn Bhat yo& e?+ect them from them$ Th&s it behoo es yo& to take a little care Bith Bhat yo& Brite$ 3o& might consider +assing it by an older, Biser fac&lty member for a++ro al$ Co&rses often reM&ire &n+lanned or &ne?+ected changes in midstream$ Most of these are acce+table to st&dents$ 6n occasion, hoBe er, some adH&stments yo& &nderstand to be minimal or benign Bill elicit an &ne?+ected o&tb&rst C8hy are yo& canceling e?am three9 % Bas co&nting on that one to boost my gradeN 3o& canLt do this &nless the entire class agrees, yo& knoBNC And then, hea en forbid, if yo& decide to Ctake a oteC on the M&estion, those st&dents Bith higher grades +l&s those Bho H&st donLt Bant to take an e?am along Bith those Bho H&st Bant to get the co&rse o er Bith Bill sim+ly o&t ote the three really angry ones Bho Bant the e?am$ The &ltimate o&tcome is that yo& end &+ gi ing an e?am yo& ho+ed not to gi e, Bhile yo& ha e lost the res+ect of, and a&thority o er, yo&r st&dents$ Fo one can a oid all diffic&lties or see all the +ossible +roblems abo&t to a++ear$ HoBe er, yo& need to think caref&lly abo&t yo&r syllab&s before yo& start the semester$ That and getting in+&t from colleag&es is a strategy that Bill make for a more coordinated co&rse$ The o&tcome of s&ch +lanning Bill then be better for yo& and for the st&dents, and Bill make yo&r co&rse less Bork in the long r&n$ "E?ercises," 8hat goes into yo&r co&rse9 8hat Bo&ld yo& add to the abo e syllab&s9 %s there anything that yo& think sho&ld be s&btracted from the syllab&s, and if so, Bhy9 HoB Bo&ld yo& resol e the +roblem disc&ssed in this section of the st&dent Bho Bants to take the third e?am9 %s he being &nfair9 Are yo& Brong for s&ggesting that the e?am be dro++ed9

-esson Planning, ;&r i alist Tactics ;&++ose yo& came to toBn on Th&rsdayK it Bas yo&r first time at the college$ ;&++ose f&rther that classes begin on Monday, that yo& ha e to mo e into yo&r neB a+artment, register for classes, Bait for the cable to be connected, and oh yes yo& ha e to start teaching yo&r ery first class on Monday morning$ Eor Bhat to do on 5ay 6ne, of co&rse, yo& can look back to that section in these notes$ 6f co&rse, that doesnLt let yo& off the hook that easily, beca&se yo& are st&ck trying to b&ild a syllab&s$ And then, once yo& ha e gi en the st&dents a general introd&ction to the co&rse, yo& Bill ha e to start making &+ lesson +lans$ E&rther, yo& BonLt H&st ha e lesson +lans for T&esday (or, if yo&Lre l&cky, 8ednesday) yo& ha e to +lan an entire semesterLs Borth$ %n this section, letLs consider the most basic as+ects of lect&ring$ -ater, in sections called The Acti e Classroom '(The/*0Acti e/*0Classroom), and Moti ating ;t&dents '(Moti ating/*0;t&dents), Be Bill look at more refined as+ects of making s&ch +lans$ 6nce, some years ago Bhen % Bas a grad&ate st&dent teaching a night co&rse in thirdIsemester calc&l&s, % got the tBentyIfo&r ho&r fl& abo&t an ho&r before class started$ My office mate, being a ery kind +erson, offered to s&bstit&te for me$ CG&st tell me Bhich section yo& Bere s&++osed to do,C he said$ The ne?t day, after % had s&fficiently reco ered, % asked my officemate hoB things had gone$ CEine,C he re+lied, and Bent on to tell me hoB far he had gotten in the material$ C2&t hoB did yo& +re+are9C % asked$ CEasy$ % Bent in to class, anno&nced that % Bas s&bstit&ting for yo&, asked to borroB a co+y of the te?t, and ga e the st&dents a fi e min&te break Bhile % looked o er the a&thorLs a++roach to the material$ Then % made &+ three e?am+les of arying diffic&lty, and % Bent Bith it$ 2y the Bay, hoB are yo& feeling9C ;o there it isK a basic +lan for lesson +lans (Ca +lan for +lansC), co&rtesy of my officemate$ ;tart by finding o&t Bhat todayLs to+ic is s&++osed to be$ Per&se the te?t to see hoB the a&thor a++roaches the to+icK this hel+s yo& +reser e the same notation as the te?t, among other things$ Pre+are an int&iti e e?+lanation (a Che&ristic arg&mentC) as to Bhy the to+ic is im+ortant, &sef&l, and rele ant$ Fe?t, +re+are a feB homeBorkIstyle +roblems of increasing diffic&lty to ill&strate to the st&dents the main conce+ts of the section of the te?t$ Allot remaining class time to ansBering M&estions or doing old homeBork +roblems$ 6f co&rse, this methodology doesnLt sol e all +roblems$ %f it did, teaching Bo&ld be tri ial$ ;o, letLs disc&ss some of the iss&es raised in the abo e o&tline more f&lly$

6ne com+laint often oiced is C2&t % donLt like the Bay the a&thor does this section$ 8hy sho&ld % enco&rage bad mathematics9C Eair eno&gh$ E en tho&gh Be may not ha e had a choice in the te?tbook, the st&dents Bill still be &sing it for e?+lanations, e?ercises and homeBork$ 8e can offer alternati e +roofs or better methods, b&t if the st&dents are getting their homeBork from the te?t, they Bo&ld rather not ha e to kee+ CtranslatingC from o&r lang&age and symbolism to the a&thorLs$ Th&s, Be oBe it to the st&dents to at least say, CHereLs hoB the a&thor a++roaches$$$ An easier Umore common, better, more &sef&l, more so+histicatedV Bay is as folloBs$ 6n the homeBork and tests, &se Bhiche er method yo& like best$ % donLt care as long as yo& get the right ansBer and can e?+lain yo&r method$ Another common obHection is that Be sho&ld not &se Che&ristic arg&mentC rather than an Chonest, direct, com+lete +roof$C This s&ggestion may sim+ly be a f&nction of a&dience le el (disc&ssed more f&lly in the section ;t&dent Ty+es '(;t&dent/*0Ty+es))$ Clearly, if yo& are teaching the intermediate al&e theorem in real analysis or to+ology, yo& Bill Bant to consider the roles com+actness ands connectedness +lay in the disc&ssion$ 2&t, for a freshman English or biology maHor, some +ict&res of contin&o&s and discontin&o&s f&nctions that ha e +ositi e yI al&es at ? O # and negati e yI al&es Bhen ? O 1 Bill be m&ch more con incing than an &nintelligible, &nmoti ated Cformal +roof$C This last is also not to say that yo& canLt be l&cky and draB a class of eager st&dents in an enriched calc&l&s +rogram for +otential mathematics maHors b&t noB Be are back to the ;t&dent Ty+es M&estion$ A third obHection is, C8hy do e?am+les9 TheyLre right there in the book$C 3o&Lre rightK there are Borked o&t e?am+les in the te?tbook$ 2&t, first of all, many, if not most, st&dents donWt read the book$ ;econd, not e ery detail of the e?am+les is s+elled o&t in the a&thorLs e?+osition$ E&rther, it isnLt alBays necessary to choose the e?am+les in the te?tK many instr&ctors % knoB donLt choose the a&thorLs e?ercises$ %nstead, they o+t for a feB +roblems CnearC the assigned homeBork +roblems, telling the st&dents, C%f yo& &nderstand hoB to do these e?am+les %Lm shoBing yo&, yo&Lll ha e a great start on tonightLs assignment$C The &nderlying message is the Cgreat moti atorC, C%tLs Borth Batching me do these +roblems, beca&se theyLre like the ones yo&Lll be trying soon$C 6ne more obHection to the +ro+osed lesson +lan is often bro&ght &+, %s the s&ggested allotment of time for a lect&re correct9 That is, hoB can yo& lea e so m&ch time for M&estions and homeBork9 5onLt yo& need all that class time to e?+lain the details of the c&rrent to+ic9 This, too, is a reasonable obHection$ 5ifferent instr&ctors find that they take different amo&nts of time to e?+lain details of a lesson$ ;till, % try to find Bays to lea e time for st&dent M&estionsK otherBise, hoB do % knoB Bhether they are absorbing the material % claim to be teaching them9 The best Bay to find o&t if my lect&re is being recei ed is to gi e the st&dents a chance to tell me Bhat is still bothering them$ % Bill ret&rn to this to+ic again in the Acti e Classroom '(The/*0Acti e/*0Classroom)section$

Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) .rading %ss&es %t goes Bitho&t saying that grading can bring on +roblems$ Many st&dents seem to feel as if they Cstart o&t Bith #00/, and Be Ufac&ltyV m&st H&stify the remo al of each indi id&al +oint$C At the same time, fac&lty sometimes take the e?act o++osite a++roach$ .rading is best treated as a learning sit&ation instr&ctor learns hoB Bell he or she has ta&ght designed the e?am, Bhile the st&dent learns hoB absorbed the co&rse information and st&died for for all concerned$ The the material and Bell he or she has the e?am$

%n mathematics, yo& Bill &s&ally be grading homeBork, M&iAAes or e?aminations$ 6ther +ossibilities are that yo& may grade Briting assignments or class +roHects and, of co&rse, yo& Bill be in ol ed in assigning final grades$ HomeBork is generally the easiest to gradeK the assigned +roblems are &s&ally Bell Britten o&t in the te?t, and the sol&tion method is fairly clear$ A common, b&t not &ni ersal, techniM&e for grading homeBork is to assign each +roblem a fi?ed n&mber of +oints$ ;ome graders &se a tBoI+oint system, C0C for a Brong ansBer, C#C for 6S b&t not com+lete, C*C for f&lly correct$ After &sing this methodology once or tBice, most graders find that it doesnLt ha e eno&gh +oints to +ro+erly disting&ish among the ariety of +ossible errors that a gro&+ of st&dents can make$ ;t&dents also tend to sense the same +roblem$ Their com+laint abo&t the grading is &s&ally to say something like, C% only got one n&mber Brong, and all % got Bas a #C$ A Aero to fi e scale is +robably better, C0CII didnLt e en try the +roblem, C#CII tried, b&t not e en close, C*C and C1CII ario&s le els of someBhat alid b&t mistaken attem+ts, C4CII correct ansBer b&t Bith some minor errors, C7CII the correct ansBer Bith details s+elled o&t$ Fote the last comment, 6nly the correct ansBer Bith details merits f&ll credit$ There Bill be +oints early in the semester Bhen st&dents Bill ask yo& to reconsider grades beca&se they Cgot the right ansBerC Bitho&t shoBing any s&++orting e idence as to hoB they did so$ 3o& can &se this as an o++ort&nity to instill good habits into the st&dents$ E?+lain to the M&estioner that he has lost one +oint on this +artic&lar assignment for not clearly describing the Bay he Bent abo&t sol ing the +roblem$ This is m&ch easier than trying to con ince the same st&dent that he sho&ld ha e lost tBel e +oints o&t of tBenty for the same a++roach to a +roblem on the second e?am$ This last +aragra+h +oints o&t a good general +rinci+le, both for st&dents and assistants$ HomeBork time sho&ld be &sed to instill good habits$ Eor the st&dent, this means Briting correct, clear, com+lete sol&tions$ Eor the instr&ctor, look to make &niform, defensible grading

Bith &sef&l comments$ FeB TAs often ask hoB long comments on +a+ers sho&ld be$ My res+onse is &s&ally CFot long at all$C % say this beca&se it is fairly common for neBer TAs to contin&e the sol&tion to the +roblem in the margin of each st&dentLs +a+er e?actly from the +oint at Bhich the first error occ&rred$ ;t&dents often donLt read these commentsK sometimes they do read them, b&t still donLt &nderstand Bhat they did Brong$ There are a least tBo Bays to red&ce the amo&nt of commenting yo& need to do on homeBork$ 6ne Bay is to sim+ly +&t an CXC mark at the +lace Bhere the first error occ&rs, and then after all the +a+ers ha e been graded, Brite &+ sol&tion sets of the most commonly mis&nderstood +roblems for all the st&dents$ A second Bay is to start or finish the ne?t class Bith a Cco&+le of homeBork +roblems lots of +eo+le seemed to ha e diffic&lty Bith$C @&iA grading is not dissimilar to that of homeBork$ 3o& can &se a similar +oint scheme, and again yo& can sa e some grading time by +&tting the ansBers on the board Bhen yo& hand back the M&iA$ 6ne difference that sometimes occ&rs, hoBe er, is that if yo& are the one Briting the M&iA, yo& may occasionally find that yo&r M&estion is ina++ro+riate$ E en if yo& are not Briting the M&iA, b&t sim+ly (remember, nothing is e er sim+le) choosing a +roblem from the te?t, yo& may choose one that reM&ires a +iece of information that yo& act&ally didnLt lect&re on$ %n that case, common sense sho&ld take +recedence o er +&re grading iss&es$ 5id yo& ask a M&estion st&dents co&ldnLt ansBer Bith c&rrent methodology, say9 Then maybe yo& sho&ld gi e e eryone f&ll credit for their aliant efforts, Bith e?tra credit for the one or tBo Bho may ha e act&ally knoBn hoB to sol e the +roblem$ E?am grading is also in many Bays like homeBork, altho&gh in this case caref&l +re+aration before grading can sa e m&ch time$ There seem to be tBo models of mathematics e?ams, Those that are gi en to classes of &+ to thirty st&dents, and those for fi e tho&sand (8ell, maybe fi e h&ndred)$ %n the first case, yo& end &+ grading all +roblems on all the st&dent +a+ers$ %n the second, yo& tend to grade only one +roblem b&t yo& m&st grade &ntil yo& dro+, and then get &+ and grade some more$ Uniformity Bith fairness and s+eed are keys to grading e?ams$ Fothing is more disconcerting than finding at 1 a$m$ that yo& ha e graded 14< +a+ers, an &ndetermined n&mber of Bhich Bere done incorrectly$ %f yo& are grading 700 +a+ers, caref&lly doing the +roblem yo&rself before grading any +a+ers is central to &niformity$ 8hen yo& ha e a com+lete sol&tion, make &+ a credit scheme before yo& grade any +a+ers$ (A sam+le +roblem sol&tion Bith grading scheme is shoBn at the end of this section$) 8hile yo& are +roctoring the e?am, yo& can shoB yo&r ansBer and grading scheme to other TAs for com+arison altho&gh it doesnLt h&rt to remember that this Bill be yo&r +roblem, so the final a++roach is yo&r call, as Bell as being yo&r res+onsibility$ My +oint here is that, Bithin reason, yo& need to find a grading scheme yo& are comfortable Bith, one yo& can defend$ As yo& grade the first feB +a+ers, occasionally re ieB yo&r scheme to see if it still seems to fit Bhat the st&dents act&ally kneB and did$ This re ieB Bill also hel+ a oid grade inflation or deflation that seems so ine itable o er ten ho&rs of Bork (CThis is the same mistake that %L e seen a h&ndred times noB Bell, this time yo& get a AeroNC)

Uniformity and fairness are related to one another$ 3o& may be a harder grader than yo&r officemate, b&t if yo& can defend yo&r methodology to other TAs and st&dents, they Bill CgenerallyC acce+t it$ (Fote that last generally$ ;ome may notK see the section on being a good colleag&e '(.et/*0Along/*0Bith/*0Colleag&es)$) Most TAs see the Cs+eedC +art of Cgrading Bith s+eedC as only being of benefit to themsel esIIC% Bant to get this +ile of +a+ers done and o&t of hereNC 2&t s+eed Bith acc&racy also benefits st&dents, beca&se they get to ha e their +roblems back Bhile they still remember Bhat the M&estions Bere$ To aid in s+eediness, try some of the folloBing, " .rade +roblems CbackBardsC if the ansBer is correct, yo& can scan the earlier +arts to see if the details are there$ " %f a feB st&dents ha e a &niM&e, strange method of sol ing a +roblem (this ha++ens maybe fi e +ercent of the time), +&t these +a+ers aside for a Bhile &ntil yo& can let yo&r s&bconscio&s Bork on Bhere the isolation may ha e come from$ " 5o not Brite long comments on the e?amination +a+ersK &se the ad ice gi en earlier in this section$ " Make an ansBer sheet to hand o&t to all the st&dents$ .o o er the ansBer sheet on the day on Bhich yo& hand back the e?amination co+ies$ %f st&dents feel that they did not get graded &niformly, yo& can make adH&stments right after class$ " 5onLt fight Bith st&dents o er +roblems that Bere ob io&sly graded incorrectlyK at the same time, donLt ca+it&late o er e ery reM&est for a regrade H&st beca&se it Bas asked for$ %f yo& are grading a f&ll class of e?amsIIthirty st&dents, the entire set of e?am M&estions, sayIIgrade +roblem one for each st&dent, then go on to +roblem tBo, etc$ %n this Bay, yo& Bill ens&re more &niformity$ Also, try to grade each indi id&al +roblem in one sittingK take a break only after yo& ha e seen all the &niM&e, e?otic methodologies the st&dents can come &+ Bith$ (2y the Bay, % find that % can sometimes bribe myself into grading by +romising that %Lll take a break as soon as % finish these last eight co+ies of +roblem 1$ Fot being ery bright, %Lm &s&ally able to &se that arg&ment to con ince myself to Bork ten more min&tes$) Uniformity has other benefits$ Among them, %t leads to feBer reIgrades, Bhich take a lot of time$ %t also makes for more defensible scores, so that st&dents consider the grading (and the grader) fairer$ After yo& ha e graded as many homeBork, M&iAAes and e?ams as yo& can stand, yo& Bill ha e to assign final grades$ Each de+artment of each &ni ersity and college seems to ha e alloBed its oBn system to e ol e and each of these systems is like each other, b&t not M&ite$ Eor the bareIbones descri+tion of one s&ch system, check o&t the grading section of 8hat ;ho&ld be on a ;yllab&s '(8hat/*0;ho&ld/*0be/*0on/*0a/*0;yllab&s)$ Fote, hoBe er, that this section is not com+letely forthcoming as to hoB allocation of final

grades is done in an standard class$ 8ell, let &s lift the

eil$

% am occasionally in charge of a large n&mber of calc&l&s sections, for instance *: sections a eraging *0 st&dents each$ Th&s, by the end of the semester, Be calc&l&s instr&ctors ha e in the range of 700 grades to assign$ Ass&me that Be gi e three e?ams d&ring the term (these are called +relims Bhere % come from), each Borth #00 +oints$ 8e also administer a #70 +oint final e?am (yes, it is called a final)K and additional materials, s&ch as homeBork and M&iAAes, add &+ to 70 more +oints$ Th&s st&dents can earn a total of 700 +oints$ %f the e?am is sched&led for a T&esday morning, Be Bill s+end that afternoon, 8ednesday and Th&rsday grading$ 2y late Th&rsday afternoon or Eriday morning at the latest, each instr&ctor Bill ha e collected finals, recorded grades, and totaled raB scores$ (6f co&rse, there are alBays one or tBo instr&ctors Bho ha e failed to do the abo eK they sho&ld read the section .et Along Bith Colleag&es '(.et/*0Along/*0Bith/*0Colleag&es)$) 8e then ha e a meeting at Bhich instr&ctors +&t &+ the raB scores of their st&dents$ This Be do in ten +oint inter als, from 700I4># to *#0I*0#$ F&mbers beloB that fit into the *00I0 category$ 8e find the median grade (not the mean), and assign to its tenI+oint inter al the set of last 2I grades$ 8orking &+ and doBn the inter als, Be then assign an A range, a C le el, and a 5 range$ %nter al Total 4>#I700 1 4=#I4>0 = 4<#I4=0 #4 4:#I4<0 *0 47#I4:0 #: 44#I470 *0 41#I440 #: 4*#I410 ** 4##I4*0 *= 40#I4#0 etc$ ;&m 1 ## *7 47 :# =# >< ##> #4<

Ha ing +&t together a c&r e based on class scores, Be noB assign letter grades to each st&dent in each section$ 8e are not done, hoBe er$ %n each section there are grades that are anomalo&s$ ;ome st&dents ha e one grade that is m&ch loBer than the rest, say$ 6thers ha e a rising set of scores, e$g$, 4>, :*, =<, and #10P#70 on the final, shoBing that they maybe ha e ca&ght on later than others$ 6ccasionally, st&dents Bill ha e +ersonal +roblem$ % disc&ss each s&ch anomaly abo&t fifteenI +ercent of the total II Bith the indi id&al instr&ctor, and Be come to some sort of consens&s$ 8e seem to end &+ raising abo&t half the grades, b&t no single grade e er goes &+ more than one le el, e$g$, from CR to 2I$ 6ne of my general feelings abo&t grading is that st&dents alBays do less than or eM&al to their best on indi id&al e?amsK b&t still, there m&st be tBo or three e?ams Bhere they +erform to e?+ectations theirs or mine$ E&rther, good homeBork and classroom M&estions may shoB interest, b&t they are a +rec&rsor of good e?am +erformance, not a s&bstit&te for that +erformance$ And finally, % ha e a thing abo&t the grade of ARK % Bill ne er raise a total beloB 4>0 +oints o&t of 700 to an AR$ To my mind, an AInat&ral is a +erfectly Bonderf&l grade, and % BonLt a+ologiAe for gi ing it$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents)

Coo+erati e -earning There are ario&s Bays to a++roach the methodology called coo+erati e learning$ 3o& can s&ggest that st&dents do their homeBork together$ 3o& can offer them Beekly st&dy sessions Bhere they can sit together and Bork +roblems Bhile yo& circ&late thro&gh the room offering hints and s&ggestions as to hoB to sol e +roblems$ (Eor more details of hoB s&ch a +rogram Borked for Myrtle -eBin and me a feB years ago, see U#<V$) After a short introd&ction of a +artic&lar to+ic, yo& can sto+ lect&ring so as to let st&dents try tBo or three of the e?ercises together, after Bhich yo& can ha e them +resent their sol&tions at the board$ 3o& can make &+ Borksheets for st&dents to &se to disco er mathematical conce+ts for themsel es some sam+le Borksheets are +ro ided at the end of this section$ 3o& can teach a +roHectIoriented ty+e of class, and then make &+ some Preally hardP Borksheets that the st&dents Bill need a feB days and some hel+ from yo& to constr&ct sol&tions for$ Then the st&dents can Bork in small gro&+s Briting &+ their sol&tions$ This method of coo+erati e learning is ery laborIintensi e for all concerned, and is not one yo& sho&ld sim+ly bl&nder into$ There are books a ailable, hoBe er, to hel+ yo& Bith the details see, for instance, U=V and U#7V$ At the end of this section, % ha e offered some of Matt HorakLs calc&l&s +roHects as sam+les$ 3o& can assign maHor +roHects (or final +roHects, or indi id&al +roHects) in +lace of some e?am or final$ ;t&dents can then re+ort to each other on Bhat they ha e learned and they can e al&ate each otherLs +roHects$ % ha e no do&bt that yo& can think of tBo or three other Bays to enco&rage coo+erati e learning in yo&r classroom$ %n addition to the M&estion of hoB coo+erati e sessions can be done, there is the more interesting M&estion of Bhy yo& might Bant to do them$ Eac&lty often e?+ress a desire to ha e st&dents acti ely engaged in the learning +rocessK Bhat better Bay to do this than to get them to Bork the +roblems and constr&ct the e?am+les9 An obHection that is sometimes raised to this last is, C2&t Bhen si? +eo+le Bork together, % canLt &s&ally tell Bhich of them are really Borking, and Bhich are co+ying$C 6S$ CAnd, can yo& tell Bhen they hand in their homeBork Bhether they did it themsel es or had someone else do it for them9C 8hen yo& get them Borking in class, yo& can Balk aro&nd obser ing the dynamics of gro&+sK yo& can ask M&estions like C8here are yo& st&ck9C and make s&ch comments as Bhen yo&r gro&+ has a sol&tion, %Lll ask one of yo& Unot saying Bhich oneV to +resent it on the board$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Technology Technology is being &sed more often in the mathematics classroom, from loBItech aids like o erhead +roHectors and micro+hones thro&gh midItech calc&lators to highItech com+&ters$ The more time yo& s+end in teaching,

the more yo& Bill be called on to &se some of these materials$ Perha+s it is H&st my oBn bias, b&t % find it +artic&larly annoying Bhen an instr&ctor comes to class &n+re+ared to &se the necessary eM&i+ment$ Ho ho, Bell, % bro&ght these trans+arencies, b&t % see they donLt fit the +roHector$ U3o& didnLt bother to check beforehand9V CAnd, % canLt fig&re hoB to t&rn it on$$$ can anyone hel+ me9 6h, and % see that my data disk isnLt com+atible Bith the softBare and no, % didnLt +re+are any back&+s, and$$$CIIBell, yo& Bere at that talk too, so Be both remember it Bell, right9 "R&le 6ne," %f yo& are &sing technology in yo&r class, test it beforehand$ Ha e a back&+ in case the Borst ha++ens$ Practice Bith the eM&i+ment before yo&r talk or classK t&rn it on, check the dis+lays for isibility, set a&dio eM&i+ment for so&nd clarity Bitho&t feedback, make s&re com+&ter and calc&lator dis+lays are isible from the back of the room, check to see that yo& ha e the +ro+er cables and +l&gs for yo&r la+to+$ "R&le TBo," Make s&re yo&r e?am+les H&stify the technology yo& are &sing$ 8hy do yo& need a calc&lator Bith an -C5 dis+lay +roHector H&st to draB the gra+h of a +arabola9 5o yo& ha e to load &+ Minitab or 5atadesk to com+&te means or de iations for a sam+le of siAe si?9 %n other Bords, choose yo&r e?am+les to fit the eM&i+ment$ -et the calc&lator gra+h the f&nction y O sin(?)P(# cos(?)) so that yo& can find all ma? and min for that f&nction$ Ha e the calc&lator gra+h y O a?Q* R # for ario&s choices of aK then ask st&dents to describe hoB changing a affects the gra+h$ 5o the same for y O ?Q* R k, for ario&s k$ Use Minitab to find means and de iations of cens&s data, so as to e ent&ally constr&ct and test hy+otheses for yo&rself and the st&dents to defend or dis+ro e$ "R&le Three," Make s&re that yo&r o erheads and dis+lays fit$ A trans+arency Bith Briting too small to read may not (M&ite) be com+letely &seless, b&t it certainly is fr&strating to the a&dience$ %t is not alBays +ossible to knoB hoB a +artic&lar room or hall is going to be config&red for a talk or class, b&t there are many good reasons for +&tting less information on each indi id&al trans+arency and making the siAe of the ty+e, font or +rint larger than yo& think yo& Bill need$ The ne?t r&le Bill disc&ss more details of s+eaking from o erheadsK for noB, let me contin&e Bith another n&tsInIbolts comment$ Another fr&stration for the a&dience that is sim+ly sol ed is that of the shrinking iolet Bho ref&ses to +ick &+ the micro+hone$ He thinks his m&mbling is s&fficient, Bhile the a&dience knoBs that the sol&tion is a ailable right at the lectern, if only he Bo&ld &se it$ "R&le Eo&r," RealiAe that teaching Bith technology is not the same as lect&ring$ The a&dience does not ha e time to take notes or absorb the ideas being shoBn on trans+arencies$ They are barely able to listen to yo&r +resentation$ ;&ch +roblems es+ecially occ&r in good talksK it can be ery fr&strating for a listener Bho thinks that he or she has H&st seen

a remarkably good lect&re b&t canLt really re+rod&ce any b&t the most minimal +arts of it$ ;&ch an a&dience has been more entertained than ta&ght$ To alle iate this +roblem, yo& co&ld consider bringing indi id&al co+ies of trans+arencies and dis+lays for hando&t$ ;+eak sloBly and alloB am+le time for M&estions Bhile o erheads are still on dis+layK recall that all b&t the e?+erts in the room need time to absorb Bhat yo& are telling them$ Also, do not +lay C+eekIaIbooC by co ering o er +arts of trans+arencies$ %f yo& donLt Bant the a&dience to get too far ahead of yo&, +&t less material on an indi id&al trans+arency and Brite larger$ Another method of kee+ing interest is to offer +eo+le a related e?ercise at the start of yo&r +resentation that (yo& can claim) that they Bill be able to sol e by the end of the talk$ "R&le Ei e," 2e +re+ared for total system meltdoBn$ % once ga e a lect&re in Ga+an on the day a ty+hoon hit$ Ei e min&tes after % began, all the electrical systems failed$ 8hen % asked Bhat to do, the a&dience said, CG&st go ahead Bith yo&r talk$C ;o % &sed chalk, Brote large on the board and s+oke lo&dly$ ;ome of Bhat % said m&st ha e gotten thro&gh, beca&se afterBard a listener came &+ to me and ery co&rteo&sly +ointed o&t an error % had made$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 8riting Assignments A ariety of small Briting assignments are &sable in the mathematics classroom$ Ha e a s&++ly of 1?7 inde? cards in the back of the lect&re hall for st&dents to &se to Brite M&estions abo&t the lect&re$ AnsBer the best or most freM&ently asked M&estions at the start of the ne?t class$ Ask an occasional M&iA M&estion in class, C8hatLs so f&ndamental abo&t the f&ndamental theorem of calc&l&s9C C5escribe one a++lication of todayLs to+ic$C At the end of a sol&tion of a mathematical e?ercise, ask the st&dents to describe the realIBorld im+lications of the ansBer they H&st got$ Ha e the st&dents Brite o&t a descri+tion of the to+ics co ered since the last e?am, as Bell as Bhy those to+ics might be im+ortant or &sef&l$ Fone of the abo e assignments takes a long time to constr&ct, nor is it diffic&lt to grade$ 3et each enhances the st&dents aBareness of the &sability of the classroom material$ E&rther, each asks the st&dents to think a bit more holistically and caref&lly abo&t the someBhat dee+er meanings of the materials they are st&dying$ 6f co&rse, the abo e are only a small sam+ling of the +ossibilities of Briting assignments in mathematics$ Eor lots more, check Co&ntryman U>V or MeierIRishel U#>V$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents)

Making U+ E?ams and @&iAAes Making &+ e?ams is both an art and a science$ %f yo& do it +ro+erly, yo& get an honest a++raisal of yo&r st&dents &nderstanding of the co&rse and the material and a++roach yo& ha e taken$ At the same time, by constr&cting good e?ams, yo& can a oid the +itfalls that make e?aminations time cons&ming to grade and diffic&lt beca&se of +ostIe?am com+laints$ %f yo& donLt do it Bell, yo& can +robably g&ess Bhat %Lm abo&t to say$ ;o Bhat are some of the ste+s yo& can &se to a oid +itfalls9 Eirst, make a list, for yo&rself and for the st&dents, of the to+ics yo& ha e co ered since the last e?am$ %f some of these to+ics are too timeIcons&ming or not interesting eno&gh to test, say so$ %f yo& feel yo& need to test one of the timeIcons&ming to+ics, e$g$, FeBtonLs method, or Riemann integrals e al&ated by s&mming and &sing ind&ction, yo& can consider testing them by assigning a s+ecial o ernight take home +roHect$ FoB that yo& and the st&dents knoB Bhich general to+ics are to be tested, it is time for yo& to decide, Bitho&t the st&dents hel+ of co&rse, hoB many and Bhat kinds of +roblems to assign in an a erage e?amination time +eriod$ -etLs say yo& ha e ninety min&tes$ % sometimes tell st&dents that % try to design a oneIho&r e?am and then gi e them ninety min&tes to do it$ This rather meaningless bit of information seems to rela? them$ .enerally s+eaking, stress red&ction before the e?am is not a bad ideaK there is a difference betBeen making an honest and fair, yet diffic&lt, e?am, and making one Bhich is sim+ly filled Bith tension$ ;&++ose yo& ha e decided on a fi e M&estion e?am, based on the fact that there Bere se en maHor to+ics since the last test, and one of those is easy eno&gh to ski+, Bhile a second can be embedded in a later, more im+ortant to+ic$ Make abo&t forty +ercent doIable by anyone Bho stayed aBake long eno&gh to Batch yo& shoB some e?am+les on the board$ (This is one of the reasons % donLt Bant to +ass st&dents Bho cannot get a 40/ a erage on my e?ams$ ;ee the section on .rading '(.rading/*0%ss&es) for details$) The forty +ercent do not ha e to be H&st like tri ial homeBork, by the BayK yo& might s+lit some of yo&r fi e +roblems into easy, moderate and diffic&lt sections, thereby s+reading the easy st&ff aro&nd the e?am$ FoB yo& ha e si?ty +ercent of the test left for more challenging material$ Half or a bit more of that can be similar to some of the more interesting e?am+les and homeBork +roblems the ty+es of +roblems that make st&dents think, b&t this gro&+ had a chance to do that thinking last Beek Bhile they Bere doing their homeBork e?ercises$ % basically ne er gi e the st&dents assigned homeBork +roblems on the e?ams, by the Bay, altho&gh % do knoB some +eo+le Bho do$ % H&st feel that &sing old e?am M&estions as homeBork +roblems often makes the st&dents feel that the instr&ctor didnLt really +&t an effort into the +re+aration$ Ass&ming that abo&t tBenty +ercent constr&cted, itLs noB time for yo& M&estion II or +arts of M&estions$ the essence of the material % ha e of the e?am is still to be to think of a more challenging FoB is the time to think, C8hat is been teaching for the last fo&r

Beeks, and hoB can % ask the st&dents to shoB Bhether they ha e absorbed that essence9C This does not necessarily mean asking them to form&late a +roofK rather it sho&ld indicate that yo& co&ld M&iA them abo&t some f&ndamental +oints that yo& ha e been making re+eatedly d&ring yo&r e?cellent lect&res$ 6ne effect of +&tting s&ch M&estions on the e?am is to increase attendance at the rest of yo&r e?cellent lect&resIIC8oBN %f % go to class, it might hel+ my grade on the ne?t +relimNC Eor many more details on hoB to make e?amination M&estions that hit the mark, try the section Using Cogniti e -e els to Make A++ro+riate Problems '(Using/*0Cogniti e/*0Model)$ -et me say a bit more abo&t finding challenging +roblems$ Early in my career, % &sed to e?+end real energy trying to fashion a +roblem that Bo&ld force st&dents to &se c&rrent knoBledge to disco er something neB$ Eor instance, % might be inclined to Brite, C3o&L e seen e?+onential groBth$ 8ell then, noB %Lll ask yo& to find o&t abo&t logistic groBth all on yo&r oBn$C These BellImeaning attem+ts almost alBays t&rned o&t ery badly$ The Cn&mbersC Bo&ld t&rn o&t to be too messy, and the conce+ts Bere too far from the st&dents c&rrent aBareness$ E&rther, thirty min&tes or so Bas sim+ly too little time for serio&s tho&ght$ ;o, e ent&ally, % came to the realiAation that at best % co&ld form&late a co&+le of +roblems that +roceed from easy to diffic&lt, Bith the diffic&lt +art co&nting maybe only fi e +oints$ (C3o& co&ldnLt get that +art9 8ell, good thing it Bas only Borth fi e +oints$ 6S, let me shoB yo& hoB$$$C) HoB do % do this9 .lad yo& asked$ -etLs go back to the e?+onential groBth into logistic groBth +roblem$ 8e s+lit it into fo&r +arts, each Borth fi e +oints, %n +roblem fo&r, yo& fo&nd the rate of groBth of a strain of bacteria$ FoB letLs s&++ose that the bacteria are groBing in a lab on a circ&lar Petri dish Bhose area is 7 cmQ* $ Th&s it is fair to ass&me that the area, A(t), co ered by bacteria in the t&be at any time t is go erned by the eM&ation a) dAPdt O k(7 A(t))$ %f yo& knoB that A(0) O # and dAPdt O 0$* at t O 0, Bhat al&e do yo& get for k9 %s this k al&e +ositi e or negati e, and Bhat does it tell yo& abo&t dAPdt9 FoB Briting b) dAPdt O k dt 7 A(t) for yo&r al&e of k, sol e this eM&ation for A(t)$ 3o&r sol&tion in +art b) Bill ha e an arbitrary constant in it$ Calling that constant 5, find its e?act al&e$ Using yo&r final sol&tion to +art c), make a reasonable arg&ment that A(t) is ne er larger than 7$ 8hat is yo&r reasoning for this9 Fotice that the abo e is still not an easy +roblem it BasnLt s&++osed to be$ HoBe er, the first +art sho&ld be manageable for any st&dent Bho &nderstands Bhat yo& ha e ta&ght abo&t e?+onential groBth and decay$ Part b) is harder, of co&rse, e?ce+t that yo& ha e already se+arated the ariables in the eM&ation the st&dents ha e to sol e$ E en if st&dents fo&nd a Brong ansBer to b), yo& can still grade +art c) as if b) Bas correct$ Th&s they can still recei e credit for +art c) Bitho&t getting ery many +oints for b) at all altho&gh they do ha e to get some kind of reasonable ansBer for b)$ That lea es +art d)$ %tLs not easy, Cb&t hey, at least itLs only a fi eI+ointer, right9C %f yo& noB design one more +roblem Bith a hard fi eI+ointer as +art d) and yo& are done$ 6n this

e?am, itLll be easy to get at least 40/, the a erage sho&ld be aro&nd <0 or <7/, and more than >0/ shoBs that the st&dents ha e Borked$ 2efore mo ing on, let me make a comment abo&t M&iAAes, % tend to make them relati ely easy$ Eor instance, if % lect&re on the chain r&le on Eriday, and maybe %L e shoBn the st&dents hoB to find the deri ati e of sinQ* (1?), % might then ask them to &se the last fi e min&tes of class to find the deri ati e of cosQ1 (*?)$ 6nce the st&dents see that the M&iAAes are reasonably easy, they ha e incenti e to come to class and listen caref&lly to Bhat % am teaching$ E&rther, the M&iA is then easy for meK % can sometimes finish grading in the fifteen min&tes betBeen classes, if no one sto+s me to ask M&estions$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Using Cogniti e Models to Make A++ro+riate Problems 8hat makes e?amination M&estions easy or diffic&lt9 To some e?tent, it is the st&dents le el of +re+aration and their attit&de toBard taking tests$ These are internally a++lied forces coming from the test takers themsel es$ 2&t, there are also e?ternal stim&li at Bork here, s&ch as the diffic&lty of the e?aminations Be instr&ctors constr&ct$ ;ome years ago, a ariety of indi id&als began to st&dy Bhat are noB called Pcogniti e +atternsPIIthe Bays by Bhich indi id&als learn information$ 2y noB, a n&mber of books and articles ha e been Britten offering models of Bhat are termed le els of cognitionK i$e$, the le els of diffic&lty of conce+ts, ideas, M&estions$ Most of these te?ts are more a++licable to the arts than to the sciences or mathematics (c$f$ U#V, U*V, U1V), b&t one Bhich has been s&ccessf&lly &sed in mathematics is d&e to 2enHamin 2loom U1V$ The 2loom model s+lits cognition into si? le els, from loBest to highest$ These le els are, PSnoBledge, Com+rehension, A++lication, Analysis, ;ynthesis and E al&ationP$ PSnoBledgeP, 2loomLs loBest category, +ertains to Bhether the st&dent has absorbed and can s&ccessf&lly reiterate the conce+t being ta&ght$ Eor e?am+le, in a firstIsemester calc&l&s class Be instr&ctors might a++ly this +rinci+le to teaching the definition of the Bord limit$ To see Bhether the st&dents ha e absorbed that definition, Be can ask the logical b&t not +artic&larly ins+ired M&estion, CCan yo& define the Bord LlimitL9C This is an acce+table M&estionK for the st&dents to master the conce+t, they m&st be able to artic&late it$ -et &s noB aim for higher le els of M&estions by going to the ne?t le el in 2loomLs model$ A note here before Be go on, 2loomLs &se of the Bord CknoBledgeC in reference to the loBest le el of cognition has sometimes been called into M&estion$ Many +eo+le ha e s&ggested that they belie e the Bord knoBledge indicates more cogniti e aBareness than 2loom seems to ascribe to it$ Alternati es s&ch as PmemoriAationP and PrecitationP ha e been s&ggested$ 8e belie e that the Bord PrecallP Bo&ld adeM&ately e?+ress the conce+t that the st&dent is trying to re+rod&ce Bhat the fac&lty member has ta&ght$

A second le el of cognition described by 2loom is Pcom+rehensionP$ 5o the st&dents ha e some &nderstanding higher than mere memoriAation of the conce+t &nder consideration9 Here Be mathematics instr&ctors may ask, C8hen yo& think of the Bord limit, Bhat do yo& see and hoB does this relate to the standard definition9C 6nce the st&dents ha e shoBn ability at the le el of com+rehension, they can be asked an Pa++licationP M&estion, C%f yo& Bere trying to e?tend the definition of limit to three dimensions, hoB might yo& try9C 8ith an assignment of this sort, Be are attem+ting to get the firstIsemester calc&l&s st&dent to e?tend their int&ition to thirdIsemester conce+ts$ Fotice, of co&rse, that since the to+ic of f&nctions of tBo or more ariables has not generally been introd&ced in the firstIsemester co&rse, s&ch a M&estion is +robably not a good one for an e?aminationK it is, hoBe er, a reasonable disc&ssion to+ic for a classroom sit&ation$ An e en higher le el of cogniti e tho&ght that Be might ask of a st&dent is that of PanalysisP$ Here the st&dent m&st take a+art the conce+t in M&estion and +&t it back into conte?t Bhile considering the im+lications$ Eor e?am+le, #$ Use Bords and +ict&res to in estigate Bhat ha++ens to the f&nction A O f(?,y)O?yP(? Q* R y Q* ) as ? and y head toBard Aero along the tBo distinct +aths ? O y and ? O 0$ This Bill not be an easy M&estion for firstIsemester st&dents to ansBerK they Bill need hel+ in finding the Bay beca&se the thinking reM&ires an ind&cti e lea+$ At this le el of com+le?ity, Be might ask the st&dent to Brite o&t the thinking in nat&ral lang&age as a Bay of artic&lating the mathematical conce+ts$ This co&ld be done at the board, as homeBork, as a class +roHect or in an indi id&al +a+er, de+ending on time constraints$ Fote, hoBe er, that for a third semester or higher calc&l&s st&dent, the abo e M&estion might sim+ly be one at 2loomLs com+rehension le el$ P;ynthesisP refers to the coalescing of analysis into an arg&mentati e claim, a diffic&lt and com+le? cogniti e +rocess for most st&dents, b&t one that can g&ide them to a more so+histicated le el of mathematics$ To+ics of this ty+e can incl&de hy+othetical definitions, ario&s historical treatments, or differing inter+retati e ieBs$ A ty+ical synthesis to+ic, 5isc&ss historical factors that led from Ca&chyWs definition of limit to 8eierstrassLs definition$ ;&ch to+ics best lend themsel es to Briting assignments$ 6f co&rse, a synthesis M&estion can also be M&ite so+histicated, and Be Bo&ld +robably not Bant to s&ggest it to st&dents in a firstIsemester calc&l&s co&rse$ HoBe er, Be might be interested in s+ending a feB min&tes disc&ssing s&ch a to+ic in class so as to gi e the st&dents an &nderstanding of hoB mathematics is not Britten in stone hoB it changes o er time, hoB int&ition solidifies into definition and theorem, and related ideas$ %n a synthesis assignment, Be can modify the e?+ectations Be hold for st&dents$ Claims can be loBIle el or high, de+ending on Bhether the thesis and s&bseM&ent +roof reach back to the earlier le els of critical tho&ght those of a++lication, com+rehension and knoBledge or &+ to a high le el like e al&ation and arg&ment$ .enerally, a synthesis +a+er incl&des most, if not all, cogniti e categoriesK since the res+onse Bill

be com+le?, the st&dent Bill address at least one highIle el idea$ The highest le el of com+rehension in 2loomLs model is called Pe al&ationP, Bhere the st&dent shoBs that she can embody the conce+t itself as Bell as all the cogniti e le els described +re io&sly$ At this cogniti e le el, Be might ask for a maHor +a+er, since ob io&sly these M&estions reM&ire a s&bstantial effort from the st&dent$ Eor instance, Be might ask, C8hy is it so hard for +eo+le to absorb the e+silonIdelta definition of limit9C An e al&ation disc&ssion is sometimes called an Parg&mentP$ Arg&ment +a+ers make for M&ality maHor +roHects, as in C5isc&ss hoB FeBtonLs and -eibnitA ieBs of calc&l&s differed, and the im+lications of each +ersonLs a++roach for the history of tho&ght and for the teaching of mathematics$C *$ An E?am+le from %nfinite ;eries$ To find o&t if st&dents ha e been listening in lect&re, % sometimes ask a M&ick M&iA M&estion at the recall le elK for instance, Eind the limit of the series, 1P*R1P=R1P1*R1P1*R This sim+ly asks the st&dents to s&bstit&te the a++ro+riate n&mbers into the form&la for con ergence of geometric series$ To ga&ge the st&dents at the le el of com+rehension, % +ro+ose that they, Eind limU# I 4 I : R 9(1P*)(#P4)Qn V Here % am testing Bhether st&dents knoB the abo e form&la$ At the same time, % can find o&t Bhether they ha e absorbed the fact that, as % ha e said a n&mber of times in class, adding or s&btracting a finite n&mber of terms to a series does not affect its con ergence or di ergence$ The folloBing M&alifies as an analysis M&estion in a freshman class, Eind all a, r s&ch that 9arQn con erges$ This last is a +ossibility for either a longer M&iA M&estion or an e?amination +roblem$ The ne?t M&estion, a CsynthesisC +roblem, Bas &sed as a maHor +art of a final e?am, 5isc&ss the infinite series yo& ha e seen in this co&rse$ %ncl&de con ergence tests, and +ro ide e?am+les of series for Bhich each test does and does not Bork$ Altho&gh st&dents did not e?actly a++reciate the abo e M&estion, % fo&nd o&t a great deal abo&t Bhat they had learned abo&t infinite series$ An Ce al&ationC +roHect, m&ch too in ol ed to be considered a mere e?amination M&estion, is one gi en in a mathematical e?+osition co&rse, Trace the historical de elo+ment of the conce+t of con ergence$ %ncl&de some analysis of E&lerLs Bork on defining the e?+onential, along Bith a disc&ssion of the Riemann integral, Ca&chyLs tests ers&s Ca&chyLs C+roofs,C 8eierstrassL Bork, and .$H$ HardyLs contrib&tions to series tests$

"1$ -e els of Cognition and T&torials$" 6nce Be &nderstand le els of cognition, Be see that Be ha e been &sing them in e eryday sit&ations, A st&dent Balks into o&r office and says, C% canLt factor #0?* ? 1$C %n 2loomLs model, this is a knoBledge M&estion$ 8e shoB her hoB to factor the +olynomial, then s&ggest, CFoB yo& try the ne?t one, #7?* ? #$C 8e are testing com+rehension$ Fe?t, Be Bonder if she can find a Bay to factor a c&bic$ Here, Be are asking for a++lication, and also an analysis$ The st&dent noB Bants to knoB, C%s there a form&la for finding the roots of all +ossible +olynomials9C ;heLs ha ing &s analyAe and synthesiAe o&r knoBledge of algebra$ Einally, Bhen she bl&rts o&t, C8hy do Be need to knoB this9 Can yo& gi e me a real Borld a++lication9 8hatLs algebra good for, anyBay9C sheLs asking for e al&ationK she Bants a reasonable arg&ment as to Bhy she sho&ld learn the s&bHect$ 6f co&rse, Be ha e been dealing Bith s&ch st&dents all o&r academic li es$ The +oint here is that Bhen Be &nderstand the cogniti e le els of the M&estions and ansBers Be are dealing Bith, Be Bill better &nderstand the cogniti e le els of the st&dents$ Then Be can design o&r c&rric&l&m, M&estions and e?ams to fit those le els$ "4$Co&rse 5esign and Cognition" Altho&gh the content and methodologies of calc&l&s and algebra co&rses are &s&ally (tho&ght not alBays) M&ite Bell defined, the same is not necessarily tr&e in other areas of mathematics, s&ch as history of mathematics or geometry$ Here, too, knoBledge of cogniti e le els can aid in co&rse constr&ction and a++lication$ Tom has +re io&sly, b&t less com+letely, described a geometry co&rse for st&dents Bho CknoB no geometryC U*1V, Bhich he has constr&cted aro&nd the 2loom model, ;tart by asking the st&dents Bhat geometric Bords they knoB or remember$ At this +oint, they are Borking on the le el of knoBledge, offering Bords like +oint, line, +laneK names like E&clid and PythagorasK s&ch conce+ts as theorem or a?iomK ag&e terms like sha+e and solid$ ;+end some time asking the st&dents to catalog&e their randomly chosen terms into categoriesK Bhat makes Bords like +oint or Pythagoras different from s&rface or theorem9 This alloBs st&dents to shoB hoB m&ch they com+rehend the terms of geometry, and to analyAe differences and similarities in the conce+ts$ FoB ask, C8hat is geometry9C This is a M&estion that reM&ires a good deal of synthesis and e al&ation$ AlloB st&dents to find a definition that a++eals to them and s&ggest that as a CBorking definitionC of the conce+t$ Then gi e them an assignment that challenges their definition$ Eor instance, st&dents almost alBays describe geometry as earth meas&rement$ A good assignment Bhich confronts this definition is to ha e them meas&re the height of a large b&ildingIIan a++lication of their knoBledge of geometryIIand then find o&t by s&bseM&ent disc&ssion

(analysis of their methodologies) that the techniM&e they ha e &sed does not Bork on the s&rface of the earth$ Then go on to the mo e so+histicated +roblems that occ&r beca&se of the co&ntere?am+les that can be constr&cted, M&estions like, C8hat do triangles look like on the s&rface of the earth9C ;&ch M&estions are ery analytic and gi e the st&dents a feel for hoB the r&les of mathematics are constr&cted$ The co&rse is noB o+ened o&t &+on a +lethora of analytic M&estions that lend themsel es to Briting and disc&ssion, C8hat is an analog&e to a straight line on the s&rface of the earth9 CHoB Bo&ld yo& meas&re angles on the earth9C C8hat is the difference betBeen the s&rface of the earth and the earth itself9C E&rther, yo& can address synthetic and e al&ati e M&estions, CHoB many s&rfaces are there9 And Bhat does the Bord s&rface mean9C C%f E&clid kneB the earth Bas ro&nd, Bhy did he say he Bas st&dying geometry9 8hat Bas his definition of geometry, and hoB might it differ from o&rs9C C8hat are Lstraight linesL in s+ace9 Can Be e en talk abo&t them Bhen there is no LgridL to com+are them Bith9 And if Be cannot talk abo&t straightness in s+ace, hoB do Be knoB hoB to get to the moon9C Fone of these M&estions is tri ial, yet all come o&t of only a feB ho&rs of sim+le disc&ssion and seemingly tri ial Briting assignments gi en to moderately ske+tical st&dents Bho are s&++osedly not at all mathematically inclined$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) "7$ ;ome Einal Considerations" Altho&gh Be ha e chosen 2loomLs ertical model of cognition, there are others that can be &sef&l in the +rocesses described in this +a+er$ Eor instance, see Chaffee U<V, Bho offers a horiAontal model based more on st&dent Briting strategies$ Another model, more ling&istic in format, is offered by Dygotsky U*:V$ ;ee also Piaget U*#V for a disc&ssion of cogniti e strategies in yo&ng learners$ Another sim+le cogniti e model from com+osition co&rses, someBhat o erla++ing Bith 2loomLs, consists of H&st three classifications of Briting, +ersonal, informational and arg&mentati e$ 6ne +ersonal +a+er might be C% chose to do mathematics beca&se % fo&nd it as creati e as artCK another is CMy mind is more inclined to algebra than geometry$C Most mathematical +a+ers fall into the informational category, the ClargeIscale geometry of the &ni erse can be +artially e?+lained by c&r at&re in tBo and three dimensionsCK or CMessages can be sent Bith (almost) com+lete sec&rity$C Thesis statements formed aro&nd b&siness a++lications of linear +rogramming and fractals and fractals dimensions can also fall into this category$ Arg&ment +a+ers, as m&ch rhetorical as mathematical, ha e either soft or hard theses$ A soft thesis reM&ires only information to +ro e its claim thro&gh a loBer le el of cognitionK a hard thesis, &nless it em+loys so+histicated statistics, m&st be s&++orted by more analysis and inter+retation$ E?am+les of soft theses might be the folloBing, CCalc&l&s st&dents are illI+re+ared by their high school e?+erienceC or C8riting assignments +ro ide an effecti e form of e al&ation in the mathematics classroom$C ;ome e?am+les of hard theses, de+ending on hoB they are a++roached, are, C;tatistical analysis shoBs that cancer rates highly correlate Bith cigarette smokingC and

C2etter socialiAation in middle school leads to higher retention rates of Bomen in mathematics and science +rograms$C 2y &sing cogniti e models as g&ides in o&r mathematical teaching in Bays that o&r Briting colleag&es ha e long done in com+osition, Be can mo e st&dents to dee+er le els of &nderstanding of mathematics$ %n the classroom, Bhere st&dents often ask, C8hatLs it good for,C the &se of cogniti e techniM&es can hel+ them, and &s, find ansBers to this kind of M&estion$ References$ 2loom, 2enHamin, ed$ PTa?onomy of Ed&cational 6bHecti esP$ FeB 3ork, -ongmans, .reen, #>7*$ Chaffee, Gohn$ P Thinking CriticallyP$ 2oston, Ho&ghton Mifflin, #>><$ Piaget, G$ PThe ChildLs Conce+tion of F&mberP$ -ondon, Ro&tledge and Pa&l, #>7*$ Rishel, T$ P8riting in the Math Classroom, Math in the 8riting ClassPK or HoB % ;+ent My ;&mmer Dacation PUsing 8riting to Teach MathematicsP, ed$ A$ ;terrett$ MAA Math Fotes #:$ 8ashington, The Mathematical Association of America, #>>*$ Dygotsky, -$ PTho&ght and -ang&ageP$ Cambridge, M%T Press, #>=:$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) The Acti e Classroom ;hoB &+ early, maybe by fi e min&tes$ ;ay hello$ Cheerf&lly$ ;tart handing o&t homeBork or neB hando&ts$ Ask a general M&estion, like CHoBLs it going9C 6r, C8as the homeBork too hard this time9C %f the res+onse is C% co&ldnLt do n&mber se enteen,C say, C6S, %Lll do that one on the board Bhen class starts$C %f itLs C3es, the homeBork Bas too long,C then tell them, C6S, %Lll do some at the beginning$C %f yo&Lre doing a recitation and not lect&ring, yo& can ask if the lect&rer is &+ to date on the syllab&sIIyo& may Bell knoB the ansBer to this M&estion, b&t at least yo& Bill elicit a res+onse$ This is +referable to telling the st&dents Bhere theyLre s&++osed to be in the te?t and Bhich homeBork yo&Lll be disc&ssing today$ 2y this time, more st&dents are filtering into the classroom, and yo& can bring them into the same +reclass con ersation$ %f the st&dents Bant to talk abo&t their fl&, the last class, or last nightLs basketball game, thatLs fineII&ntil the +rescribed time for yo&r class to start$ Then say, C8ell, itLs abo&t time to start$ 5id anyone ha e a homeBork M&estion, or something from the last lect&re that yo& didnLt &nderstand9C 6r tell them, CGenny said she co&ldnLt do n&mber se enteen, so % +romised %Ld do that one$ 5id anyone ha e a M&estion before that9C ;&++ose no one does$ Ask Genny to remind e eryone Bhat M&estion se enteen saysIIthat Bay she can talkIIthen ask all the st&dents +resent if Canyone has an idea hoB to start the +roblem$C %f no one says anything, donLt H&st start sol ing it, offer a hint, like, C$$$this is a section on +arametrically defined f&nctionsK Bhat might that ha e to do Bith the +roblem9C At that +oint, someone &s&ally s&ggests, C8ell, % started Bith the form&la for L+arametric deri ati esL$C Res+ond, CRight$ ThatLs the one that goes dyPd? O (dyPdt)(dtPd?), H&st like the chain r&le, right9 ;o hoB does that fit the +roblem9 C %n this Bay, yo& are getting the st&dents to tell yo&

Bhat they knoB, not H&st abo&t this +roblem, b&t also abo&t their com+rehension of the recent material from the co&rse$ There are a n&mber of general Bays to kee+ the classroom acti e, Ask leading M&estionsIIones Bhose ansBers are not sim+ly yes, no, or CsM&are root of tBo$C 8hen a to+ic de+ends on some earlier conce+t, ask the st&dents to +ro ide the earlier information and form&las so as to shoB yo& Bhat they remember$ 6nce yo& shoB hoB to do one +roblem, choose a similar one and ask st&dents to Bork on it comm&nally$ Then, Bhen they ha e all had a chance to begin sol ing it, go to the board and Brite doBn Bhat they tell yo& is the method of sol&tion$ 3o& can also tell the st&dents a bit abo&t the history of the to+ic or one a++lication of it, and then ask them to bring in more of the history or another a++lication for the ne?t class$ Then yo& can start off the ne?t time Bith Bhat yo& ha e fo&nd o&t$ 5onLt r&sh thro&gh yo&r oBn ansBers as if time Bere the enemy$ .i e e eryone time to think of Bhether they &nderstand yo&r calc&lations and Bhether they need to ask abo&t the seemingly tri ial ste+s yo& tho&ght too easy to Brite doBn there yo& Brote *R#, then o er there yo& Brote 1, Bhy9 E ery to+ic Bas neB to each of &s at some +ointK Be had to think hard abo&t Bhat made it Bork$ Then Bhen Be fo&nd o&t, Be began to think it Bas tri ial$ 2&t it isnLtIInot for the neB st&dent, not for the +erson Bho didnWt see it Bell the first time o&tIIso Be sho&ld gi e e eryone a chance to ask all the M&estions the smart ones, the Brongheaded ones, the illItho&ght o&t ones, the ones Be sho&ld ha e asked the first time Be saB the material$ %f Be can set &+ a classroom atmos+here Bhere o&r st&dents can ask all these M&estions, then Be Bill be a long Bay toBard being a Cgood teacherC Bhate er that conce+t may &ltimately mean$ This has only been a minimal +resentation a firstIIcaseIscenarioIIof methods for making a classroom more res+onsi e$ More interesting and ad anced techniM&es incl&de the &se of Borksheets and coo+erati e strategies like ha ing st&dents Bork together$ ;t&dents can also make +resentations, both small, like indi id&al +roblems, and large, like final +roHects, of Bork they ha e done$ As yo& get f&rther into this to+ic, yo& Bill Bant to cons&lt s&ch references as 2onBell U4V, Cohen U=V and McSeachie U#=V for more ad anced s&ggestions$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) C8hat 8as That @&estion Again9C 8hen yo& lead recitations, yo& Bill find that yo& o+en yo&rself to all sorts of M&estions$ This sit&ation is one of the most an?ietyI+rod&cing ones in teachingK C% ha e absol&tely no idea Bhat they Bill ask$ HoB can % handle that9C -etLs e?amine some of the ty+es of M&estions yo& Bill be called &+on to ansBer, "The standard M&estion$" An e?am+le, CCan yo& do n&mber tBel e9C %f yo& +re+ared to before going to class, yo& can e en ansBer, C;&re$C G&st make s&re that yo& then do it$

"The M&estion that makes no sense$" E eryone asks s&ch M&estions on occasionK resist the im+&lse to +&t the M&estioner doBn$ %nstead, think abo&t hoB to t&rn the M&estion into a good one, maybe by res+onding Bith, CMaybe Bhat yo& are asking is$$$9C 6f co&rse, it is also +ossible that the listener asked a meaningless M&estion beca&se Bhat yo& tho&ght Bas a +erfectly clear e?+lanation Bas o+aM&e to him or her$ 6r else he or she Bas daydreaming tho&gh +art of yo&r +re io&s disc&ssion$ %n any case, yo& noB ha e been gi en an o++ort&nity to reinforce +oints yo& (tho&ght) yo& made earlier$ "The silly M&estion$" 5onLt make a big deal of it$ Act as if itLs an honest M&estion$ AnsBer it M&ickly, then mo e on$ 3o& Bill occasionally ha e a st&dent Bho seems to s+ecialiAe in asking silly M&estions$ 6ther st&dents Bill roll their eyes as soon as they see his or her hand go &+K resist the im+&lse to Cside BithC the others by smiling, Hoking or ansBering Bith a smirk on yo&r face$ ;&ch beha ior on yo&r +art is sim+ly &n+rofessional, e en if yo& knoB that some of the st&dents are going to doBngrade yo& on e al&ations for yo&r CalloBing too many st&+id M&estions$C "The &nintelligible M&estion$" 3o& might sim+ly say, C% donLt M&ite &nderstand$ Co&ld yo& re+hrase that9C 6r, C$$$Are yo& asking abo&t$$$9C Then try to re+hrase the M&estion into something sensible$ Alternati ely, yo& can ask someone else to try to re+hrase the M&estion$ "The Cchallenge to yo&r a&thorityC M&estion$" % often get these in first semester calc&l&s$ C-etLs see if he knoBs Bhat they ta&ght me in my last Beek of intensi e calc&l&s at my high school$C 6r, C-et me ask him hoB to do the hardest +roblem in this section, e en tho&gh it BasnLt assigned for homeBork$C % ansBer these M&estions sloBly and caref&lly, if % can$ %f % donLt remember the ansBer, % Bill res+ond, CThat BasnLt +art of the assignment, b&t %Lll be glad to shoB yo& in the ne?t class$C Then % make s&re to do so$ % resist the im+&lse to t&rn the M&estion back on the st&dent by asking, C5id yo& PtryP it9 Then BhatLs the ansBer9C This last might set &+ an ad ersarial sit&ation, one Bhere yo& are either +ercei ed as knoBing the sol&tion b&t &nBilling to shoB it to the st&dents, or as being someone Bho isnLt really o+en to ansBering st&dent M&estions$ "The Cgood M&estion$C" HoorayN A good M&estion$ ;ay, softly, honestly, CThatLs a good M&estion$C Then ansBer it$ 2y +&blicly recogniAing good M&estions, yo& enco&rage more of them$ "The M&estion yo& donLt ha e any ansBer for$" This is e eryoneLs nightmare, and this nightmare Bill sometimes come tr&e$ ;o Bhat9 G&st

res+ond, C% donLt knoB$C Then ask the a&dience Bhat they knoB abo&t the to+ic$ 3o& might H&st learn something neB$ Remember, anyone can ask anyone else a M&estion they canLt ansBer$ 6n the to+ic of M&estions and ansBers, % am reminded that for some years % ha e had a large cartoon +oster on the back of my office door$ A large beaked a ian in a dressIICMs$ 2ird,C +erha+sIIis standing amid a circle of c&te, f&AAy, small animals, Bho are looking BideIeyed at Ms$ 2ird as she intones, CThere is no Brong ansBer, Malcolm, b&t if there Bere, that Bo&ld be it$C @&estions and ansBers are an integral +art of learning$ 6&r method of handling them is im+ortant to o&r effecti eness in o&r teaching, and &ltimately in o&r careers$ %t behoo es &s to get &sed to them, to think abo&t them, to enco&rage them, and to enHoy Bhat they can teach &s abo&t o&rsel es$ ;ometimes Be Bill e en be s&r+rised at hoB m&ch Be act&ally knoBN Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Moti ating ;t&dents Too many fac&lty inter+ret the Bord Cmoti atingC as C+anderingCK dressing &+ as %saac FeBton, say, telling silly Hokes that are o&t of character, or gi ing o&t ALs as if they Bere Hellybeans$ FoB, far be it from me to claim that %L e ne er told silly Hokes, and % donLt gi e o&t ALs like Hellybeans, b&t % ha e gi en o&t Pringles +otato chi+s to ill&strate hy+erbolic manifolds, and$$$b&t % digress$ To me, moti ating means addressing the history, c&lt&re, and &sef&lness of mathematics$ 3o& donLt ha e to get a second bachelorLs degree in history to insert a bit of information into yo&r calc&l&s class abo&t FeBton and -eibnitA, or abo&t 2isho+ 2erkeley and his fe&d Bith FeBton o er infinitesimals$ 3o& can also s+end a feB min&tes reading &+ abo&t E&lerLs treatment of e?+onentials, Ca&chy and 8eierstrass on limits, and 2olAano abo&t contin&ity$ There are a n&mber of references yo& can &se for this material, for instance, 2oyer U7V and Slein U#:V$ Eor a more ad anced a++roach, try EdBards U#1V$ C&lt&ral as+ects of mathematics are also related to the history$ ;t&dents enHoy hearing abo&t the ancient .reek a++roach to infinity, and hoB it Bo&ld ha e affected their Billingness to acce+t the eighteenth and nineteenth cent&ry a++roaches to calc&l&s, infinity and the infinitesimal$ E&rther, the fact that s&ch ideas contin&e to be M&estioned and refined into the tBentieth and tBentyIfirst cent&ries makes the st&dents feel that their oBn ske+ticism abo&t these conce+ts is rele ant and al&able$ ;t&dents are also highly interested in hoB mathematics a++lies to their oBn fields of interest$ Here, the +rinci+al of C;hoB, 5onLt TellC takes o erK start a section on second order linear ordinary differential eM&ations Bith a model of a shock absorber from a car$ 5isc&ss the +rinci+le of dam+ed oscillation$ Then deri e the differential eM&ation for the model, disc&ssing +ossible benefits and shortcomings of the ass&med linearity of the system of eM&ations$ 6nce yo& ha e sol ed the system, donLt sto+ there disc&ss the meaning of the ario&s constants as it a++lies to the comfort le el of the ride of indi id&al a&tomobiles$

The same +rinci+le a++lies to &sing Eo&rier series in sol ing the heat and Ba e eM&ations, to &sing linear algebra in describing in entory control, to e?+onential f&nctions in dr&g +rescri+tion, And b&t yo& get the idea$ %f yo& canLt think of e?am+les, H&st look at some of the harder +roblems in yo&r c&rrent te?tbookK chances are that there are some good a++lications there$ %n closing, recall that st&dents are alBays asking for moti ationK yo& are likely doing the same Bith res+ect to yo&r firstIyear analysis co&rse$ %f yo& are ske+tical of Bhat % H&st said, sim+ly take note of the n&mber of times yo& hear II or, in yo&r analysis class, yo& think II that famo&s M&estion, C8hatLs this good for9C Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) HoB to ;ol e %t 6ne of the Bays in Bhich yo& can be hel+f&l to yo&r st&dents is to offer general s&ggestions as to hoB to sol e the ty+es of mathematical +roblems they Bill be seeing thro&gho&t the semester$ Many years ago, .eorge PWlya Brote a book called PHoB to ;ol e %tP U**V, in Bhich he addressed the same M&estion$ Many +eo+le ha e &sed PWlyaLs model since then (only a feB Bith attrib&tion)$ PWlya s&ggests the folloBing$ To try to sol e a mathematical +roblem, #$ *$ 1$ 4$ 7$ :$ Read the +roblem$ Read the +roblem again$ 5raB a +ict&re or diagram$ Eind and label the &nknoBns Bhat are yo& looking for$ Eind and label the knoBn M&antities$ 8rite doBn all the form&las and relations betBeen the knoBn and &nknoBn$ <$ ;ol e the +roblem$ =$ Check the ansBer$ And here % might add a s&ggestion, Think abo&t hoB yo& might generaliAe the +roblem$ %n his book, PWlya offers a n&mber of indi id&al +roblems II geometry +roblems, Bord +roblems and related rates +roblems from calc&l&s, and others that he sol es by &sing his methodology$ Many calc&l&s te?ts, for instance, ;teBart U*4V and ThomasIEinney U*7V, do the same in their disc&ssion of Bord +roblems$ %nstead of my taking &+ s+ace shoBing hoB they do this, % Bill H&st recommend that yo& take a look at these books for details$ -et me make a feB s&ggestions abo&t hoB yo& might a++roach the teaching of s&ch diffic&lt to+ics as Bord +roblems and related rates +roblems for the st&dents, " " " " Make +eo+le comfortable donLt make time an enemy$ ;&ggest s+ecial cases to try$ PraiseIInot inordinately, b&t +raiseIIthose Bho get the ansBers$ %f a++ro+riate, ask the st&dents hoB the st&dents might generaliAe the +roblems$

"E?ercise, " Choose tBo +roblems from the te?tbook yo& are &sing ne?t semester$ ;ol e these +roblems sloBly and deliberately &sing PWlyaLs methodIIno shortc&ts alloBedN 5oes his method fit these +roblems9 %s the fit +erfect, H&st adeM&ate, or not at all9 (Eor instance, +eo+le often com+lain that Ca +ict&re H&st isnLt needed for this +roblem$C) HoB Bo&ld yo& modify PWlyaLs a++roach to fit yo&r +roblems9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Co&rse E al&ations Fo do&bt yo& ha e been on the st&dent sideIIthe Cgi ing sideCIIof co&rse e al&ations$ FoB yo& Bill see the Cteacher side$C Co&rse e al&ations can be e?tremely &sef&l in telling yo& hoB yo&r indi id&al class of st&dents has +ercei ed yo&r teaching d&ring a s+ecific semester$ 5id the st&dents see yo& as CorganiAedC9 E en if neither they nor anyone else can tell yo& e?actly Bhat CorganiAedC means, the st&dents ha e an o++ort&nity to offer an o+inion$ 8ere yo& Chel+f&lC9 5oes that mean, Cdid yo& ansBer M&estions Bitho&t ins&lting the st&dentsL intelligence9C 6r that yo& had lots of office ho&rs, e en tho&gh most st&dents ne er came9 6r that, hea en forbid, one afternoon yo& shoBed them a C+re ieB co+yC of the e?act same e?am as the one e?am administered that e ening9 FoB that last Bo&ld be Chel+f&lCIIb&t not in the sense that a good fac&lty member Bo&ld like to see$ 8ere yo& CknoBledgeableC abo&t the material9 6f co&rse, yo& co&ld be s&ccessf&lly com+leting a co&rse in com+le? analysis Bith a grade of CARC, and still ha e the st&dents in yo&r calc&l&s section saying that yo& BerenLt$ %n ieB of all the abo e ske+ticism, Bhat is the f&nction of the st&dent e al&ation +rocess9 8ell, first of all, the +rocess does ha e &ses other than the ones H&st disc&ssed$ Take, for instance, the M&estion of CknoBledge$C %f yo& knoB lots abo&t f&nctions of se eral com+le? ariables yet canLt gi e an int&iti e res+onse to the M&estion, C8hy does the ratio test Bork9C then yo&r calc&l&s st&dents are of co&rse going to see yo& as someone Bho doesnLt knoB m&ch abo&t calc&l&s$ (CHeLs really a nice g&y, b&t$$$C) Alternati ely, if yo&r res+onse to the M&estion abo&t the ratio test is to gi e a rigoro&s +roof of the test, then the st&dents are likely to gi e yo& high marks for knoBledgeabilityIIand loB ones for hel+f&lness$ (C;he knoBs a lot of math, b&t she canLt bring it doBn to o&r le el$C) As to the M&estion of CorganiAation,C this one is tricky$ % ha e +ersonally tho&ght a lot abo&t Bhat it means, beca&se % am consistently rated loBer in this category than any other in my o er thirty years of college teaching$ % belie e that Bhen st&dents talk abo&t organiAation they seem to mean, CHe has a +lan in his head as to Bhere BeLll be at the end of each class, he tells &s Bhat that +lan is, and he gets there almost e ery time$C % m&st admit that, if this last is the st&dentsL Cdefinition,C then % donLt conform to their ideal$ %nstead, % am Billing

to take M&estions at (most) e ery o++ort&nityK % am ha++y to re isit earlier conce+ts if st&dents shoB that they donLt knoB themK % sometimes make &+ more than one lesson +lan in my more CnonstandardC co&rses, and then let the st&dents M&estions and interest dictate Bhich one % &se on a +artic&lar day$ %n ret&rn for this last, % occasionally begin class by o&tlining Bhere Be ha e been, and % do +eriodic re ieBs to shoB the st&dents Bhere Be ha e come to$ % also take some comfort from the fact that one of o&r collegeLs +re io&s teaching aBard Binners once told me, ha ing seen my e al&ations, C5onLt Borry, Tom, % alBays get LloB marksL for knoBledge, too$C ;t&dent co&rse e al&ations are th&s &sef&l, Bitho&t being a com+lete determiner of teaching ability$ They tell &s Bhat the st&dents e?+ect of &s$ They teach &s something abo&t the e?+ectations of o&r a&dience$ Maybe most im+ortantly, they alloB &s to find o&t o&r oBn classroom goals, and hoB these goals conform to or conflict Bith the ones en&merated on o&r e al&ation forms$ %n short, Be need to knoB hoB Be are being e al&ated, Bhere those e al&ations go, and Bhat each of the M&alities listed on the e al&ation form has to do Bith o&r a++roach to teaching$ At Cornell, Be gi e a n&ts and bolts e al&ation form to all TAs and fac&lty$ They are asked to hand o&t and collect this form ery early in the term, &s&ally aro&nd Beek three, b&t they are s+ecifically enco&raged not to t&rn it in to any official or semiofficial entity in the de+artment$ The f&nction of this e al&ation is to let the instr&ctors find o&t hoB %Lm doing in ario&s categories, from C5o % s+eak lo&dly eno&gh9C thro&gh C5o % gi e eno&gh time for M&estions9C to CAre my ansBers intelligible9C The f&ll form is gi en at the end of this section, along Bith a feB other ty+ical e al&ations$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) .et Along Bith Colleag&es %f there is only one +iece of ad ice yo& sho&ld take to heart from this entire ol&me, it is that embodied in the title of this section, .et along Bith yo&r colleag&es$ 8hen yo& are told to come to the Ccalc&l&s oneC meeting, do so$ .rade in a timely fashion, and do it in s&ch a Bay that others Bill not ha e to field tBoIh&ndred st&dent com+laints$ 5o yo&r share of the b&syBork in ol ed in administering the co&rseK offer to gi e occasional make&+sK to r&n off fi e h&ndred co+ies of e?amsK to teach once or tBice for a sick colleag&e$ ;hoB &+ for office ho&rsK donLt lea e it to the other TAs to offer e?c&ses for yo& and then ha e to hel+ yo&r st&dents in yo&r +lace$ 2e nice to +eo+le, e en if they arenLt nice to yo& Bho knoBs Bho they are, or Bhat kinds of +roblems they may be ha ing at the time$ And, if they PreallyP arenLt nice, then at least be formal and +rofessional$ 3o& ha e e ery right to choose yo&r friends, b&t colleag&es are more like family yo& ha e little or no choice in the matter$ %f yo& really canLt

stand someone, ask yo&rself Bhy$ %f yo& think yo& ha e a good reason, fineK chalk it &+ to e?+erience, and mo e on to get the Hob done as M&ickly as +ossible so as to be o&t of the Bay$ 5onLt s+eak ill of felloB TAs, abo&t fac&lty or abo&t administrators to yo&r st&dents$ As a friend of mine said the other day, C6h my goodness$ % didnLt realiAe that that +erson % Bas com+laining to abo&t the dean Bas his s+o&seNC %f yo& ha e a P+rofessionalP +roblem Bith a colleag&e or coIBorker, take the +roblem to a s&+er isor if that +erson is tr&stBorthy$ %f not, try yo&r grad&ate st&dent director or the chair$ ;ay something like, C% donLt Bant to ca&se a +roblem or get anyone into the middle of an arg&ment Bith another TA, b&t something has come &+ abo&t (say) an ignoring of some +ossible cheating UsayV on the last e?am, and % need to talk it o&t$C 2y the Bay, 3es, % ha e seen a ( ery) feB TAs Bho Bere s&ccessf&l in the classroom, b&t Bho Bere so diffic&lt to deal Bith as colleag&esIIalBays arri ing late, lea ing all their TA d&ties to others, ski++ing classes, etc$IIBho Bere told to lea e$ ;o CbrillianceC is no g&arantee of s&++ort for a teaching assistant$ And, belie e me, it &s&ally gets e en more diffic&lt for an &ncoo+erati e fac&lty member$ ;o learn to be coo+erati e PnoBP, or e?+ect to +ay a PlotP more later$ % ha e also seen a n&mber of TAs and fac&lty Bho are Cselecti ely nice$C %f a ten&red fac&lty member is asking them for a fa or, thatLs fine, b&t not a secretary$ (3o& ha e seen this too, Bhere a fac&lty member treats yo& badly beca&se yo&Lre CH&st a TA$C) Please donLt be like this$ %n many Bays, the staff r&ns the &ni ersity$ They Bere at their desks before the chair became chair, and they Bill be there Bhen the chair has gone back to being a loBly ten&red +rofessor$ They knoB hoB to c&t corners, and they can be hel+f&l to +eo+le Bho are co&rteo&sIIand coldly &ncoo+erati e to those Bho are not$ More to the +oint, they too H&st Bant to be treated like h&man beings, H&st as TAs do$ ;o treat them that Bay$ LF&ff said$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 8hat is a Professional9 The first time yo& ste+ in front of a class, yo& cross an in isible line$ 3o& donLt see it, b&t the st&dents doK yo& are no longer one of them$ ThatLs Bhy they look at yo& M&iAAically Bhen yo& ask, 8hat sho&ld Be do today9 They also donLt a++reciate yo&r little Hokes abo&t e?am grades$ And, Bhen yo& Brite a c&te comment on their homeBork abo&t hoB this Bork is more like high school st&ff they see the comment as acerbic, and they let yo& knoB$ A +rofessional is one Bho s+eaks for and has res+onsibilities to the disci+line he or she is teaching and to the other +ractitioners of that disci+line$ ;ome of these res+onsibilities ha e been described in the section called .et Along Bith Colleag&es '(.et/*0Along/*0Bith/*0Colleag&es), b&t not all$ There is more to being a +rofessional than s+eaking co&rteo&sly to an officemate, as im+ortant as that is$

3o& ha e res+onsibilities to st&dents, " 5onLt disc&ss their indi id&al grades in +&blic, and donLt com+are the st&dents to each other$ %t is one thing to say, C3o&Lre a ery strong st&dentCK M&ite another to comment, C% tho&ght that Goe Bo&ld be better than yo& Uor ice ersaV, b&t$$$C " 8e ha e all met +eo+le Bho are ery likable, b&t fa oring them Bith ChintsC or Ce?tra hel+C that others donLt get is not fair$ " ;ocialiAing can lead to diffic&lties, e en in the most benign sit&ationII;ee Case ;t&dy D '(Case/*0;t&dy/*0D) for an e?am+le$) ;o, if yo& knoB dee+ doBn that yo& are not going into a CbenignC sit&ation, do not +artici+ate$ A night of binge drinking Bith yo&r &ndergrad&ate class is Cdefinitely contraindicated,C as a friend once said to me$ " %f yo& are not s&re hoB m&ch fraterniAation to ha e Bith st&dents (after all, Be donLt Bant to be totally standoffish), ask tr&stBorthy colleag&es and fac&lty for their ad ice$ " 2e caref&l the kinds of Hokes and comments yo& make in front of st&dents, Bho can be sensiti e in ery &n&s&al Bays$ Eor instance, % once teased a st&dent Bho kneB an arcane fact abo&t .alois theory that he Cm&st be reading the same kind of Beird st&ff that % am$C 8hen he ob io&sly bristled, % had to a+ologiAe to him for my comment$ 3o& Bill also ha e res+onsibilities to the fac&lty and other TAs, " 5o not ins&lt or belittle othersL teaching styles, or their a++roach to research$ Eor instance, in a disc&ssion of methodology, CHereLs hoB % teach Bord +roblemsC is clearly more tactf&l and better recei ed than C;t&dents tell me they donLt like the Bay yo& do that to+ic$ C And, yo& donLt need to tell yo&r officemate that Professor Gones CcanLt be ery com+etent, since heLs still Briting +a+ers on$$$C " %f yo& ha e an honest disagreement Bith a colleag&e, kee+ it on a +rofessional le el, C% really think that +roblem might be too hard for these st&dents,C said directly to Professor Gones, is a +rofessional comment$ 3o& may be right, yo& may be Brong, b&t at least yo& ha e had yo&r say$ The alternati e of going to yo&r office mate to gri+e that C6le GonesyLs H&st trying to nail as many freshmen as +ossible,C maybe tr&e, b&t not a +rofessional alternati e$ " Pitting yo&r class against e ery other instr&ctorLs is not +rofessional$ The fact that CMy class had a <1/ a erage, b&t GoeLs Bas :</C does not make yo& a better instr&ctor$ 3o& may ha e o erlooked the information that yo&r class met at ## a$m$, Bhile GoeLs Bas right after l&nch$ Then there Bas also the fact that yo& asked tBo st&dents Bith loB a erages to sBitch o&t of yo&r section after the first e?am$ " ;imilarly, yo& donLt sit in the de+artment lo&nge bragging abo&t hoB m&ch better yo&r co&rse e al&ations are than othersIIor hoB yo&rs, bad as they Bere, at least beat o&t GoeLs$ %f someone Bants

to make an honest com+arison of his or her e al&ations Bith yo&rs, yo& certainly donLt need to lie, b&t yo&, as a +rofessional, knoB that there are many factors in ol ed in ario&s ratings of classes, st&dents and e en TAs$ Eor instance, is it really tr&e that yo& +assed o&t don&ts on e al&ation day and then told the class that yo&r Hob Bas on the line9 8ell, that method seems to ha e BorkedN Most im+ortantly, yo& ha e res+onsibilities to mathematics itself, " Pre+are the material$ Read &+ on it (3es, e en C+recalc&l&sC has a history)$ 3o& neednLt be a cheerleader, b&t yo& sho&ld be ready to make an honest re+ly to C8hy do Be need to knoB this9C " ;hoB some interest in yo&r teaching assignment, and in mathematics in general$ %f yo& canLt find any reason for teaching that is more com+elling than draBing a +aycheck, is this really the Bay yo& Bant to s+end the ne?t forty years of yo&r life9 DG&st as no one can e er knoB all of mathematics, no one e er knoBs all it takes to be a +rofessional$ 2&t, thro&gh a combination of talking to tr&sted colleag&es, thinking before acting, and &sing common sense, Be can a oid most +itfalls$ %f it feels Brong and so&nds Brong, act caref&lly, beca&se it likely PisP Brong$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Teaching Methodologies for Dario&s Ty+es of Classrooms 8itho&t trying to be e?ha&sti e in my list, let me say that there is a ariety of teaching methods, among them, " " " " -ect&res ;ocratic 5isc&ssion .&ided 5isc&ssion ;t&dentI.&ided Recitation

Each of the abo e has +ositi e and negati e as+ects$ Eor instance, the lect&re method im+arts lots of information in a short amo&nt of timeK in the +ro+er hands it is &s&ally organiAed BellK and it makes &se of the e?+ertise of the lect&rer$ 6n the other hand, st&dents can easily Cnod offC in a lect&re, and information im+arted is not necessarily information recei ed$ ;ocratic dialog&e is often to&ted as an acti e, o+en form of learning that gets st&dents in ol ed in the ed&cational +rocess$ 6n the other hand, s&ch disc&ssion can lead noBhere$ %t is also often Cfalsely democraticC in that a feB s+eakers can dominate disc&ssion, either croBding o&t other ieB+oints or alloBing for +artici+ation by only a feB$ % claim that a g&ided disc&ssion is one that has more str&ct&re than the ;ocratic model, +erha+s by &sing information sheets or reading lists$ Handled +ro+erly, s&ch g&ided disc&ssion can o ercome many of the obHections to ;ocratic dialog&e listed abo e, and can achie e the obHecti e of finding o&t Bhat the st&dent knoBs$ 3et, st&dents and fac&lty sometimes com+lain that s&ch a techniM&e isnLt fast eno&gh in

im+arting knoBledge$ 2etter +re+ared st&dents, es+ecially, often obHect to ha ing to Bait for st&dents Bho CH&st donLt get it$C Then there is Crecitation,C or st&dentIg&ided learning$ This methodology makes ma?im&m &sage of the st&dent and of the te?t, +&tting the Cb&rden of +roofC (not to mention Cb&rden of effortC) on the st&dents$ This method doesnLt necessarily make effecti e &se of the e?+ert, and if g&ided disc&ssion o+erates sloBly, this method can PreallyP o+erate sloBly$ 6n the other hand, say those Bho ad ocate this techniM&e, once st&dents do Cget it,C there is no do&bt they ha e itIIBhate er CitC is$ A final arg&ment &s&ally offered against st&dentIg&ided learning is that it can miss the most salient items in ol ed in a co&rse$ Th&s, Bhat Be need to ask o&rsel es is, 8hat is the goal Be Bant the st&dents to achie e, and Bhat is the best methodology for achie ing that goal9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) -esson Planning " As a Teaching Assistant " As an instr&ctor in, say, calc&l&s, differential eM&ations or to+ology " %n a Cdisc&ssionC sit&ation As a TA, 8hile doing homeBork before class, think abo&t, " " " " " 8here is the Ctrick,C and Bill it rec&r in other +roblems9 HoB does the +roblem fit the to+ic being ta&ght9 8ill a similar, +erha+s e?tended, +roblem be coming &+ later9 Ha e the st&dents seen a similar +roblem or method before9 %s there some other C+oint of interestC in the +roblem9

Also as a TA, yo& may also be called on to disc&ss, " CHereLs a three min&te syno+sis, Bitho&t +roofs or additi es, of the to+ic BeLre Borking on$C " A re ieB of to+ics since the last e?am, or +ossibly for the ne?t +relim$ " ;ome shortc&ts or related methods, if rele ant$ ;ome +itfalls TALs can e?+erience, " R&nning recitation as if it Bere a Cbetter lect&re than the lect&re$C " P&tting doBn certain +roblems or ansBers as Ctoo easy$C " %ntrod&cing a com+etition Bith other sections, Bhere yo&r st&dents are yo&rs, and others are Cthe enemy,C real or +ercei ed$ " Fot coordinating Bith the lect&rer, so that st&dents feel that they are being asked different things by yo& than by the instr&ctor$ " ;hoBing o+en distaste in class or office ho&rs for some of the to+ics and methodologies &sed in lect&re$ .enerally s+eaking, st&dents H&st Bant to get thro&gh the co&rse Bith a good grade and go on to BhatLs im+ortant II to them$ They Bill acce+t, for the most +art, Bork that is rele ant to their goals, and their

M&estions Bill reflect those goals, C8hy is this im+ortant9C C8ill this be on the e?am9C 3o&, for yo&r +art, sho&ld see both these M&estions as fair at any time in the co&rse, and sho&ld be +re+ared, Bithin reason, to ansBer them$ Possible ansBers to the first M&estion, C%tLs &sed later, in$$$C CThere are engineering (b&siness, economics, architect&ral) a++lications, and if yo& learn abo&t this techniM&e, it Bill make yo& better in that field$C CThe a&thor needs it later in the cha+ter (or in the te?t), Bhen Be sol e$$$$C And the last CfairC ansBer, C%Lm really not s&re$ -etLs see if Be can find o&t Bhy the a&thor and instr&ctor Bant &s to do this$C %f yo& think abo&t irrele ance Bhile yo& are +re+aring yo&r recitation at home, yo& Bill be ready to ansBer most of the M&estions that come &+ in class$ Pl&s, yo& Bill be acti e in yo&r +re+aration, Bhich Bill make yo& more interesting to the st&dents, and yo&r material more interesting to all of yo&$ 3o&Lll e ent&ally become the kind of instr&ctor the st&dents Cinad ertently +raiseC, C% didnLt think %Ld like the material or the co&rse, b&t hePshe shoBed me Bhy it Bas &sef&l$ % still donLt like it that m&ch, b&t noB % see Bhy itLs im+ortant$C Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Problems of, and Bith ;t&dents Chances are, if yo& are a sensiti e, caring instr&ctor, st&dents Bill begin to see yo& as a Clifestyle ad isor$C A ty+ical first reaction is to feel honoredIIb&t then an almost immediate res+onse sets inK CHoB can % gi e ad ice to this +ersonIIor anyone, for that matter9C .ood$ 3o& sho&ld feel ske+tical$ 6f co&rse, yo& are an intelligent +erson and a trained mathematician$ And thatLs the +ointK yo& are trained as an intelligent mathematician, not as a co&nselor or thera+ist$ 8hen someone comes to yo& to say, C%Lm afraid %Lm s&icidal,C hoB sho&ld yo& res+ond9 HoB abo&t as the intelligent +erson yo& are, CThank yo& for coming to talk to me abo&t it$ %tLs +retty ob io&s that this ca&ses yo& some +ain, and %Lm glad yo&Wre Billing to s+eak to someone abo&t it$ %Ld like to hel+ yo&IIBo&ld yo& mind if % called the &ni ersity co&nseling ser ice for yo&9 % think they can +ro ide some real s&++ort$C The ast maHority of st&dent +roblems are not so serio&s, and yo& can deal Bith them fairly easily, " CMy goldfish died$ 5o % ha e to take the e?am9C " C8ell, % can &nderstand that yo& can get attached to a +et, and % g&ess % can gi e yo& a make&+, b&t that e?am Bo&ld ha e to be harder beca&se yo& Bo&ld ha e had a chance to see tonightLs e?am$ ;ince yo& already did the st&dying for the test, maybe itLd H&st be easier to take it9C " CMy grandmother died$ 5o % ha e to take the e?am9C " C8ell, yo&Lll +robably ha e to +re+are to go home and all that$ % can certainly gi e yo& a make&+ after yo& ret&rn$ %f yo& think it might be easier to take the e?am tonight, yo& can H&st shoB &+, and if yo& donLt come tonight, %Lll H&st ass&me that yo&Lll be taking the make&+ at a later date$ %Lll do Bhate erLs best for yo&, and %Lm sorry to hear abo&t yo&r loss$C

%n the first sit&ation abo e, % am making a strong s&ggestion, and any normally intelligent st&dent Bill see the Bisdom of taking it$ 6f co&rse, he or she might really be broken &+ abo&t the death of a goldfish (C2&t % had ;lee+y since % Bas tBel eNC)$ 2&t if the st&dent m&st go ahead Bith his or her decision rather than taking my ad ice, then it does become something he or she m&st acce+t the conseM&ences of$ %, as instr&ctor, am absol ed from the res+onsibility of ha ing forced my Bill on this +oor st&dent$ C8ell, %Lm sorry yo& failed the make&+, b&t % did Barn yo& abo&t Bhat might ha++en if yo& took it$C 6&tcome, The st&dent Bas offered a chance to think like an ad&lt, and reHected it$ %n the Cdeath of the grand+arentC case, % am again lea ing the choice &+ to the st&dent, b&t this time % am not im+lying any +enalties$ % em+hatically do PnotP get into any disc&ssion of Bhether the grand+arent (+arent, &ncle, second co&sin, etc$) has diedII% donLt ask for C+roof$C To me, there are tBo +ossibilities$ %n one case, the st&dent is &+set and doesnLt need to be challenged$ 6n the other hand, in the e ent that this is the si?th grand+arent of this st&dent Bho has died in the three years he has been at the school, then the st&dent still has a +roblem, only this +roblem is of a different sort$ %f yo& do find o&t later that the second st&dent has been &sing Cdeath in the familyC e?c&ses a lot, yo& might Bant to s&ggest that he see a co&nselor or e?amination s+ecialist to learn hoB to co+e Bith e?amination stress$ The abo e analyses also a++ly to s&ch common sit&ations as break&+s Bith significant others, the Cthree e?ams in tBo daysC +henomenon, and the Cfield hockey road tri+C model$ % consider the Csignificant othersC +roblem reasonably serio&s, and &s&ally ado+t the CgrandmotherC a++roach to this one$ As to the Cthree e?amsC +roblem, %Lm m&ch less sym+athetic Bith that$ C;orry, b&t it m&st be the same for lots of the st&dents in the classIIand yo& do ha e a Beek to st&dy for the e?ams$C Then % contin&e, CThe e?am Bill be harder, and % co&ldnLt gi e yo& more than one e?tra day$C 6ne of the main reasons that % am harsher in this sit&ation is that, as soon as % gi e this one st&dent more time to st&dy, thirtyIfo&r others Bill be along Bith the same e?c&se$ And, if % try to accommodate all of them, then most of the thirtyIfo&r Bill also ha e +roblems Bith the make&+ date, etc$ Then the grades Bill not correlate Bell betBeen the original e?am and the make&+, and that Bill lead to e en greater ineM&ities$ 6n a lighter note, st&dents are a+t to ask some really rather biAarre M&estions, " " " " 5o % ha e to come to class9 (C6nly if yo& Bant to +ass$C) 8ill % ha e to b&y the book9 8ill % ha e to PbringP the book9 Are yo& s&re yo&Lre the instr&ctor9 3o&Lre too yo&ng to be teaching &s$ (6r, as another one said, beca&se +rofessors dress better than that$) " % BasnLt here yesterday$ 5id Be do anything im+ortant9 " Co&ld % co+y yo&r notes after class9 % donLt ha e time to take my oBn$ " Co&ld yo& sloB doBn9 % canLt Brite that fast$ % ha e been asked all the abo e, altho&gh it has been a Bhile since someone told me % Bas too yo&ng to be the +rofessor$

%n the case of yo&r being s&r+rised by a +artic&lar M&estion that yo& ha enLt tho&ght of, rather than gi e an immediate re+ly, yo& may Bant to think abo&t it for a day or tBo$ Tell the st&dent yo& Bill res+ond by eImail as soon as yo& can, and then go ask someone yo& tr&st hoB he or she Bo&ld handle the sit&ation$ This a oids the +roblem of making a bad decision on T&esday and then ha ing to either li e Bith it or rescind yo&r r&ling on 8ednesday$ (;till, rescinding a bad r&ling is better than ca&sing real ineM&ities o er the long r&n$) 6ne more general statement abo&t making decisions, 6 er the co&rse of yo&r teaching career, yo& Bill be called on many times to decide in a fair, M&ick and acc&rate manner on a matter of some im+ortance to a st&dent or gro&+ of st&dents$ At first, this +rocess can seem da&nting, b&t after a Bhile, yo& Bill ha e seen almost all the ty+es of M&estions yo& Bill be asked$ 8hile this e?+erience can make most of the decisions easy, some Bill ne er come smoothly, and H&st Bhen yo& think yo& knoB hoB all this is done, yo& Bill make a bl&nder that Bill make yo& M&estion yo&r oBn intelligenceIIif not yo&r sanity$ The only thing yo& can do in s&ch a sit&ation is admit yo&r mistake, and go on to try to learn from it$ %n the main, all yo& can do s&ccessf&lly is try to be fair and honest to all the st&dents, to yo&r colleag&es, to the de+artment, to mathematics, and es+ecially to yo&rself$ 5onLt Borry too m&chK yo&Lll do fine$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) ;t&dent Ty+es, 8ho is the A&dience9 The a&dience is im+ortant$ SnoB, as far as yo& can, the moti ation and interests of the gro&+ yo& are teaching$ Are they f&t&re engineers9 Then +&re theory is not alBays a++reciated, or necessary$ Eor this gro&+, it hel+s to ha e a feB mechanical or electrical a++lications for them to cheB on$ Are yo& talking to +reImeds9 Then they are also likely to be taking lots of biology and chemistry co&rses, and Bo&ld a++reciate hearing hoB mathematics is a++licable to these co&rses$ 3o& co&ld do +roblems related to bacterial groBth, for instance, b&t yo& co&ld also model dr&g dosage +roblems, s+read of disease M&estions, and a++lications to heart +&m+ing +roblems$ Precalc&l&s st&dents are &s&ally enco&raged to hear that Cthis algebra and trig yo& are learning Bill shoB &+ a lot in calc&l&s,C b&t they are more con inced if yo& tell them abo&t sine Ba es in m&sic, heat e?change or b&ilding earthM&ake +roof b&ildings$ 3o& sho&ldnLt necessarily try to shoB the detailsK yo& might not knoB them all yo&rself$ 3o&r Hob is to teach the +recalc&l&s$ 2&t at least yo& Bill be gi ing the st&dents a small glim+se of a +ossible f&t&re$ ;ometimes instr&ctors inter+ret the statement Cconsider the a&dienceC as meaning, C+ander to the a&dienceC or Conly teach the f&n st&ff,C Bhate er that may be$ % am definitely not s&ggesting this co&rse of action$ 3o&r goal sho&ld be to teach the co&rse material that yo& ha e been assignedIIb&t there is nothing Brong Bith incl&ding some direct, BellIchosen a++lications that a++ly to the material and a++eal to yo& and the st&dents$ %t is not C+anderingC to the st&dents to &se the

co&rse materials and content in a meaningf&l Bay$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) HoB to .et Eired " Act as if yo& donLt ha e a Creal Hob$C %tLs H&st a TA$ " 5onLt shoB &+ for class$ ;e eral times$ 8itho&t an e?c&se$ " 2e insolent to fac&lty (es+ecially yo&r ad isor), the st&dents and the staff members$ " Call in sick e ery Monday$ -ea e for the city on Th&rsday afternoon$ " Fe er +lan Bhat yo& are going to do in class, this st&ff is too easy, anyBay$ " Make clear that research is e erythingK yo& are going to sol e a great +roblem and Hoin one of the to+ de+artments Bhere yo& Bill only teach one grad&ate co&rse a term$ " ;ki+ office ho&rs$ 3o&r officemates can take care of any of the st&dents BhoLll come by$ " Make it clear from the start that yo& donLt intend to do anything e?traIIin fact, yo& BonLt do anything that yo& donLt get a salary for$ And, yo& only do that &nder d&ress$ " End all yo&r classes early$ CanLt do this, yo& say9 Too many M&estions9 ;im+le to sol eK H&st belittle the st&dents Bho ask themIIthatLll ease &+ on class time$ " -ea e for acations, breaks, and end of term early$ Ar&ba aBaitsN " 5onLt hand in grades on time$ .ot some grad&ating seniors9 ;o BhatN They didnLt like yo& anyBay$ " 6ffer Cgrades for fa orsCIIonly CHokingly,C of co&rse$ " ;hoB &+ at &ndergrad +arties$ TheyLre so m&ch more f&n, anyBay$ 5rink a lot$ -ea e at * a$m$ Bith one of yo&r st&dents$ " Tick off the TA s&+er isor$ He isnLt a real mathematician, anyBay$ He sto++ed doing research abo&t the time yo& Bere born$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Ad ice to %nternational TAs %t can be ery diffic&lt to lea e oneLs oBn c&lt&re and come to another, only to be asked to teach to CforeignC st&dents, maybe in a CforeignC lang&age$ Earlier, % mentioned briefly hoB a neB grad&ate st&dent has a Bealth of first semester +roblems, setting &+ an a+artment, finding a roommate, o+ening a checking acco&nt, finding a grocery storeIIand, all the Bhile, trying to learn hoB to be a grad&ate st&dent and a teacher$ And, Bhen yo& ha e H&st come from another co&ntry, these +roblems are com+o&nded e?+onentially, hoB do yo& get a social sec&rity n&mber so that yo& can recei e a +aycheck, Bhat is an C%I>C anyBay, do yo& ha e to carry a +ass+ort all the time, Bhere do yo& find PramenP noodles, hoB m&ch money do yo& really need to li e on in the ;tates, etc$ % am ery sym+athetic Bith yo&r +roblemsII% li ed thro&gh this same e?+erience, not once, b&t tBiceIIb&t here % Bill concentrate on the teaching as+ects of yo&r sit&ation$ Eirst, % Bill address the M&estion of hoB to get thro&gh the first feB days in the classroom in the United ;tates, and then % Bill talk briefly abo&t the c&lt&ral as+ects of

teaching in a foreign co&ntry$ "A Eirst TA AssignmentII8hat to 5o, HoB to Co+e" Eirst, it is all right to be ner o&sK % Bo&ld be s&r+rised if yo& BerenLt$ All neB TAsIIat least, all the ones Bho care abo&t the Hob and Bant to do BellIIare ner o&s$ G&st remember that, altho&gh yo& may not ha e ta&ght before, at least in the United ;tates, yo& Pha eP been recogniAed as an intelligent h&man being by those Bho chose yo& to be a grad&ate st&dent$ They did not select yo& for fail&reK instead, yo& ha e been recogniAed for yo&r +otential for s&ccess$ 6ne of the early meas&res of this +otential is the n&mber and M&ality of the M&estions yo& ask$ ;ome M&estions to consider abo&t yo&r TA assignment, Can yo& s+end the first semester or tBo grading in a more ad anced class rather than ha ing to stand in front of a gro&+ of freshman calc&l&s st&dents9 %f so, yo& Bill ha e an o++ort&nity to take some English lang&age classes and Batch some (terrible) tele ision to get the lang&age doBn better$ 3o& can also ha e a co&+le of office ho&rs to do some oneItoIone t&toring to increase yo&r lang&age abilities$ %s it +ossible to get a class that is an Ceasy Hob,C not necessarily in the sense of material sim+ler to &nderstand, b&t in the sense of material Ceasier to e?+lain to st&dents9C 2y this % mean st&dents in Eo&rier series, for instance, ha e feBer mis&nderstandings than those in a s&++osedly tri ial freshman algebra classK th&s Eo&rier series, altho&gh harder to &nderstand, can be easier to teach$ %f a grading assignment or an easy Hob is not +ossible, there are still Bays in Bhich yo& can hel+ yo&rself get thro&gh the semester Bith yo&r sanity, and yo&r dignity, intact$ Eind yo&rself tBo CmentorsC yo& think yo& can tr&stK one from yo&r home co&ntry (if +ossible), and another from the United ;tates$ Ask them to ad ise yo&, in a semiformal Bay$ Then, before yo&r first class, after yo& ha e done the first homeBork assignment, ha e a mock class Bith (at least) the U$;$ mentor$ %n this mock class, go to a board and do some +roblems as yo& Bo&ld in the first dayLs class$ Concentrate on +ron&nciationIIes+ecially of diffic&lt Bords like Ccontin&ityC and CtheoremC that Bill a++ear in a mathematical conte?t II Brite a lot on the board, and ask for ad ice$ ;ee hoB Bell yo& &nderstand the comments, M&estions and ad ice that the mentor is gi ing yo&$ Fe?t, go to yo&r co&ntryman and ask some M&estions abo&t Bhat yo& sho&ld e?+ect the st&dents to be like$ This is information that yo&r co&ntryman Bill &nderstand, b&t the U$;$ TA, ha ing li ed and ta&ght only in the ;tates, Bill not$ (% Bill ha e more to say abo&t c&lt&ral M&estions later in this section$) Then go to yo&r first class$ As +art of yo&r introd&ction, e?+lain to the st&dents that yo& are from another co&ntry and neB to teaching$ Tell them that, to hel+ them and yo&rself, yo& Bill be trying to s+eak sloBly, that yo& intend to Brite a lot on the board, and that yo& Bo&ld a++reciate it if the st&dents Bo&ld hel+ correct yo&r +ron&nciation$ 8hen someone asks yo& a M&estion, if yo& sim+ly do not &nderstand it, ask the other st&dents for hel+ in re+hrasing it$ %f someone says that a

+roblem can be done another Bay, offer him or her the chalk and ask if he or she Bill shoB yo& 9at the board$9 %n this Bay, yo& can see the sol&tion in Briting, rather than trying to &nderstand yo&r st&dentLs CFoo 3aBkC (i$e$, FeB 3ork) accent$ %f a st&dent says, C% donLt &nderstand,C ask Bhere on the board is the ste+ that isnLt clear, and fill in missing details at that s+ecific +oint$ %f the st&dentLs res+onse is that CFone of it is clear,C try to do the +roblem a different Bay, or start it again, b&t this time add in all +ossible details$ %f nothing is making sense, try to get the mentor to obser e one of yo&r classes to see Bhere the +roblem lies$ And, if all else fails, start Briting &+ sol&tion sets for the st&dentsIIb&t, donLt do this from day one, beca&se they Bill become a cr&tch for yo&, and the st&dents Bill e?+ect them all the time$ After the first or second Beek, yo& sho&ld not need to &se yo&r mentor to +ractice e ery class$ HoBe er, he or she can still be &sef&l for occasional disc&ssions of hoB to a++roach indi id&al to+ics, hoB to +rono&nce neB Bords that come &+, and hoB to deal Bith sit&ations yo& ha e ne er e?+erienced in yo&r home co&ntry$ ;ome other s&ggestions as to hoB to treat the first feB days of class can be fo&nd in the other sections, for instance, in 5ay 6ne$ "C&lt&ral As+ects of Teaching" -earning abo&t the c&lt&re in Bhich yo& are teaching is at least as im+ortant as knoBing hoB to s+eak the lang&age, yet this as+ect of teaching is often o erlooked$ 8hen % mo ed to Canada, the first lect&re % ga e Bas on my research$ ;ince % s+oke English and they s+oke (an only slightly better) English, % didnLt feel that there Bo&ld be any +artic&lar +roblem$ At one +oint in the lect&re, hoBe er, after some +eo+le asked me abo&t details, % asked, brightly, CAny more obHections9C The res+onse, by a n&mber of +eo+le, Bas C6hN 8e BerenLt obHectingNC 6f co&rse, % also hadnLt tho&ght that they Bere really CobHectingCK % Bas H&st &sing a Bord % had &sed many times before to indicate the fact that % Bo&ld be Billing to ansBer more M&estions$ Then, after a feB more incidents of this sort in resta&rants, banks and the like, % s&ddenly realiAed that, altho&gh % may be a reasonably +olite CAmerican,C %Lll ne er be a +olite CanadianIAmerican$ 8hen yo& Balk into a classroom, yo& carry Bith yo& many instance, abo&t Bhat st&dents are like, hoB they sho&ld Bhether and hoB they sho&ld ask M&estions, and hoB they act, H&st to name a feB$ Many of these ass&m+tions come Bere ta&ght in yo&r home co&ntryK yo& Bill be e?+ecting treatment from yo&r st&dents here$ ;orry, b&t let me tell one more story from my +ast, 8hen % Bas in Ga+an, % had a chance to obser e some college mathematics teaching$ %n each case, Bhen the instr&ctor Balked into class, the st&dents stood$ After they sat back doBn, the instr&ctor then deli ered a lect&re at the board from notes Bitho&t any M&estions from the st&dents, Bho s+ent their time M&ickly taking as many notes as they co&ld$ Then, Bhen the instr&ctor had finished his fiftyImin&te lect&re, the st&dents again rose as he M&ickly left$ ass&m+tionsK for address yo&, sho&ld dress and from the Bay yo& similar

My +oint in telling this story is not to claim that a +artic&lar method of instr&ction is better or Borse than another (altho&gh % do e?+ress some o+inions as to the efficacy of interacti e methods elseBhere in these notes), b&t rather to shoB hoB different s&ch methods can be$ %n the ;tates, most st&dents Bill ha e come from high schools Bhere they Bere enco&raged to ask M&estions in class, sometimes merely by interr&+ting the teacherK and Bhere they Bere often reM&ired to Bork in small gro&+s in rather noisy classroom settings$ Th&s, if yo& ha e come from an atmos+here like the one % described seeing in Ga+an, yo& may be shocked by Bhat yo& think is insolent beha ior on the +art of yo&r American st&dents$ 6ccasionally % feel as if % sho&ld a+ologiAe for some of Bhat % see in the U$;$ classroomK at the same time, % can &nderstand hoB o&r st&dents can +rofit from being able to ask a M&estion Bhen they Bant toIIBithin reason$ As &s&al, % ha e some s&ggestions$ %f yo& find, as % do, that st&dents sho&ld be able to ask M&estions, b&t in a more mannerly Bay than by H&st yelling o&t, CThatLs not rightN The ansBer sho&ld be fi e,C then % +ro+ose that yo& tell them on day one that C% am o+en to M&estions$ 2&t, +lease raise yo&r hand, so that % knoB Bho is asking the M&estion, and so that % can finish my tho&ght before ansBering yo&$C (Eor more s&ggestions as to hoB to make yo&r classroom more acti e, look at s&ch sections as The Acti e Classroom '(The/*0Acti e/*0Classroom) and Moti ating ;t&dents '(Moti ating/*0;t&dents)$) %f, on the other hand, yo& belie e that st&dents sho&ld hear Bhat yo& ha e to say before they start asking M&estions, ask them to hold their M&estions &ntil yo& ha e f&lly e?+lained the to+ic, the e?am+le or the e?ercise yo& are Borking on$ %n short, remember that the c&lt&re may not be yo&rs, b&t the classroom is yo&rs, and it is yo&r right to decide, PBithin reason,P Bhat is the best Bay for yo& to get the material across$ A short list of tho&ghts abo&t teaching and li ing in an alien c&lt&re, " Altho&gh it is &s&ally easier to li e Bith +eo+le from yo&r oBn co&ntry and yo&rself learning so m&ch more if yo& fair amo&nt of time as yo& can in the Bith, room Bith, and deal c&lt&re, yo& Bill find make the effort to s+end a Cnati e c&lt&re$C

" There are a n&mber of ad antages to TAing in the U$;$ 3o& Bill learn the lang&age, Bhich can hel+ yo& in yo&r st&dies as Bell as in yo& teaching$ E&rther, if yo& decide to stay in the ;tates after grad&ation, yo& Bill need all the lang&age skills yo& can get for yo&r Hob$ " %f yo& go back to yo&r home co&ntry, yo&r knoBledge of English Bill also be hel+f&l there in yo&r Hob and yo&r research$ " %f yo& find that some classroom them o er Bith yo&r mentor from t&rn o&t to be easily sol able, c&lt&ral differences$ %n either dealing Bith the sit&ation$ sit&ations are bothering yo&, talk yo&r oBn co&ntry$ The +roblem may or it may really reflect some case, yo& can get ad ice on

" 3o& do not ha e to acce+t Bhat yo& +ercei e to be im+ro+er beha ior on the +art of yo&r class$ %f yo& find the st&dents acting in a Bay yo& think is &nacce+table, talk it o er Bith yo&r

U$;$ mentor$ %n this Bay, yo& can gain some al&able insight into hoB standards ary betBeen yo&r oBn c&lt&re and the one in the United ;tates$ " And finally, enHoy yo&r teaching e?+erience$ DieB it as an o++ort&nity to learn abo&t another c&lt&re$ Try to de elo+ a classroom atmos+here that is in kee+ing Bith yo&r +ersonality, Bhile at the same time is rela?ed$ 8hy not ha e some f&n Bhile yo& are getting a degree9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) ;ome ;illy ;t&ff$$$ UThis section reca+it&lates some of the material from the earlier Checklist section, b&t in a bit more detail$V E eryone Bho starts a neB Hob Balks into a +lace that has a life of its oBnK there is all sorts of Csilly st&ffC too small to consider, and at the same time too im+ortant not to consider$ And, if yo& ignore all the little details beloB, a lot of +eo+le Bill get annoyed Bith yo&$ Eor instance, Bhere are the bathrooms located in yo&r neB b&ilding9 %f yo& c&t yo&r finger, can yo& get a bandage9 8here do yo& get keys to the b&ildings and offices9 5o yo& ha e to +ay a de+osit for the keys9 8here do yo& get chalk and erasers9 Carry an e?tra +iece of chalk to the classroom$ (% knoB an instr&ctor Bho once &sed his shirt to erase the boardK his st&dents ne er forgot$) Eind o&t the methods and Cr&lesC of &sing the co+y machines$ HoB many co+ies may be made for yo&r class9 Can yo& make +ersonal co+ies for a fee9 8o&ldnLt it be nice if yo& didnLt ha e to bother the staff each time the machine r&ns o&t of +a+er9 Ask Bhere and Bhen yo& get yo&r +aycheck$ 8hen is the first +ayday9 The last9 -earn hoB to search for and check o&t books at the library$ (%Lll bet the librarians knoB, and they might e en hel+ yo&$) Eind o&t Bhether yo&r keys to the b&ilding Bork on e enings and Beekends$ 8ho decides Bhere yo&r desk is located9 8hat are the r&les abo&t te?tbooks9 5o they ha e to be ret&rned at the end of the semester9 Can yo& go ahead and Brite all yo&r notes in the margins9 8here do yo& t&rn in grades at the end of the semester9 %f yo& are gi ing e ening or ;at&rday re ieB sessions or e?ams, are the rooms generally o+en9 5o yo& ha e to reser e the room9 Erom Bhom9 Are there syllab&s files9 6r files of old e?ams9 8ho can &se them9

5o yo& ha e to +ay for yo&r oBn +encils and +a+er9 HoB abo&t trans+arency sheets if yo& &se an o erhead9 8hat do all the staff members do9 HoB m&ch of it Cconcerns yo&9C 8hat are the general r&les abo&t hoB m&ch time yo& sho&ld be s+ending on yo&r teaching9 HoB many office ho&rs are considered a++ro+riate9 8hen st&dents ask yo& ad ising M&estions yo& donLt knoB the ansBer to, to Bhom sho&ld yo& send them9 8ho is yo&r immediate s&+er isor, and hoB often sho&ld yo& re+ort to him or her, if at all9 5o yo& ha e to go to the calc&l&s lect&re yo&L e been assigned to TA for9 8hat is e?+ected of yo& at C acation time9C Can yo& go home d&ring st&dy Beek, say, or d&ring that +art of e?am Beek before yo&r class takes its final9 6r Bill the co&rse o erseer get angry beca&se yo& arenLt a ailable for office ho&rs and to hel+ Bith the make&+ of the e?am9 Hey, thereLs lots of Csilly st&ffC yo& ha e to ask abo&tN %Lll bet yo& can think of ten M&estions % missedN And e ery school is differentK donWt ass&me that Bhat yo& did Bhen yo& TAed as an &ndergrad&ate or Bhen yo& Bere Borking on that masterLs degree Bill a++ly noB$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) $$$And Fot ;o ;illy ;t&ff There is bo&nd to come a time Bhen yo& ha e a disagreement Bith yo&r co&rse leader$ % can think of many Bays in Bhich this can come abo&tK for noB, % Bill disc&ss tBo hy+othetical sit&ations$ %n the first case, yo& find that Professor 5imble, the lect&rer in calc&l&s this semester, seems to be ha ing an inordinately diffic&lt time e?+laining the te?t to the st&dents$ He is a former teaching aBard Binner at yo&r instit&tion, .rand U$, b&t his eyesight, hearing and most im+ortantly his memory seem to be failing him$ All of this is ca&sing the st&dents a great deal of consternation, and costing yo& and the other TAs a great deal of time$ ;t&dents are coming to yo& for additional lect&res and they are bombarding yo& and the other TAs Bith lots of M&estions o&tside of class$ 8hen yo& dem&r o er e?tra e ening sessions, they res+ond, C2&t Be PneedP yo&IIProfessor 5imble H&st doesnLt make senseNC MeanBhile, yo& are in the last f&ll year of yo&r schoolingK yo&Lre Briting yo&r thesis, trying to finish &+ a +a+er for +&blication, and looking for a Hob$ 3o& donLt need the added stress of basically teaching calc&l&s to freshmen for a grad&ate st&dentLs salary$ ;o Bhat do yo& do9 8ell, one sol&tion Bo&ld be to make yo&r feelings knoBn to all$ Com+lain to the st&dents, to yo&r thesis ad isor, to other TAs, to the chair, to the deanN 3o& co&ld also ref&se to gi e the st&dents e?tra hel+K CAfter all, % didnLt create this +roblem$C 3o& co&ld e en call and tell yo&r family$ This Bo&ld certainly get yo&r +osition acrossK e en Professor 5imble Bo&ld +robably find o&t, his hearing +roblems notBithstanding$

8hat Bill be the effect of yo&r com+laints9 8ell, the st&dents Bill knoB hoB yo& feel$ 2&t, if yo& donLt offer them some hel+, they BonLt see yo& as +art of the sol&tion, H&st another obstacle in the Bay to their learning calc&l&s$ 3o&r thesis ad isor Bill see yo& as a Cyo&ng researcherC Bho doesnLt &nderstand the +rofessional c&lt&re, Bho Bill mat&re e ent&ally, maybe after yo& get to yo&r first real Hob$ He or she BonLt say this to yo& directly, of co&rse, b&t yo&Lll hear abo&t it later thro&gh the gra+e ine$ The other TAs Bill think that yo&Lre a +rima donna, that yo&Lre more Borried abo&t yo&r thesis and yo&r career than abo&t yo&r felloB TAs or yo&r st&dents$ The chair Bill try to e?+lain to yo& abo&t Professor 5imble$ C3o& ha e to &nderstand, heLs getting old$ 8e knoB abo&t the +roblem, and maybe by ne?t year Be can do something, b&t right noB, BeWre in the middle of the term, and right noB it Bo&ld be really &nfort&nate to +&ll him o&t of class$ 2&t thanks for the information$C U3eah, s&reNV MeanBhile, the 5eanLs +osition Bill be C8hy doesnLt he kee+ this at the de+artment le el9 ThatLs Bhat a chair is for$C And +oor Professor 5imbleK heLll feel saddened, s&r+rised, shy, conf&sed, im+ro+erly maligned$ Personally ins&lted$ 8ell, Csol&tion oneC didnLt Bork too Bell$ %s there another9 -etLs back &+$ 8hatLs Brong Bith gi ing the st&dents a once a Beek Cre ieB session9C 3o& co&ld trade off Bith tBo or three of the other TAs, so that yo& only ha e to cond&ct one of these sessions once a Beek$ Then, if yo& M&ietly go to the chair (not the deanK kee+ it at the de+artment le el) to e?+lain the sit&ation, he or she Bill be gratef&l for yo&r e?tra Bork, and may e en be able to Ccom+ensate yo& and yo&r felloB TAs,C if only Bith a red&ced load in the ne?t semester$ %f yo&r ad isor asks Bhy yo& arenLt getting o&t that tBelfth draft of yo&r Hoint +a+er, yo& can e?+lain the details$ He Bill then tell other members of the de+artment, and more im+ortantly, Bill Brite in his recommendation letter to other schools that yo& are Ca mat&re yo&ng mathematician Bho Billingly took on e?tra d&ties to sol e a small teaching +roblem Be had here at .rand U$C This Bill make yo& so&nd like someone another school Bo&ld be ha++y to ha e in the ten&reIstream +osition it is ad ertising$ 3o& Bill ha e +reser ed yo&r good relations Bith yo&r felloB TAs e?ce+t for that one +erson Bho ref&sed to hel+ yo& and Professor 5imble Bill finish &+ his ill&strio&s career Bith his honor intact$ FoB to the second sticky sit&ation, Ha ing s&r i ed Professor 5imble, yo& are gi en Bhat the chair considers an easy assignment$ Again, yo& Bill ha e a section of calc&l&s, b&t this time itLs Bith Professor Aggress$ Erom the CgitIgo,C the good +rofessor is after st&dents$ CAre they all as d&mb as they seem9C is the first M&estion he asks yo&$ He calls yo&r homeBork grading into M&estionK C3o&Lre too easy on them, and yo& didnLt grade n&mber fifteen +ro+erlyC he tells yo& in front of a gro&+ of TAs and fac&lty in the de+artment lo&nge$ Then he ins&lts other

fac&lty in front of yo&, and yo& hear from yo&r officemate that he is saying some &nkind things abo&t yo& to them$ E&rther, Professor Aggress gi es really diffic&lt e?ams (the st&dents say that theyLre Cim+ossibleC), and Bants to ha e no c&r e$ CAs far as %Lm concerned, if they canLt get a L:0L on this e?am, they H&st sho&ldnLt be taking mathematics$C 6k, yo& s&r i ed L6le 5imble, so yo& sho&ld be +rofessional eno&gh by noB to knoB that it Bill do no good to sim+ly scream at Professor Aggress$ After all, sho&ting and being ins&lting is his stock in tradeK heLs been at it for the last thirtyIsi? years$ HoB abo&t trying to think like a +rofessional, instead9 Eirst of all, ask yo&rself if yo& really did grade n&mber fifteen incorrectly$ %f so, a+ologiAe and offer to do it o er$ Then, Bhen the ne?t e?am comes aro&nd, Bhen yo& make &+ yo&r grading key, ask Professor Aggress if yo& can shoB it to him to see if it Clooks like Bhat he Bants$C 8hen the st&dents come to com+lain to yo& abo&t Professor AggressL attit&de, do not talk badly abo&t him$ 3o& and the entire de+artment may com+letely agree Bith their com+laints, b&t Bhate er yo& say Bill not change the sit&ation one iota$ E&rther, if it gets back to the +rofessor, it Bill only end &+ ca&sing yo& to be castigated by the chair or someone else in a&thority$ %nstead, concentrate on making an effort to kee+ the e?ams and grading scheme as reasonable as +ossible$ To hel+ the st&dents, look back at the first e?am to see Bhether the +roblems Bere sim+ly chosen from among the really hard ones, or Bhether they Bere totally o&t of line$ %f the former is the case, occasionally &se class time to disc&ss Bith the st&dents some of the later +roblems in each section$ %f itLs the latter, PmaybeP, after yo&L e done yo&r best to get into Professor AggressL good graces, yo& might be able to s&ggest some +ossible +roblems for the later e?ams ones that the st&dents ha e some chance of Borking$ Remember, thereLs a h&ge difference betBeen PlikingP a +erson and PBorking BithP that +erson$ 3o& do not ha e to sit in the coffee room and defend Professor AggressL attit&des$ %n +oint of fact, the +rofessorLs insolence seems to be coming from some dee+ seated +roblem that no one in the de+artment is likely to be able to sol e$ 2&t, that isnLt yo&r Hob yo&r goal is sim+ly to be an honest, straightforBard, +rofessional +erson$ 6f co&rse, one of the ironies of this sit&ation is that, if yo& really are +rofessional, co&rteo&s, hel+f&l to the st&dents, and sensiti e to Professor AggressL attit&des, he may H&st ask to ha e yo& as a TA again the ne?t semester$ This is one of the diffic&lties yo& Bill ha e to g&ard againstK on the other hand, yo& ha e done s&ch a great Hob, that % certainly donLt need to tell yo& hoB to handle this +roblem$ "The Perry Model" 8illiam Perry U*0V +&blished a theory of st&dent de elo+ment that has been ery infl&ential in higher ed&cation$ The basic model has been modified in ario&s Bays$ 2elenky, et al U*V ha e re ised them to fit gender differences, and C&l er and Hackos U#0V ha e done the same for the engineering disci+lines$

Perry9s original model consisted of nine stages of de elo+ment$ % Bill describe a sim+lified (some might say o ersim+lified) fo&rIstage model and briefly disc&ss +ossible im+lications for mathematics The fo&r stages of st&dent de elo+ment are, 2asic d&ality, M&lti+licity, Relati ism, and Commitment$ %n basic d&ality, the Borld is s+lit in tBoK the only +ossibilities are right or Brong$ %n this mode, st&dents see their instr&ctors as a&thority fig&res Bho ha e all the ansBers$ %nstr&ctors Bho do not instill Cthe correct ansBers,C Bho are o+en to disc&ssion, are merely bad teachers Bho are +laying tricks on the st&dents$ The ne?t stage of de elo+ment, m&lti+licity, is, in PerryLs model, act&ally three stages$ %n the main, Cm&lti+licityC means here that the st&dent noB belie es that CitLs all a game$C At first, the st&dents are s&re that there is still a right ansBer and that the instr&ctor is H&st making them +lay along &ntil the correct res+onse is fo&nd$ -ater in the m&lti+licity +hase, the st&dents may decide that the instr&ctor doesn9t knoB the ansBer eitherK CHe canLt be any good as a teacher beca&se he doesnLt e en knoB Bhat Be knoB$C -ater yet, the st&dents may decide to belie e that Canyone may ha e their oBn o+inion$C Erom this stage, st&dents then H&m+ to the +osition of relati ism, Bhere Canything goesIIall +ositions are eM&ally alid$ Fo one can arg&e against my o&tlandish +osition (hoBe er badly reasoned), beca&se there is no absol&te right or Brong$C %n the final stage, negati e as+ects of balanced H&dgements s+lits this +rocess commitment, st&dents take into acco&nt +ositi e and decisions they are considering, and then make as to hoB to folloB$ %n PerryLs nineIstage model, he into +arts that de+end on the de+th of the commitment$

The im+lications of the Perry model for mathematics and its teaching are im+ortant$ % Bill disc&ss H&st a one, ;t&dents Bho are in the basic d&ality and m&lti+licity +hases of groBth sometimes say that they like mathematics Cbeca&se in math all the ansBers are knoBn$C They often &se mathematics and science as models of CcorrectC Borld ieBs Bhen they are challenged on some +oint in a sociology or English class, say$ 8hen these st&dents find o&t that Cambig&o&s ass&m+tionsC are also made in theorems, they can become disill&sioned Bith mathematics itself or the Bay itLs being ta&ght$ Their s&bseM&ent +roblems Bith ability to +ro e theorems can th&s +ossibly be embedded in their ieB of ed&cation itself, and not sim+ly in their ref&sal to get the CtheoremI+roofC conce+t$ 6ne +ossible im+lication of this last, if tr&e, may be that co&rses in +roof theory for so+homores m&st be constr&cted to take into acco&nt the M&estion of st&dentsC belief str&ct&res$ 2&t % am del ing too far into a theory of learning for a te?t at this le el$ The im+lications of the Perry model are intrig&ing, hoBe er, and yo& may Bish to +&rs&e them f&rther$

Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) The ;emester in Ei e Min&tes "A&g&st *<I*=" 3o& s+end three ho&rs looking for yo&r lect&rer$ 3o& meet Bith him or her for an ho&r, then yo& realiAe that yo& forgot to ask a really im+ortant M&estion$ 8hen yo& go back to ask, he or she is meeting Bith &ndergrad&ate ad isees$ 3o& ha e to Bait fortyIfi e min&tes for the ansBer$ 3o& go home e?ha&sted$ "A&g&st *>th or 10th" Meet yo&r classes for the first time$ Take roll$ Half the class is not on the roll sheet, the other half isnLt in the classroom$ ;t&dents ask lots of M&estions only ansBerable if yo&L e been at yo&r instit&tion for fo&rteen years, C%s this the right class for me9C CAre yo& gonna do transcendental f&nctions9C CHoB do % transfer o&t of here9C C8ill yo& sign my sched&le9C C5id % b&y the right book for this co&rse9C C8here do % go to change my registration9C C% canLt make the final e?am at the sched&led time$ Can % ha e a make&+9C UPossible ansBers, CMaybe$ -etLs talk abo&t that after class$C C% d&nnoK ask me again ne?t time$C C.o to (the a++ro+riate) office$C CFot at this school$C CMaybe$C C6&r book is$$$C C.o to (the a++ro+riate) office$C C8e ha e some time to fig&re that one o&t, donLt Be9CV "8eek TBo" TBo neB st&dents arri e$ They Bant yo& to t&tor them on Bhat they missed$ A third st&dent kee+s coming to yo&r office for at least an ho&r e ery day for hel+ Bith his homeBork$ MeanBhile, yo&r oBn first big homeBork set in analysis is d&e tomorroB$ "8eek Ei e, E?am 6ne" Th&rsday night is the first e?am in calc&l&s$ 3o& ha e to do an e?tra hel+ session on T&esday night, < &ntil > +$m$, for yo&r and tBo other TALs sections$ Eifteen min&tes into the e?am itself, yo& realiAe that +roctoring is one of the tBo or three most boring things yo& ha e e er done in yo&r life$ 3o& s+end the ne?t tBo min&tes calc&lating in yo&r head hoB many times the lect&rer m&st ha e done this in his or her lifetime$ After the e?am is o er, yo& s+end the ne?t tBo days grading o er fi e h&ndred co+ies of one +roblem$ "8eek ;i?" 3o& try to catch &+ on the class Bork for yo&r oBn co&rses, b&t yo&r st&dents kee+ coming to yo& o&tside office ho&rs for regrades on ario&s +roblems from the first e?am$ "8eek ;e en"

3o& get behind in yo&r oBn Bork, so yo& decide to try a neB teaching strategy called shoBing &+ &n+re+ared$ That goes so badly that yo& decide Pne erP to try that again$ "8eek Eight" 6ne of yo&r st&dents asks Bhen yo& are teaching ne?t semester, beca&se he Bants to get yo& again$ 3o& canLt say Bhy, b&t this makes yo& feel really good for the rest of the day$ "8eek Fine, E?am TBo" This Beek is like Beek fi e, the Ce?am oneC Beek$ %t Bo&ld ha e gone better, b&t yo& ha e an analysis midterm of yo&r oBn the day before yo&r st&dentsL test, and a h&ge algebra +roblem set d&e tBo days after the calc&l&s e?am$ %nstead of grading for tBel e ho&rs, it only takes yo& ten$ And, the n&mbers of regrades goes Bay doBn$ 2&t itLs still Bay too m&ch Bork$ "Thanksgi ing" Attendance goes doBn drasticallyK st&dents head home e en tho&gh thereLs an e?am the Beek they ret&rn$ -ater, they Bill say on the co&rse e al&ations that yo& and the lect&rer didnLt moti ate them in the co&rse$ "8eek Thirteen, E?am Three" ;t&dents are an?io&s and s&rly beca&se they didnLt get eno&gh time to st&dy$ The fact that this BeekLs e?am Bas anno&nced in A&g&st doesnWt seem to matter, nor does the fact that they did ski+ si? classes in the last tBo Beeks$ 2&t itLs yo&r fa&lt that they didnLt knoB eno&gh abo&t tri+le integrals$ "8eek Eo&rteen" 2reak before finals$ ;t&dents yo& ha enLt seen for se en Beeks shoB &+ for re ieB sessions$ AfterBards, tBo come to ask yo&, C8hat can % do to +ass this co&rse9C 3o& read yo&r co&rse e al&ations$ 3o& tho&ght yo& knocked yo&rself o&t hel+ing st&dentsK they say yo&Lre Ca erage,C e?ce+t for the category of CorganiAation,C Bhere yo& are beloB a erage$ "5ecember #7th" -ike Beek fi e, b&t m&ch, m&ch Borse$ 3o& ha e tBo take home e?ams of yo&r oBn to hand in, +l&s one inIclass final on the day after yo&r st&dentsL finalIIand yo& ha e to grade o er fi e h&ndred +a+ers again$ "5ecember *0th" 3o& ha e a grading meeting Bith all the TAs and the lect&rer$ 6ne TA forgets his grade bookK yo& ha e to Bait fortyIfi e min&tes to calc&late the class median$ Then yo& disco er that fi e of yo&r st&dents are from one to fo&r +oints beloB the c&toff for an A$ E&rther, tBo of yo&r class attendees are not on the roll sheets, Bhile tBo other st&dents yo& ha e ne er heard of are$ "5ecember *#st" As yo& t&rn in yo&r last take home in algebra, yo&r most annoying st&dent Balks &+ to yo& and demands to meet Bith yo& today abo&t the fact that he got a 2R, Bhen C% ob io&sly deser ed an AI, Pat leastNPC "Gan&ary *nd" 8hile Batching a football game, yo& s&ddenly realiAe, C% did itN And it BasnLt that bad$ And, % co&ld do it again$ 2&t not H&st yet$C

Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Gobs, Gobs, Gobs Maybe yo& ha enLt heard, b&t there arenLt any ten&red TAs$ Th&s, today is a good day to start looking for a Hob$ .o to a Bord +rocessor$ P&t together a res&me$ 6f co&rse, yo&r name, address and all the standard categories are on it$ %f yo& are a neB TA, yo& Bill +robably ha e lots of Bhite s+ace Bhere yo&r Pteaching, researchP and P+rofessional acti itiesP sho&ld be$ This Bhite s+ace is Bhat yo& need to fill &+ o er the ne?t feB yearsK and, if yo& are an older TA, yo& sho&ld ha e done so already$ ;o, &nder Pteaching,P yo& sho&ld try to get as aried a backgro&nd as +ossible$ 5onLt alBays TA in the engineering calc&l&s section, e en if yo& like that best$ HoB is it yo& knoB yo& Bon9t like the b&siness st&dents instead9 Ask to teach yo&r oBn section of some co&rse, then +&t together a small +ortfolio Bith a co&+le of yo&r lesson +lans and all the M&iAAes and e?ams$ P&t co+ies of yo&r good (they are good, right9) co&rse e al&ations in that +ortfolio, along Bith any nice eImails or letters from st&dents$ .rade an ad anced co&rse in yo&r area rather than teaching all the time$ Ask to gi e a lect&re or tBo in the co&rse, then +&t that on yo&r res&me$ 8rite a teaching statement to +&t into yo&r +ortfolio$ 3o& Bill need s&ch a statement later on, Bhen yo& go &+ for ten&re, so noB is a good time to start to hone one$ %n the PresearchP category, once yo& ha e reached the third year, yo& Bill +robably ha e +icked o&t a s+ecialty$ 3o& can then Brite a short descri+tion of yo&r to+ic for the res&me$ At the same time, yo& sho&ld Brite a co&+le of +ages for the +ortfolio on the recent history of yo&r to+ic, Bhat the im+ortant theorems are, Bho is Borking in the area, and Bhere yo&r thesis to+ic sits relati e to the Bork of others in the field$ %f yo& are in yo&r first or second year and ha enLt done any research yet, maybe yo& can describe an REU +a+er yo& Brote or yo&r &ndergrad&ate thesis at yo&r +re io&s school$ %n terms of P+rofessional acti ities,P yo& can list any talks yo& ha e gi en$ %f yo& ha e ne er gi en talks, noB is the time to start +lanning to do so$ 3o& ha e the +ossibility, from yo&r first year in grad&ate school, to s+eak to the Math Cl&b or the grad&ate st&dent seminar$ 3o& can also call &+ yo& old +rofessors at yo&r &ndergrad&ate college and ask them if theyLd like yo& to s+eak at their seminar the ne?t time yo&Wre in toBn$ 3o& sho&ld also Hoin the AM; and the MAA$ 5oing so shoBs that yo& ha e a real, +rofessional interest in mathematics, both as a research area and in its teaching as+ects$ Another +rofessional acti ity that is more im+ortant than yo& may think at first is to go to MAA and AM; sectional and regional meetings$ These

are &s&ally Bithin a co&+le h&ndred miles of yo&r home instit&tion, and they gi e yo& a decent idea of Bhat the c&rrent teaching iss&es and hot research to+ics are$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) -etters of Recommendation The first time yo& are asked for a letter of recommendation, yo& Bill +robably be s&r+rised$ As the s&r+rise Bears off, yo& Bill e?+erience a sinking realiAation that yo& ha e no idea Bhat to Brite$ %f yo& really donLt knoB the st&dent, of if yo& cannot Brite a generally +ositi e letter, yo& may s&ggest that he or she Cmight Bant to find someone Bho knoBs them better and can Brite a more s+ecific letter$C 6n the other hand, if yo& do remember the st&dent and can Brite a +ositi e letter abo&t his or her +otential, by all means do so$ Here9s hoB, Eirst, note that yo& are being asked for a +rofessional assessment, so Brite as caref&l a letter as yo& can$ To hel+ yo&rself and the candidate, find o&t Bhat the +osition is he or she is a++lying for, and Bhat the reason is for his or her needing the letter$ %s it for a s&mmer Hob, maybe9 6r is the st&dent transferring to another instit&tion, or maybe asking for a letter to a grad&ate or +rofessional school, or for a scholarshi+9 Each +osition s&ggests the M&alities the a++licant Bill be asked to shoB, and Bill th&s affect the letter yo& Brite$ Ask for a res&me, and ask the st&dent his or her reason for interest in the +osition$ A descri+tion of the Hob can also be hel+f&lK get one from the st&dent if yo& can$ ;tart yo&r letter Bith, CU;t&dentV has asked me for a letter of recommendation for Uyo&r HobV$C Then, C% ha e knoBn Ust&dentV since UdateV in Uca+acityV$C Fe?t, CMy s+ecific comments as to Bhat % saB$$$C Here yo& can address s&ch iss&es as Ccame to class,C Casked good M&estions,C Cgot a good grades,C CBorked Bell Bith others,C and the like$ FoB address the M&alities described in the Hob descri+tion as being desirable, Cmoti ated,C CselfIstarter,C Cteam +layer,C etc$, fit here$ %f yo& donLt knoB Bhat M&alities the school or com+any is looking for, try to int&it Bhat the f&t&re em+loyer Bo&ld Bant$ Einish Bith a comment as to the st&dentLs +otential$ See+ a co+y of the letter, by the Bay$ The st&dent may Bell be back Bith another a++lication in hand$ And, the em+loyer may call yo& for a folloB &+ comment$ C5id yo& really mean Bhat yo& Brote9C Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Mathematical Talks .enerally, yo& Bill be asked for one of tBo ty+es of mathematical talks

d&ring yo&r time as a grad&ate st&dent, the Clong talk,C of abo&t an ho&rIIand the Cshort one,C abo&t ten to tBenty min&tes$ The long talk also s+lits into tBo, researchIrelated, and e?+ository$ 2elie e it or not, of the three ty+es, the PresearchIrelatedP one is the easiest to gi e$ This is mainly beca&se, first of all, yo& Bo&ldnLt be asked to, nor Bo&ld yo& acce+t, an in itation to s+eak abo&t yo&r research &nless yo& Bere acti ely doing some$ E&rther, noB that yo& are act&ally doing research, yo& are someBhat of an e?+ert at the to+ic$ Th&s, describing the history, stating the main theorems, disc&ssing a co&+le of rele ant e?am+les, stating and Che&ristically +ro ingC yo&rs and othersL res&lts, and listing some o+en +roblems sho&ld all be no +roblem for yo&$ The hardest +art of s&ch a talk is making s&re yo& kee+ it interesting for the listener, 8hat makes the +roblem significant9 HoB can yo& make the a&dience care9 8hat kinds of e?am+les Bill gi e &s a feeling that Be &nderstand the broad o&tline of the to+ic9 8hat other e?am+les or res&lts Bill indicate the de+th or +oBer of the +roblem9 P&tting s&ch a research talk together is &sef&l for yo& beca&se it Bill offer yo& insight into yo&r oBn Bork$ E&rther, yo& Bill need to ha e s&ch a talk for Bhen yo& go onto the Hob market, so PnoBP is the best time to start +re+aring it$ A good Pe?+ository talkP is not really hard to +&t togetherK it H&st takes time$ 8hat is a good to+ic for &ndergrad&ates that isnLt &s&ally co ered in the traditional c&rric&l&m9 ;M&aring the circle, say9 Fonstandard analysis9 Fonorientable s&rfaces9 Cry+togra+hy9 HoB abo&t CThree neB &ses for matricesC9 6r, CThe statistics of baseballC9 All these, and more, ha e been disc&ssed in books and +a+ers that yo& can refer to, and b&ild from$ These make good talks for sectional meetings of the Mathematical Association of America, or to grad&ate st&dent seminars and colloM&ia, or to st&dents at the colleges at Bhich yo& are inter ieBing for a Hob$ As Bith the research talk, the e?+ository talk sho&ld be coherent and interesting$ Here, hoBe er, yo& sho&ld em+hasiAe the history, e?am+les and o+en M&estions of the to+ic, rather than +recise definitions, +roofs and other Cdirty detailsCIInot that these arenLt im+ortant, b&t the interested listener can look them &+ later$ The Pshort talk,P Bhich % Bill call the CtenImin&te talk,C is the most diffic&lt, e en tho&gh most neo+hytes think it is the easiest$ The reason it is diffic&lt is clear Bhen yo& think abo&t it, there is ery little time in Bhich to say anything im+ortant or &sef&l$ Many +eo+le reason, C;ince they arenLt gi ing me any time to say anything meaningf&l, %Lll H&st LBing itL$C This is a big mistakeK most yo&ng mathematicians end &+ ha ing to gi e short talks, and the Borth of their Bork is ga&ged by the M&ality of their +resentation$ (My first talk Bas on the last day of a national meeting$ % had an a&dience of three, the +re io&s s+eaker, the ne?t s+eaker, and A$H$ ;tone$ ;tone took notes on my talk$) ;o, hoB do yo& gi e a M&ality tenImin&te talk9 ;tart by Cthinking backBardsC, 8hatLs the most im+ortant +oint yo& need to make9 Make s&re that +oint comes in the talk someBhere toBard the end$ 6ften +eo+le Bill think, C%tLs that neB theorem of mine thatLs the really e?citing thing,C b&t are yo& s&re of that9 ;o often, the a&dience thinks that itLs corollaries or e?am+les that come from the theorem that are im+ortant,

or maybe the M&estions that get ansBered or donLt get ansBered that are really the reason for the talk$ ;o noB yo& knoB Bhere yo&r talk is headingK Bhat do yo& need to get there9 %s there a definition yo& need for com+rehension9 Then +&t it in$ ;imilarly, an ill&strati e e?am+le Bill &s&ally gi e the a&dience more sense of the to+ic than +roofs$ Also, make s&re yo& indicate Bhy the to+ic is im+ortantK Bhose theorem are yo& e?tending9 8hat M&estion are yo& ansBering9 And Bhat neB M&estions ha e yo& &nco ered9 8hat are yo& going to try to +ro e ne?t, and do yo& Bant to tell the a&dience this9 (After all, yo& may Bant more time to get yo&r oBn +roof$) 6f co&rse, in ten min&tes yo& BonLt ha e time to +ro e thingsIIat most, yo&Lll ha e time for a statement or tBo of int&itionIIand then, &s&ally only in res+onse to a M&estion from the a&dience$ ;o yo&r talk starts, C%n #>=<, Gones +ro ed$$$ b&t he left o+en the M&estion of$$$$ % ha e a +artial res&lt in the hemiIdemiIsemiIty+ological case$ Eirst, % Bill define$$$$ A sim+le e?am+le is$$$$ HereLs the main theorem$$$$ %t is +ro ed thro&gh the &se of ;mithLs theorem on$$$ An e?am+le of a s+ace Bhere the theorem Borksis$$$ and let me finish Bith a conHect&re and some comments$C FoB yo& ha e a talk, and yo& think it Bill be ten min&tes long$ Try it o&t on yo&r office mate, and donLt be s&r+rised Bhen it comes in at eighteen min&tes and yo& feel +ress&red all thro&gh the +ractice session$ 3o& can sa e some time by +&tting as m&ch information as +ossible on trans+arenciesK this sho&ld be Borth abo&t three to fi e min&tes$ Then thereLs the second e?am+le that yo& tho&ght Bas so good, b&t yo&r officemate fo&nd red&ndantK dro+ it$ The fact that it co&ld gi e the a&dience some neB insight is a +oint yo& can &se if thereLs a M&estion +eriod, or +erha+s Bhen someone sto+s yo& in the hallBay tBo ho&rs later to tell yo& hoB m&ch they liked the talk$ FoB yo&Lre doBn to tBel e min&tes$ 3o& can dro+ a definition that yo&r officemate didn9t knoB b&t e eryone in yo&r area of mathematics does$ 8hen yo& also remo e tBo of the three Cint&iti e commentsC yo& Bere going to +&t in at the end, yo& think yo& ha e nine min&tes$ ;o yo& try the talk on yo&r officemate one more time, and s&re eno&gh, it is H&st &nder the tenImin&te mark, altho&gh yo& still Bish yo& co&ld ha e +&t in one more of those last int&iti e comments$ At this +oint, yo& m&st note that itLs 6S to feel that yo& co&ld gi e the a&dience moreK that int&iti e comment co&ld also come &+ in the M&estion +eriod, if +eo+le are interested$ And if they arenLt interested (sometimes a&diences H&st aren9t), Bell then, one more comment Bill H&st make them that m&ch less e?cited$ 8hat else9 8ell, in general, +&t as m&ch as +ossible on trans+arencies$ This Bill sa e time, and itLll kee+ yo& from forgetting to say something im+ortant$ Another general +oint, try not to a++ear r&shed$ %f yo& need to talk fast to Cget it all in,C Bell$ 6S, b&t if yo& look Borried, +eo+le Bill ha e less confidence in yo&r Bork$ EnHoy the abo&t the one other Bhere yo& e?+erience as m&ch as yo& canK after all, yo& knoB as m&ch to+ic as anyone in the roomIIe?ce+t, maybe, yo&r ad isor and +erson$ And, those are the +eo+le yo& can learn from abo&t sho&ld be going ne?tIIthatLs really Bhy yo& came to s+eak, yes9

Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 2ecoming a Eac&lty Member Eor yo& as grad&ate st&dent, the +ros+ect of getting a fac&lty +osition at a college or &ni ersity may seem like entry into +aradise, and to an e?tent it is$ 2&t, before yo& decide that being a fac&lty member is all Bonderf&l, let me e?+lain some of the neB challenges yo& Bill enco&nter$ The relief yo& Bill feel from ha ing fo&nd a Hob Bill be almost immediately s&++lanted by a sense of aloneness, insec&rity and a oidance$ 8hen yo& Bere a grad&ate st&dent, yo& had a cohort of other CnQth yearsC Bho Bere going thro&gh ro&ghly the same cr&cible yo& Bere$ FoB, hoBe er, the other +erson Bho Bas hired at the same time as yo& may Bell see himI or herself as ying for the lone ten&re slot$ 3o&r con ersations Bill become g&arded, if they e?ist at all$ The older fac&lty, at the same time, Bill seem distant$ Maybe itLs beca&se they ha e their oBn +roblems to contend Bith, maybe they PreallyP are CH&st M&iet,C and maybe it really is beca&se yo& re+laced the +erson they Banted to ha e hired$ %n any e ent, yo& may be s+ending a lot of comm&ting time in the mornings and e enings trying to C+sych o&tC other +eo+leLs moti ations$ %t hel+s to kee+ telling yo&rself that the instit&tion yo& are going to has already made a real in estment in yo&IIthey do Bant yo& to s&cceed, e en if it doesnLt seem so at times$ Try to ignore Bhat seem to be sn&bs, kee+ to the track of doing BhatLs best for yo&r st&dents and for mathematics, and sa e yo&r disagreements for e?tremely significant iss&es, Bhate er those may be$ Try to b&ild a coterie of colleag&es Bith Bhom yo& can Bork, share ideas, talk abo&t mathematics, andIImost im+ortantlyIIgo to l&nch or to the gym$ ;+eaking of in estments, yo& Bill +robably think that the fact that yo& are noB earning abo&t three times Bhat yo& made as a TA makes yo& rich$ 8ell, not as m&ch as yo& tho&ght, beca&se yo&r ded&ctions from income for ta?es and social sec&rity, for yo&r medical benefits, for yo&r retirement (forty years hence), and maybe e en for yo&r cam+&s +arking +lace, Bill +robably take abo&t forty +ercent of that +aycheck$ That lea es yo& Bith almost do&ble Bhat yo& had as a TA$ 2&t BaitIIyo& forgot that yo& &sed to li e in CcollegetoBnC Bith fo&r roommates, and thatLs going to change, too$ Fot to mention the car yo&Lll b&y to fill &+ the +arking +lace yo&Lre +aying for, right9 ;ince yo& are neB to the instit&tion, yo& BonLt knoB (and sometimes yo& BonLt Pres+ectP) the cam+&s c&lt&re$ %f yo& are caref&l and +olitic, yo& Bill ha e an o++ort&nity to redirect the c&lt&reIIBithin reason$ 2&t first, yo& m&st b&ild the confidence of others, 3o& m&st listen first, before offering ad ice, 3o& m&st make realistic s&ggestions that come o&t of the c&rrent modes of o+eration, and 3o& m&st be Billing to acce+t criticism or correction$ Remember, yo&r neB colleag&es can ery M&ickly get tired of hearing yo& say, C8hen % Bas at Eamo&s U$ Be did it this Bay$$$$C

At yo&r neB instit&tion, yo& Bill be e al&ated based on the M&ality of yo&r PresearchP or Pscholarshi+,P yo&r Pteaching,P and yo&r Pser ice$P 6nce &+on a time, research Bas allIim+ortant$ This meant +&blications in Ho&rnals like the PTransactionsP or the P2&lletinP$ Te?tbooks, +edagogical +a+ers and e en articles in the MAA PMonthlyPdidnLt really co&nt$ Recently, +artly thro&gh the im+et&s of the 2oyer re+ort (see reference U:V), the Bord scholarshi+ has come to be more em+hasiAed, and the more ed&cationally oriented ty+es of Bork ha e come to be recogniAed as acti ity Borthy of consideration for ten&re$ As t&ition has increased on college cam+&ses, teaching has also become more im+ortantK more st&dents and +arents ask, C8hat am % getting for all this money9C This is one reason Bhy it is im+ortant for yo&, as a grad&ate st&dent, to get as aried a set of TA assignments as +ossible, and to take teaching iss&es serio&sly before yo& get to yo&r ten&reIstream +osition, and ten&reIiss&e +roblems$ ;er ice has often been mis&nderstood as a criterion for ten&re$ There are some schools that consider the +residency of the local r&nnersL cl&b as Cser ice,C b&t for the most +art, colleges inter+ret the Bord to mean Bork in Pyo&r s+ecialty$P Th&s, if yo& are a math ed&cator Bho gets elected to the school board, thatLs ser ice$ The Bord also refers to committee Bork in yo&r de+artment or at the college le elIIbeing on the arts college bylaBs committee, for instance$ ;er ice PisP im+ortant, and others do e al&ate it$ %f yo& do not take it serio&sly, +eo+le on the ten&re and +romotion committee Bill hear abo&t it$ % co&ld say a lot more abo&t Bhat life Bill be like after yo& get a Ph5 and a Hob in academia, b&t this is eno&gh for noB$ After all, yo&Lre still trying to get o&t of grad&ate school, right9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Uni ersity and College .o ernance % Bas talking to a f&ll +rofessor a feB days ago C8hat does a +ro ost do, anyBay9C % ho+e % donLt saying that % am s&r+rised that +eo+le can s+end in colleges and &ni ersities and still not knoB go ernance Borks$ Bhen s&ddenly he asked, ins&lt this +erson by &+Bards of thirty years ery m&ch abo&t hoB

6f co&rse, e ery school has a different Bay of administration$ Eor instance, colleges, Bhich &s&ally concentrate on &ndergrad&ate ed&cation, are not go erned in the same Bay as &ni ersities, Bhich ha e grad&ate schools and th&s grad&ate deans$ % Bill describe one model, b&t there are many others$ 3o& can &se mine as a tem+late for com+arison$ Many +eo+le make the mistake of thinking that go ernance starts Bith the +resident of the &ni ersity$ %t does not$ Eor e?am+le, read the back of the ballot for tr&stees of Cornell Uni ersity, CThe Uni ersity 2ylaBs est s&+reme control o er the Uni ersity and all its di isions to the 2oard of Tr&stees$C The board then delegates its res+onsibilities thro&gh a central administration and committee str&ct&re$ At the to+ of the central administration sits a chief administrati e officer, &s&ally called the C+resident,C Bho is res+onsible for academic M&ality,

f&ndraising, +&blic relations, financial management and instit&tional integrity$ And, often, the s&ccess of the athletic +rogram$ DiceI+residents, for research, for finance, etc$, are then s&bordinate to the +resident$ Most &ni ersities also ha e a chief academic officer, called a +ro ost, Bho often o ersees the dayItoIday Borkings of the ario&s colleges Bithin the &ni ersityK e$g$, the arts college, the engineering school, the b&siness school, and the like$ ;ome instit&tions ha e se+arate +ro osts for medical and b&siness schools$ Again, +ro osts tend to ha e a n&mber of iceI+ro osts Bhose res+onsibilities are s+elled o&t in their titles$ Fe?t come the deans of the ario&s colleges (arts, engineering, etc$), along Bith a co&+le of deans yo& may not ha e tho&ght of before, dean of the fac&lty and dean of the grad&ate school$ The dean of the fac&lty &s&ally re+resents the interests of the fac&lty$ The dean of the grad&ate school is most im+ortant to yo& beca&se he or she has great sBay o er s&ch matters as hoB many +eo+le are acce+ted into ario&s grad&ate de+artments, hoB TAs are allocated by de+artment, and Bhat are the reM&irements for the Ph5$ %n small colleges, the administrati e str&ct&re can be M&ite com+ressedK % knoB of some schools Bhere there is a C+residentC Bho acts as +resident, +ro ost, and iceI+ro ost$ The ne?t officer in the chain is then the dean, of Bhich there is only one$ There is no need for a se+arate dean of fac&lty Bhen a college has (say) forty fac&lty members, and of co&rse, a college Bitho&t a grad&ate +rogram needs no dean of the grad&ate school$ After the associate and assistant deans of admissions, ad ising, and Cdean of st&dents,C come the de+artment chairs$ Altho&gh elections may be held in de+artments, chairs ser e at the behest of the dean$ Th&s, altho&gh a de+artment fac&lty may ote to recommend a +artic&lar +erson, that ote is not binding on the dean$ 5e+artments ser e im+ortant f&nctions$ They determine their oBn co&rses of st&dy, s&bHect to college a++ro alK they initiate the ten&re +rocess for fac&ltyK they determine the reM&irements for the maHor and for grad&ation$ Most im+ortantly for yo&, de+artments admit grad&ate st&dents and offer them financial aid$ 3o&r de+artment is ery likely to ha e a director of grad&ate st&dy (5.;) Bho o ersees yo&r academic life from start to finish$ 3o& Bill also ha e a thesis ad isor, of co&rse, b&t he or she Bill be m&ch less in ol ed in the administrati e C+a+er trail$C ;o noB Be can fig&re o&t hoB yo& got a +aycheck, -ast year, yo& a++lied to Cthe grad&ate school,C Bhich means that a secretary in the grad&ate school office o+ened and collected yo&r a++lication form and recommendation letters$ Those materials Bere then sent from the grad&ate school office to another secretary in mathematics$ That +erson handed them to a committee s&+er ised by the 5.;$ After a lot of internal de+artmental deliberation and cons&ltation Bith the dean of the grad&ate school abo&t hoB m&ch f&nding Bo&ld be a ailable this year, the committee chose yo& as one of its neB st&dents UCongrat&lationsNV$ At some instit&tions, this admission incl&ded an

offer of s&++ort as a teaching assistant, in Bhich case yo&r letter of acce+tance said something like, C3o& Bill recei e f&ll t&ition and fees and a TA sti+end Borth Usome amo&nt ofV dollars$C Alternati ely, yo& may ha e been offered admission, b&t told that TA s&++ort Bas +ending Cde+ending on grad&ate school f&nding$C UFoB yo& knoB Bhat that sentence meant$V A feB months later, yo& shoBed &+ on cam+&s, Bhere yo& Bere immediately handed a fl&rry of forms to fill o&t (C%I>$ 8hatLs that9 6f co&rse %Lm a U$;$ citiAen$C) by the same secretary Bho sent on yo&r a++lication to the 5.;$ (FoB yo& knoB Bhy that secretary looked at yo& as if yo& Bere an old friend$) 3o& fo&nd o&t Bhat yo&r TA assignment Bas to be, and the secretary filled o&t more forms for the acco&nting and +ayroll offices$ TBo Beeks later, Bhat do yo& knoBN 3o& got +aidN Easy, right9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) 8hat 5oes an E al&ator E al&ate9 % ha e been called on a n&mber of times o er the years to sit in on classes for the +&r+oses of e al&ating TAs and fac&lty$ At first, % had no real idea of hoB to do thisK % sat and listened, made a note or tBo and at the end said, CThanks, nice class$C % felt mildly &neasy abo&t the Bhole system, b&t there didnLt seem to be any role models for me to learn from or com+are myself to$ 6nly after a Bhile did % start to de elo+ my oBn techniM&es for dealing Bith the +rocess$ FoB Bhen % am asked to e al&ate a grad&ate st&dent or fac&lty member, % first make s&re to do so at the con enience of the +erson %Lm going to be Batching$ % ask them Bhich day they Bo&ld +refer, gi en the Bay they are teaching their class$ There is no reason for me to shoB &+ on an e?am day, for instance$ 6n the other hand, there is e ery reason to attend Bhen the lect&rer is gi ing a lesson he or she is +artic&larly enth&siastic abo&t$ % come to class early, ask the instr&ctor if it is still 6S if % sit in (H&st in case +lans ha e changed at the last min&te), and then take a seat toBard the back of the room$ Altho&gh % +refer to be &nobtr&si e, st&dents &s&ally notice that % am in the room, and % am aBare that that fact sometimes changes the dynamic of the class$ % take notes as the class +roceeds, recording the to+ic, the instr&ctorLs a++roach to it, and es+ecially the dialog&e that takes +lace, ;, C% didnLt get that last ste+$C %, C6S, %Lll go back$C 8hen % see Bhat might ha e been a missed o++ort&nity for the instr&ctor, % +&t a comment in brackets in the margin of the +a+er for later mention$ % also record seemingly tri ial facts, s&ch as the time the class starts and the n&mbers of st&dents the instr&ctor has$ %f class starts late, that is a +oint to disc&ss laterK if it is beca&se of a late b&s, thatLs one thing, b&t if it is +art of a +attern that comes from the instr&ctorLs ner o&sness or dislike of teaching, then Be ha e a matter to talk f&rther abo&t$ %f there are too feB st&dents in class, it may be beca&se today is the day before semester break, or +erha+s st&dents are generally not coming to class beca&se they see it as &seless$ After class, % ask the instr&ctor if he or she Bo&ld like to ha e some coffee and talk$ % like to chat right after class, if +ossible, beca&se

the material is still fresh in o&r common memories$ % alBays start Bith Bhat % liked abo&t the class, and % begin Bith the tri ialitiesIIC3o& s+eak lo&dly eno&gh, and % like the Bay yo& Brote e erything on the board so that st&dents co&ld take notes more easily$C Many of the +eo+le % obser e are better teachers than % Bas Bhen % began, and % tell them so$ Then % mo e on to more serio&s iss&es$ %f st&dents asked lots of M&estions, % consider that to be a Creal +l&sCIIit shoBs that they are not coBed by the instr&ctor, e en if he or she co&ldnLt ansBer all the M&estions$ % tell the instr&ctor this, C%tLs good to see hoB yo& enco&rage the st&dents to res+ond to the material by letting them ask yo& M&estions$ % really liked the Bay that yo& Bere Billing to field that M&estion abo&t Usomething yo& messed &+V$ %t shoBed the st&dents hoB yo& Bere thinking, e en tho&gh yo& still need to Bork on the ansBer for ne?t time$C %f the instr&ctor has done a good Hob Bith Cmechanical skills,C % then feel free to disc&ss dee+er iss&es of teaching$ Referring to my notes, % sometimes offer s&ggestions as to hoB to a++roach the classroom material from a more so+histicated +ers+ecti e$ -et me interHect some +oints here that % ha e come to o er time$ % classify teaching into three le els$ At the first le el, the instr&ctor has an aBareness of and an ability to handle the most basic as+ects of teaching$ He or she Brites clearly, doesnLt stand in front of the board, s+eaks lo&dly eno&gh, comes to class f&lly +re+ared to disc&ss the assignments, treats st&dents in a co&rteo&s manner, and can &nderstand and gi e basic res+onses to M&estions asked in class$ A neB instr&ctor sho&ld be able to learn these skills thro&gh a decent TA training +rogram and to +erfect them d&ring the first semester of teaching$ A le el tBo instr&ctor is able to moti ate the material being ta&ght, +erha+s by bringing in some rele ant additional material, thinks on his or her feet, is able to ansBer Bitho&t diffic&lty sim+le M&estions on lect&re material and homeBorks, and is Billing to s+end some additional time Bith indi id&al st&dents$ At the third le el, the instr&ctor noB knoBs Bhat the st&dent is Creally askingC Bhen he or she asks a +artic&lar M&estion$ This instr&ctor can also say CBhere the co&rse is going,C and can gi e solid, coherent res+onses to M&estions of the CBhatLs it all good forC ariety$ He or she acts +rofessionally in all classroom sit&ations$ FoB let me ret&rn to the to+ic at hand$ 8hen % obser e an instr&ctor, % try to get an idea of Bhich of the three le els he or she is on$ My goal is then to reinforce good habits by com+limenting this +erson on ha ing attained the a++ro+riate le el (% donLt say it this Bay, of co&rse), and then to s&ggest one or tBo Bays in Bhich he or she can contin&e to get to the ne?t le el$ % alBays Bork Bith +ositi e reinforcement and s&ggestions b&ilt from Bhat % ha e seen in the classroom$ C% really like the Bay yo& Bere able to do all the +roblems the st&dents asked$ 3o& Bere ob io&sly +re+ared$ 2y the Bay, remember that M&estion tBel e, the one abo&t integrating the trig f&nction9 % Bas noticing hoB yo& had a chance there to tell the st&dents that theyLd see those kinds of +roblems again if they take the ne?t semester co&rse$C %Ld like to +oint o&t that some +eo+le strongly dislike being e al&ated, and most +eo+le ha e +roblems Bith some as+ects of e al&ation, yet the

+rocess can be made to be a hel+f&l one$ ;ince more and more schools are reM&esting acco&ntability from their fac&lty, there is a reasonable +ossibility that yo& Bill be asked to go thro&gh an e al&ation$ 3o& can hel+ make this a more sal&tary one by realiAing that it is &ltimately designed to hel+ yo&$ After all, yo&r st&dents are Batching yo& all the time, and their critical fac&lties are not t&rned offK Bhy not let a colleag&e Batch yo&, too$ He or she may be able to say H&st Bhat yo& need to im+ro e yo&r teaching to le el threeIIand beyond$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) The Essence of .ood Teaching %t is common+lace to hear others say, C3o& canLt teach teaching$ %tLs ingrained$C 8hile % agree, to some e?tent, abo&t teaching being ingrainedII+art of oneLs +ersonalityII% canLt agree that teaching cannot be ta&ght$ Maybe itLs beca&se % ha e been trying to teach +eo+le hoB to teach for o er fifteen years noB, b&t % do belie e that some as+ects of instr&ction are definitely teachable$ Eor instance, if yo& go back to a +re io&s section, 8hat 5oes an E al&ator E al&ate '(8hat/*05oes/*0an/*0E al&ator/*0E al&ate) yo& Bill see that % talk there abo&t le els one, tBo and three of teaching$ Certainly, s&ch le el one as+ects as s+eaking lo&dly, Briting clearly, not standing in front of the material on the board, coming to class +re+ared, and treating st&dents Bith res+ect are all teachable$ %n fact, many +eo+le Bo&ld say that they are s&ch common sense that they need not be ta&ghtIIb&t Be ha e all seen too many instr&ctors Bho seem to ha e ski++ed that lesson$ My belief is that all the le el one as+ects can be ta&ght d&ring a oneIBeek TA training session, and then reinforced thro&gho&t the first semesterLs teaching so that they become close to second nat&re$ E&rther, % Bo&ld contin&e that le el tBo as+ects can also be ta&ght$ 8hen % look at these M&alities, hoBe er, % do not see Ccommon senseC +rinci+les, b&t rather teaching traits that m&st be de elo+ed o er a +eriod of time, thro&gh teaching itself, b&t also thro&gh mentoring, +eer s&ggestion, and +erha+s also thro&gh taking some teaching co&rses$ Unfort&nately, college teaching co&rses seem to be a rarity these daysIIBe m&st ho+e that they Bill groB in n&mber$ ;o sim+le teaching, Cgood teaching,C % Bo&ld claim, is teachable$ Any grad&ate st&dent Bho &ses his or her time in grad&ate school can become a better than adeM&ate collegeIle el instr&ctor$ There, % said it, and %Lll say it again, .ood teaching PisP teachable$ C.reatC teachingK noB thatLs something else$ Altho&gh to me PsomeP as+ects of great teaching are a++roachable by &s mere mortals, there is also a sense in Bhich teaching is an e?+ression of +ersonality, and H&st as some of &s donLt really Bant to be stock brokers, others sim+ly arenLt geared &+ for teaching$ %s this bad9 % donLt think so, &nless Be find o&rsel es ha ing to teach in order to li eK in that case, % still think Be sho&ld Cgi e it o&r best, and not a+ologiAe for o&r s&++osed shortcomings$C % knoB that % myself Bas an incredibly shy child Bho ne er Banted to be called on to recite, and at times % still ha e moreIthanInormal +roblems

Bith the conce+t of standing in front of an a&dience$ 3et, % ha e managed to teach classes of &+ to fi e h&ndred &ndergrad&ate st&dents and gi e serio&s mathematical lect&res to Borking research mathematicians (&s&ally the latter is easier than the former)$ 2&t % think that % can do so only by Bra++ing myself com+letely in the mathematics$ Early in my career, % &sed to try to memoriAe e ery detail of my lect&re, ho+ing, % g&ess, to fool +eo+le into thinking that % kneB all abo&t the material$ That Bo&ld Bork only as long as % ne er had to look at my notesK once that ha++ened, it Bas all o er for any CM&ality e?+osition$C -ater on, % realiAed that % co&ld &se trans+arencies, notes, e en f&ll te?t, Bhate er it takes to get my +oint across, and that, by trying to &se my memory, % Bas often de+ri ing my a&dience of the gist of my talks$ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ;ome +eo+le ha e told me that it is +ossible to find a model of good teaching in those Bho ha e ta&ght &s Bell in the +ast$ 8ell, maybe$ % recall some +eo+le Bho ta&ght me BellK Bhile they ha e definitely shoBn me many things abo&t teaching, and abo&t their fields of st&dy, they didnLt seem to conform to any single mold$ 6ne of the first college instr&ctors % had, and Bho % tho&ght Bas Cgifted,C broke most of the r&les % might try to en&nciate$ % BonLt gi e yo& his name or his school, for reasons that Bill be clear from my descri+tion$ Eirst, Professor E$, an English +rofessor, Bo&ld drink his l&nch, as Be &sed to say$ Then he Bo&ld start a se entyIfi e min&te class at #,10 in the afternoon Bith a thirtyI to fortyImin&te stand&+ comedy ro&tine Bith no basis in the classroom readings or disc&ssion$ At some +oint in the ro&tine, he Bo&ld sto+, sigh, +&ll o&t some old, yelloBed +a+ers from a se erely beaten &+ briefcase, and say to the assembled m&ltit&de, 8ell, % g&ess % ha e to say something abo&t HaBthorne$ 5onLt feel yo& ha e to listenK yo& can go to slee+ noB, if yo& Bish$ Then he Bo&ld +roceed to offer a caref&l, l&cid analysis of PThe ;carlet -etter Pand its im+lications for HaBthorneLs life and the sociology of early FeB England$ %n case yo& think that Professor E$ Bas &niM&ely sensiti e to st&dents or the comm&nityLs concerns, %Lll H&st +oint o&t that he told &s one day in class that he stayed in o&r backBater toBn only beca&se, Cas % ha e told the fac&lty many times, this is a +lace to Bhich c&lt&re is coming$ Altho&gh Bhen, % donLt knoB$C Another +rofessor at a different school, a mathematician, Bas incredibly shyK Bhen he BasnLt teaching, he seemed inca+able of con ersation$ 3et, Bhen in class, he ga e the kind of mathematical talk that made e ery st&dent s&re that he or she &nderstood e ery detailII&ntil Be tried to do the e?ercises$ 8hen Be Bo&ld come to ask him abo&t the +roblems Be Bere st&ck on, he Bo&ld say, C6h yes, that one got me for a Bhile, too$ -etLs see if Be can fig&re it o&t again$C Professor M$ Bas an incredible moti ator Bho alloBed &s into his mind$ He took a+art +roofs as if they Bere Batches and then +&t each +iece back together e?actly Bhere it sho&ld go$ A third instr&ctor Bas a stickler for +roofs in an engineering calc&l&s co&rse$ ;omehoB, he Bas able to con ince the engineering st&dents that C3o& need +roofs to &nderstand Bhy things BorkK otherBise yo&r bridges BonLt stand &+NC And, he had the force of +ersonality to make his o+inion stick$ Th&s, Bhen he took the class thro&gh the difference betBeen a hy+othesis and a concl&sion, Bhen he shoBed &s by e?am+les hoB

each hy+othesis Bas necessary to the +roof, Bhen he co&nted hy+otheses in his +roofs, Be listened, and listened caref&llyIIand not beca&se the material Bas going to be on the e?am$ 8hat ha e % learned from these instr&ctors9 8ell, definitely not that % sho&ld drink to e?cess before going to class$ For do % do stand&+ comedy for my classIIaltho&gh % do sometimes e?hibit a sense of h&mor, % canLt remember, let alone tell a canned Hoke in any circ&mstance$ 8hile % am shy, % donLt Balk aro&nd ho+ing that +eo+le Bill not talk to me, nor do % try to con ince engineers that +roofs are CBhere itLs at$C % g&ess Bhat % ha e learned from all this is that great teaching comes in all forms, b&t that mainly it comes from the delicate interaction betBeen tBo +ersonalities, That of the instr&ctor, Bho somehoB con eys a lo e of learning, and the st&dent, Bho comes ready to absorb and a++ly Bhat the instr&ctor has to gi eIIno matter hoB im+erfect that instr&ctor may be o&tside his or her domain of e?+ertise$ Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) Case ;t&dies "Case ;t&dy %" 3o& ha e arranged yo&r calc&l&s class so that yo& collect homeBorks in class each Beek for grading$ 3o& ha e told st&dents that ten +ercent of their final grade Bill come from these assignments$ After fi e Beeks of the semester, yo& find o&t that com+lete homeBork sets are sold in the cam+&s bookstore, and that they are also a ailable in the library$ 8hat do yo& do abo&t this9 5o yo& change yo&r grading +olicy9 5o yo& sto+ collecting homeBork9 5o yo& gi e credit for homeBork that yo& ha e already collected9 HoB do yo& change yo&r e?amination and grading +olicy for the ne?t semester9 ;ho&ld yo& try to change de+artment or &ni ersity +olicy abo&t Bhat kinds of books and co&rse materials are sold in the cam+&s bookstore9 " Case ;t&dy %%" Ass&me, for the sake of arg&ment (%t may e en be tr&eN), that yo& are a female TA$ 3o& ha e been assigned an o erBhelmingly male class of calc&l&s st&dents Bho are, to say the least, rather boistero&s$ 6ne st&dent in +artic&lar has a tendency to mention yo&r clothes, yo&r hair, yo&r +ersonal a++earance at or near the start of class e ery day$ HoB do yo& res+ond9 5o yo& +&blicly re+rimand the st&dent in class9 5o yo& change yo&r manner of dress9 5o yo& change yo&r beha ior9 5o yo& ask the lect&rer to inter ene9 E?actly Bhat is going on in class, and hoB do yo& handle it9 " Case ;t&dy %%%" 3o& are +roctoring an e?am$ 3o& notice that ;t&dent A is looking at someone in the roB ahead of him, b&t that the +erson he is looking at seems too far aBay for him to be co+ying anything from$ 6ccasionally d&ring the e?am, yo& go back to the general area Bhere the st&dents are sitting, b&t yo& see nothing &n&s&al from either him or from ;t&dents 2

and C sitting one roB ahead and abo&t si? and eight seats aBay$ At the end of the e?am, yo& take ;t&dent A aside and mention that he sho&ldnLt s+end so m&ch time Clooking aro&nd$C He res+onds, C5idnLt yo& see Bhat Bas going on9 Those st&dents Bere cheatingN % Bant yo& to take them to the H&dicial administrator, and % Bant to testifyNC HoB do yo& res+ond9 8hat do yo& do abo&t the sit&ation9 5o yo& take the case to the H&dicial administrator9 5o yo& ha e ;t&dent A testify9 "Case ;t&dy %%%2" 3o& took Case ;t&dy %%% to the H&dicial administrator$ ;&re eno&gh there Bas cheating going on, Bhich yo& Bere able to +ro e by &sing co+ies of the e?ams$ 3o& did not ask ;t&dent A to testify$ ;t&dent 2 admitted Clooking o erC the e?am booklet of ;t&dent C, b&t ;t&dents 2 and C both claimed that ;t&dent C Bas not a +artici+ant in the malfeasance$ ;t&dent A comes to ask abo&t the o&tcome, and Bhen he finds o&t that ;t&dent C has not been con icted, he is again &+set$ C2&t she Bas in ol ed, tooN ;he Bas shoBing him the ansBersNC FoB Bhat do yo& do9 " Case ;t&dy %D" %t is ;&nday nightK the second e?am in yo&r secondIsemester calc&l&s class is sched&led for T&esday$ 3o& are in the middle of a re ieB session for three of the sections of the class$ After an ho&rLs Borth of st&dent M&estions, yo& realiAe that yo&r ansBers are not getting thro&gh$ ;t&dents do not &nderstand +oBer series, a to+ic that Bill s&rely be on the e?am$ 6n Monday yo& are s&++osed to go on to a neB to+ic, so yo& feel some time +ress&reIIafter all, the ne?t e?am Bill also be im+ortant$ 8hat can yo& do to hel+ the st&dents +re+are for this e?am9 ;ho&ld yo& sim+ly ignore the syllab&s9 HoB co&ld yo& do this Bitho&t inc&rring the Brath of the co&rse leader9 "Case ;t&dy D" 6n T&esday yo& decide to go to a mo ie on cam+&s$ 8hile standing in line Bith yo&r roommate, yo& meet one of yo&r st&dents$ 3o& begin a con ersation, Bhich yo& contin&e in the theatre$ TBo days later, the TA coordinator recei es a dys+e+tic letter from another st&dent in the class, saying that yo& Bere Co&t on a dateC Bith one of yo&r st&dents, that the st&dent yo& Bere Bith is Cthe soonI toIbe formerC boyI or girlfriend of the letter Briter, that yo& are trying to break &+ the relationshi+, and that the TA coordinator sho&ld not tell yo& abo&t the letter beca&se yo& Bill H&st try to fail her or him in the class, C$$$Bhich yo&L e been trying to do all term anyBay$C The TA coordinator calls yo& in anyBay to disc&ss the sit&ation$ 8hat do yo& do9 " Case ;t&dy D%" 3o& hear from one of yo&r st&dents that one of the other TAs in yo&r largeIlect&re class is Cfa oring his oBn st&dents$C %n +artic&lar, yo&r st&dent claims that Cthe other TA is changing grades for his oBn

st&dents b&t not for others, and he act&ally shoBed his st&dents hoB to sol e tBo of the e?am +roblems before they a++eared on the test the other night$C HoB do yo& handle this com+laint9 ;ho&ld yo& confront the other TA9 HoB do yo& erify the acc&sations9 Can yo& erify them9 P;ho&ldP yo& erify them9 "Case ;t&dy D%%" 3o& are doing a re ieB session for tomorroB nightLs e?am$ 6ne of the st&dents asks yo& to sol e a +roblem that yo& knoB Bill be on the test$ 8hat do yo& do9 "Case ;t&dy D%%%" 5&ring yo&r disc&ssion of final grades, the instr&ctor yo& are Borking Bith anno&nces a neB grading +olicy, no st&dent can ha e a final grade raised &nless another st&dent9s grade is loBered by an eM&i alent amo&nt$ 3o& immediately think abo&t one of yo&r &ndergrad&ates Bho s+ent tBo Beeks in the hos+ital reco ering from s&rgery$ ;he then got a terrible grade on the ne?t e?am, b&t righted herself eno&gh to score ></ on the final$ ;ho&ld yo& gi e her the A yo& think she deser es, e en if this means finding another st&dent Bhose grade Bill ha e to be loBered from, say, a 2 to a C9 ;ho&ld yo& H&st forget changing any grades9 6r, sho&ld yo& arg&e Bith the instr&ctor abo&t his grading +olicy, and if so, Bhat do yo& say9 "Case ;t&dy %X" 3o& are TAing another large lect&re co&rse$ At the final grading disc&ssion, the fac&lty member in charge anno&nces his Cironclad +olicyC that no st&dent Bith less than 4>0 +oints o&t of 700 is to be gi en a grade of AR$ 3o& ha e a st&dent Bho recei ed 4=: +oints, b&t Bho Bo&ld ha e done better e?ce+t that she had a death in the family$ 3o& decide to gi e her an AR anyBay, Bhich yo& do Bitho&t cons&ltation Bith the CcAar$C TBo days later, another st&dent from the class comes to see yo&$ C% got 4== +oints, higher than my roommate, to Bhom yo& ga e an AR$ % demand an AR, too, and % intend to fight this thro&gh the administration if yo& don9t gi e me one$C FoB Bhat do yo& do9 "Case ;t&dy X" %t is Beek three of the semester, and yo&r class has shr&nk from tBentyIfi e to nine$ 3o& ha++en to see one of yo&r former st&dents o&tside the cafeteriaK he seems not to Bant to talk abo&t it$ After some +rodding, he says, C%t Bas yo&r accent,C then he Balks aBay$ 8hat do yo& do9 5o yo& think it Bas yo&r accent9 8hat else co&ld the +roblem be9 8here can yo& go for ad ice9 ;ho&ld yo& disc&ss the sit&ation Bith yo&r class9 8ith felloB TAs9 8ith an instr&ctor9 "Case ;t&dy X%" 3o& ha e Bon one of the collegeLs TA teaching aBards$ 3o&r res+onse is

ha++y, b&t also ambi teaching, b&t at the s+ecial$ As yo& +ass C3eah, b&t heLs H&st

alent$ %t is nice that yo&r st&dents like yo&r same time yo& feel yo&r teaching isnLt that the coffee room, yo& hear another TA saying lo&dly, an actor$ %tLs all shoB$C

8hat do yo& think9 %s it all shoB9 Are yo& CH&st a +erformer9C And, hoB m&ch of teaching sho&ld be +erformance9 Ret&rn to To+ '(Table/*0of/*0Contents) "References" #$ Angelo, Thomas and S$ Cross, PClassroom Assessment TechniM&es$P ;an Erancisco, GosseyI2ass, #>>1$ *$ 2elenky, M$E$, 2$ Clenchy, F$ .oldberger and G$ Tor&le$ P8omenLs 8ays of SnoBing, The 5e elo+ment of ;elf, Doice and Mind$P FeB 3ork, 2asic 2ooks, #>=:$ 1$ 2loom, 2enHamin, ed$ PTa?onomy of Ed&cational 6bHecti es$P FeB 3ork, -ongmans, .reen, #>7*$ 4$ 2onBell, Charles and G$ Eison$ PActi e -earning, Creating E?citement in the Classroom$P 8ashington, .eorge 8ashington Uni ersity, #>>#$ 7$ 2oyer, C$ and Uta MerAbach$ PA History of Mathematics$P FeB 3ork, 8iley, #>=>$ :$ 2oyer, Ernest$ P;cholarshi+ Reconsidered$P ;an Erancisco, GosseyI2ass, #>>0$ <$ Chaffee, Gohn$ PThinking Critically$P 2oston, Ho&ghton Mifflin, #>><$ =$ Cohen, Marc&s et al$ P;t&dent Research ProHects in Calc&l&s$P 8ashington, The Mathematical Association of America, #>>#$ >$ Co&ntryman, G$ P8riting to -earn Mathematics$P Portsmo&th, FH, Heinemann, #>>*$ #0$ C&l er, R$ ;$ and G$ Hackos$ PCPerryLs model of intellect&al de elo+ment,CP Engr$ Ed&c$ <1, **#$ ##$ 5eFeef, -eigh and C$ .oodBin, eds$ PThe AcademicLs Handbook$P 5&rham, 5&ke, #>>7$ #*$ Eble, S$ PThe Craft of Teaching$P ;an Erancisco, GosseyI2ass, #>==$ EdBards, C$ PThe Historical 5e elo+ment of the Calc&l&s$P FeB 3ork, ;+ringerIDerlag, #><>$ #1$ Highet, .$ PThe Art of Teaching$P FeB 3ork, Dintage, #><<$ #4$ Hilbert, ;$ et al$ PCalc&l&s, An Acti e A++roach Bith ProHects$P FeB 3ork, 8iley, #>>4$ #7$ Slein, Morris$ PMathematical Tho&ght from Ancient to Modern Times$P FeB 3ork, 6?ford, #><*$

#:$ -eBin, M$ and Thomas Rishel$ C;&++ort ;ystems in 2eginning Calc&l&s$C PPR%MU;$P D(1)$ *<7I=:$ #<$ McSeachie, 8$ PTeaching Ti+s$P -e?ington, MA, 5$C$ Heath, #>>4$ #=$ Meier, G$ and Thomas Rishel,P 8riting in the Teaching and -earning of Mathematics,P MAA Math Fotes 4=$ 8ashington, The Mathematical Association of America, #>>=$ #>$ Perry, 8illiam$ PEorms of %ntellect&al and Ethical 5e elo+ment in the College 3ears, A ;cheme$P FeB 3ork, Holt, Rinehart and 8inston, #><0$ *0$ Piaget, G$ PThe ChildLs Conce+tion of F&mber$P -ondon, Ro&tledge and Pa&l, #>7*$ *#$ PWlya, .$ PHoB to ;ol e %t$P Princeton, #>47$ **$ Rishel, T$ C8riting in the Math Classroom, Math in the 8riting ClassK or HoB % ;+ent My ;&mmer Dacation$C PUsing 8riting to Teach Mathematics,P ed$ A$ ;terrett$ MAA Math Fotes #:$ 8ashington, The Mathematical Association of America, #>>*$ *1$ ;teBart, G$ PCalc&l&s, Conce+ts and Conte?ts$PPacific .ro e, CA, %TP, #>><$ *4$ Thomas, .$ and Ross Einney$ PCalc&l&s and Analytic .eometry$P Reading, MA, AddisonI8esley, #>>:$ *7$ Dygotsky, -$ PTho&ght and -ang&age$P Cambridge, M%T Press, #>=:$ PA.E >: PA.E #*=