Everything you wanted to know about being a GSI and some other boring details

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Everything you wanted to know about being a GSI
(and some other boring details)

• GSI Pedagogy Course
• August 27th, 2006
• Ian Larkin
• Head GSI, Haas School of Business
• faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/larkin/gsi.ppt

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Agenda

• I. Administrative and Procedural Issues
• II. GSI Responsibilities and Duties
• III.Some Tips on Teaching
• IV. Question and Answer
• V. Roleplay scenarios and PIZZA (Pizzas coming
  at 1145 so we hope to be through IV by then)

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Administration-Hiring

• Questions about paperwork, etc.
• Ming Liu ming_at_haas
• Language Requirement
• Non-native speakers have to pass a language
  proficiency exam
• langpro_at_berkeley.edu
• Schedule independently
• Ethics course requirement (first 3 weeks)
• http//gsi.berkeley.edu/ethics/index.html

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Administration-Pay

• How much? Monthly pay of 3,016.50 percentage
  appointment (for step 1 you get paid for 5
  months)
• Likely raise starting October 1
• Payment on 1st of the month
• No timesheets for GSIs
• Partial Fee Remission
• 3.1 GPA, 8 course unit enrollment, 25 appt
  (170hrs) requirements
• Partial Fee Remission
• 3632 for MBA students (4332 in Spring)
• 4034.50 for Ph.D. students
• Covers registration fee, educational fee, health
  fee
• MBA sponsored students should contact Ming

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Teaching Resources

• GSI Center has a good teaching guide, has
  workshops and classes, and they are generally
  very helpful and enthusiastic
• http//gsi.berkeley.edu/resources/index.html
• The Torch or the Firehose (particularly for GSIs
  teaching quant classes)
• Check out code of conduct at
• http//students.berkeley.edu/uga/conduct.asp
• Cheating--Frequent
• Relationships with Students-Never

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Important Admin Resources

• Textbooks Undergrad Diana Burke or Pam Weston
  (Haas Store off of mailroom) MBA/EWMBA See
  program office
• Lectern keys Kendall Dockham, S549 (5 deposit
  required)
• Supplies mailroom
• Photocopying-See Kurt in the mailroom get your
  requests in EARLY and dont do big jobs yourself
  (the copiers at Haas tend to break right before
  your final)
• Should use GSI copy code for copy jobs
• Media and Room Reservations
• http//reserve.haas.berkeley.edu/
• Office Hours- Contact Ming to reserve room F308

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GSI Responsibilities

• Prepare and lead discussion sections
• Hold regular office hours
• Prepare, administer, and grade problem sets (or
  work with reader if class has one)
• Proctor exams
• Grade exams and papers (or work with reader)
• Meet with and assist course instructor

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GSI Activities

• Before Class
• Meet with the Professor
• Understand goals and organization of course
• Understand your role in meeting these
• Day One
• Introduce yourself
• Take attendance or do other administrative tasks
  as needed
• Outline course requirements
• Discuss structure and pacing of the class

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Section Activities

• Prepare well for each section
• Be very clear what you want to accomplish in each
  section
• Make it clear on syllabus what the goal of
  section is!
• Run through a script, even if youve taught the
  section before gt teaching is like telling a
  story, and you should know each and every step
  along the way
• NEVER wing it NEVER do simple Q and A sessions
• Outline and summarize lectures, when appropriate
• You should always know what the professor has
  covered in lecture, even if you dont attend
• Get students ready for exams, papers, etc
• Have to understand what will be on these!!
• Provide periodic reviews of key topics
• Communicate status
• Let failing students know that they need to
  improve
• Get feedback, and give to professor as needed

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Teaching Issues

• I have no idea what to teach, and its Thursday
  night!
• My sections only have three students in them!
• I made a BIG mistake in explaining a key concept
• I said something COMPLETELY different than the
  professor
• I have no idea what the professor covered in
  lecture
• "My students appear to be the stupidest and
  laziest students on earth
• "I have one or two students who seem to take-up
  an endless amount of my time. They want me to
  hold their hand through every assignment!
• Theres a huge variation in ability do I teach
  to the smartest student or the slowest one?
• I think some of my students are cheating
• It seems like Im regrading practically every
  assignment

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Interacting with Students

• Empathy
• Especially with undergrads, remember how
  important grades are for them and all the things
  they dont know about the world
• In quant classes, students can struggle with the
  basics, even if the material comes easy to you
• Try to teach concepts in at least 2 different
  ways
• Mathematical
• Example/Descriptive
• Visual/graphical
• Consistency
• Try really hard not to treat students differently
  even if you get along with some better than
  others
• Avoid even the appearance of partiality
• Dont grant extensions unless the whole class is
  notified or if it is an extreme case

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Interacting with Professor

• Take time to meet, particularly early in the
  course
• Understand syllabus, organization of course, your
  role
• Make sure you and professor agree
• Know what happened in lectures
• Content
• Pain points with students
• Provide feedback to professor as warranted
• Students are often more comfortable voicing
  dissatisfaction to GSI
• Make sure you and professor are united front on
  key issues
• Extensions (DONT give extensions!)
• Grading/regrading policy
• What will be on exam

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Where to get help

• Head GSI (Ian)
• Email (wgsi_at_haas) OH by appointment grab me in
  hall
• GSI Webpage
• (groups.haas.berkeley.edu/gsi)
• GSI Teaching and Resource Center
• 301 Sproul Hall
• Gsi_at_berkeley.edu
• Visit other classes
• Talk to your professor talk to your STUDENTS!

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Grading

• Try to maintain consistency between papers
• Space out your grading over time but compare the
  first and last papers you graded to ensure
  consistency
• I usually grade 10 at a time
• Make sure you make a grading key where every
  point is accounted for
• This will save you time later on arguing about
  grades
• Have a re-grade policy if your professor does not
  already have one
• Grading class participation is difficult
• I allowed the quieter students to get
  participation points by coming to office hours or
  writing me comments
• The key is to provide incentives for engagement
  in the class materials not just talking in class
• Make this policy clear the first day of class
• Do NOT watch TV while grading!!!

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Evaluations

• End of year evaluations are important for rehire
  decisions (if evals are low you will need a
  rehabilitation plan approved by Andy Shogan and
  Ian Larkin)
• Valuable feedback for future teaching
• Important for those of us going into academia
• Use mid semester evaluations so youre not
  surprised by comments at the end of the semester
• Use office hours as a chance for informal feedback

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How students evaluate you

• Overall effectiveness
• Worth of section
• Well-prepared and organized?
• Thorough knowledge?
• Dynamic and enthusiastic?
• Interested in students?
• Encourages questions?
• Can be heard by everyone in class?

• Easy to understand?
• Uses blackboard clearly?
• Answers questions?
• Aware if students are having difficulty?
• Valued as a source of information outside of
  class?
• Holds regular office hours?

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Lessons Learned

• The biggest key success factor is knowing what
  the role of section will be, and how these
  integrate with lectures and broader class goals
• Biggest student complaint is that the sections
  were disjoint from lecture, OR that they were
  simply REPEATS of lecture, OR that they had no
  plan at all
• Needs to be both INTEGRATED and VALUE-ADDING
• Make sure youre on the same page as the
  professor about EVERYTHING (topics, assignments,
  grading, etc)
• Always admit when you dont know the answer or
  when you made a mistake
• Students know you are human, and that you are
  busy
• If you say you will follow up on something, do it
• Take teaching as seriously as you do your own
  studies/job search
• Enjoy it!

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Role Playing Skits

• In groups of 2-3, discuss assigned situation
• Questions to think about
• How realistic does this scenario seem to you?
  What seems realistic? What seems non-realistic?
• Could the GSI in the roleplay have done anything
  differently BEFORE this situation arose, which
  would have helped avoid the situation or made it
  easier to deal with?
• What potential actions could the GSI take now?
  What are the plusses and minuses of each action?
• What do you think the GSI should do? How do you
  expect the counterparty (student, professor, etc)
  to react? How about in a worst-case scenario?
  What should the GSI do in a worst-case scenario?
• Prepare a small skit between the GSI and the
  counterparty, acting out how you think the GSI
  should handle things, and the likely response of
  the counterparty. Prepare to present it to the
  class.