Meet your instructors and course aides Blake Everett Johnson, Ph.D. T eaching Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering • Ph.D. TAM from UIUC, 2012 • T eaching story: As a graduate student, I won a teaching award that helped me pay for my wife’s engagement ring
Yuting Chen, Ph.D. T eaching Assistant Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering • Graduated from ECE Illinois in 2007 • M.S., Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute • Worked at IBM for 5 years before returning to U of I as a faculty • Interested in career and leadership development of undergraduate and graduate students
A. Mattox Beckman, Ph.D. T eaching Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science • B.S. from UIUC in 1993 • Ph.D. from UIUC in 2003 • Senior Lecturer at Illinois Institute of T echnology 2003 to 2015 • Interested in Programming Languages and Computer Science Education
Meet the course assistants… Fereshteh Sabet Fereshteh is a PhD student in TAM studying mechanical properties of bone as a biological material and 3D-printed composites. She has been a TA for more than ten semesters and is enjoying TAing for ME 270 (Design for Manufacturability) this semester. She is a recipient of Michael Sutton Outstanding Graduate Student award and Kuck Computational Science & Engineering Scholarship.
Meet the course assistants… Ian Ludden Ian Ludden is a third-year PhD student in Computer Science (Theory and Algorithms area). He is working with Prof. Sheldon Jacobson on algorithmic approaches to political redistricting. This is his fifth semester as a TA (CS 173, 481, 482, 374), and he hopes to pursue a teaching-focused academic career. If you’re in CS, you may recognize him from the CITL Grad Academy (a distant 11 days in the past).
Meet the course assistants… Jimmy Kim Jimmy is a 5 th year PhD student in the MechSE department, working with Prof. Chamorro. He worked for Dr. Johnson as a TA for his class ME 310 for five semesters and TAM 335 for one semester. His research focuses on experimental fluid mechanics and Lagrangian dynamics. He is planning a career in academia.
How many credit hours is this course worth? ENG 598: You may take this course for 1 credit hour or 2 credit hours; both can count towards Graduate T eaching Certificate (GTC) from CITL 2 credit hours (ENG 598 TL2, CRN: 69679) • Includes additional writing assignments and projects • Will earn you more credit toward the Graduate T eaching Certificate (GTC) than the 1-credit version • Will be recorded on your transcript as a letter grade • “Good way to boost your GPA” – Michael Neal, Civil Engineering Course Aide and course alumnus 1 credit hour (ENG 598 TL, CS 591 TA, ECE 590 TL) • Can be taken as credit/no-credit • You are responsible to request credit/no-credit through the Graduate College: • http://www.grad.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/credit_nocredit_form.pdf • Please ensure that you are enrolled in the proper course by the 10 th day add/drop deadline, September 9 th .
Poster Project (2-credit hours) • Poster topic: 1. campus resources, engineering education research, etc. you think will be useful for fellow TAs and graduate students 2. create your own course 3. other relevant topics approved by a course instructor • Poster Presentation at the end of the semester
Course Resources • Course forum on Piazza.com • Discuss course-related topics, including assignments • Used by the instructors, course aides, and students • Course website: https://pages.github-dev.cs.illinois.edu/ielite/web/index.html • Course documents, such as the syllabus • Lecture slides • Homework and due dates • Links to other resources for TAs
Three types of people. #1. The Dash-Shaped Person Base Knowledge and Skills From https://collegeinfogeek.com/become-t-shaped-person/
Three types of people. #2. The I-Shaped Person D E P T H From https://collegeinfogeek.com/become-t-shaped-person/
Three types of people. #3. The T -Shaped Person Base Knowledge and Skills D E P T H From https://collegeinfogeek.com/become-t-shaped-person/
Benefits of being a T -Shaped person Base Knowledge and Skills D Gain the benefits of both specialization and E P generalization, without the pitfalls of each. T H 1. Improved communication abilities. 2. Develop more interests. 3. Satisfaction. 4. Creativity. 5. Become more attractive to employers. From https://collegeinfogeek.com/become-t-shaped-person/
Interacting With Students ENG 598 TL, Fall 2019 Blake Everett Johnson, PhD
After today’s lecture, you should be able to… • Increase productivity in your office hours • Exemplify professional behavior for your students in person and in electronic communication • Direct students to appropriate campus resources, when necessary
Office Hours. What is the point?
Basics of Conducting Office Hours • Create a relaxed mood to make communication easy • Keep a door open to avoid uncomfortable or compromising situations • Let the students dictate the purpose of the visit • Give them your undivided attention • If no other students are waiting make an opportunity to get feedback about the course • Be tactful with latecomers From Barbara Gross Davis, Tools For Teaching
Increasing the Productivity of Office Hours • Advise students to prepare their questions ahead of time • Remind them that OHs are not meant for recapping missed lectures • Focus on problem solving strategies, not simply giving them answers From Barbara Gross Davis, Tools For Teaching
Let’s hold an office hour.
Office Hours are an opportunity to exemplify professionalism and empathy.
Professional Communication: Email
Professional Communication: Email Dear [title and name], Thank you for [rephrase content of their previous message to you]. ⁞ [Body of email: Be sure to use proper grammar and spelling. Review before sending.] [Body of email: Be collegial. Say “please” if you make requests. Say “thank you” at the end of the communication.] ⁞ [Closing. “Best regards,”; “Sincerely,”; etc. ] [First and last name] [Professional email signature]
Example: Dear Ms. Doe, Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, and for including the note from McKinley. I am very sorry to hear about your difficult medical situation. I will extend the deadline for your Lab 4 report by one week to Friday, Febtober 32 nd at 10 am. Please keep me informed if you require any additional accommodations. Thank you. Best regards, Blake Johnson Blake Everett Johnson, PhD T eaching Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Empathy.
Some resources for students… • Illnesses: Students may visit McKinley Student Health Center to get a note to verify your visit For illnesses of 3 days or more, students may reach out to the Dean of Students to get an excuse letter http://odos.illinois.edu/ • Academic challenges: CARE: Center for Academic Resources in Engineering http://care.engineering.illinois.edu/ • Disability-related matters: DRES = Disability Resources and Educational Services http://disability.illinois.edu/ • Mental health, emotionally traumatic events: The counseling center https://counselingcenter.illinois.edu/
If you want to know what official policies are… University of Illinois Student Code of Conduct https://studentcode.illinois.edu/ Article 1: Student Rights and Responsibilities Article 2: General Policies and Regulations Article 3: Academic Policies and Regulations
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