Written by: Deanne van Rooyen, Department of Earth Sciences
One of the most frequently asked questions I’ve encountered in many years of being a TA is “What do you do?” It may even beat “what’s on the test?” but this is anecdotal evidence only. Maybe I just remember the first question better because it is so much more fun to answer…
It is well documented that teachers who are excited about their subjects inspire excitement in their students (Brew and Prosser 2003 and references therein). Articles have been written (Hattie and Marsh 1996), symposia convened (Pain 2009), and most of us graduate students can give personal examples of teachers who inspired us during our undergraduate years by demonstrating a passion for their research and incorporating it into classes.
Demonstrating excitement about your own research can make a huge difference to a class dynamic, whether you are a laboratory TA for 15 students or an online discussion leader for 200. In addition to giving your students a human to connect with, it also gives them a small window into their possible future as scientists, which may inspire some to pursue subjects they had not previously considered.
My suggestion for helping to achieve student rapport early in a course is to use a little bit of time to introduce yourself beyond the standard explanation of where your office is and when you hold office hours. My favourite way to do this is to borrow the immortal words of the “Research Gurus” Booth, Coulomb and Williams (1995) in their “Craft of Research” book that sits on the desk of graduate students and supervisors everywhere. Their suggestion is simple (and they stress that you should keep your answer simple too):
“I am studying ________________ because I want to find out ________________ in order to help understand ___________________.”
Courtesy of Schlulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
In my particular case: I am studying the ages of some rocks in the mountains of southern BC because I want to find out how old the rocks are and how long they take to cool down in order to help understand how rocks in the deepest part of mountain belts get brought up to the surface of the earth.
Once you’ve introduced your research, looked excited about it and answered some student questions about it, the follow-up is just as important. That means you can use your research as an example when it is appropriate. Introducing students to some of the concepts covered in their courses can be difficult since subject matter can seem dry at first. For example, you could teach the fundamentals of radiogenic isotopes and isotopic dating by deriving the equations on the board, and showing the spreadsheet calculations and the pretty graphs. Or you could take a minute to tell them about the questions you are personally trying to answer in your work, and why it would be important before bombarding them with numbers. It never hurts to throw in a picture of yourself in a helicopter or camping out in the spectacular mountains either… And it only takes a minute of lecture time. Or if you won’t work on a particular topic, why not borrow something from a current paper? Moran (2009) presents a beautiful lesson plan for using Hawaii as a case study in this approach. How could one not get excited about using the Hawaiian Islands to explain argon dating and plate tectonics all in one?
I do not mean to suggest that teaching students should be all pretty pictures and adventure. Or even worse, that you bore your students with endless recitations of your really fascinating data (only to you and your supervisor, really!) and the spectacular case of Giardia you picked up while doing your fieldwork…
The science should still be the star of your teaching. But a little bit of real life examples and personal excitement about your research can go a long way towards getting your students engaged in their course material!
References
- Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G and Williams, J.M. 1995. The Craft of Research 2nd Edition. University of Chicago Press, 317 pages.
- Brew, A. and Prosser, M . 2003. Integrating quality practices in research-led teaching and institutional priorities. Proceedings of the Australian Universities Quality Forum.
- Hattie, J. and Marsh, H. 1996. The relationship between research and teaching: A meta -analysis. Review of Educational Research, 66(4), 507-542.
- Moran, T. 2009. Teaching Radioisotope Dating Using the Geology of the Hawaiian Islands. Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 57, no. 2, 101-105.
- Pain, R. 2009. Participatory action research in Geographic Teaching, Learning and Research. Commentary: Working Across Distant Spaces: Connecting Participatory Action Research and Teaching. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, v. 33, no. 1, 81-87.