by Jubilee Cooke
Scantron Tests
For those of you who are new TAs this year, these tips for using the testing center at Schmitz hall might be helpful. I learned them all the hard way.
When you take the scantrons to Schmitz, ask for a bookkeeping account. They will keep track of all of the midterm scores for you and total them at the end.
If a student asks to see his/her scantron, normally there is no need to flip through the entire stack. A number is printed on the edge of the forms when theyre processed. These numbers are printed next to the students names on the score printout. So keep the stack of scantrons in order.
If you want to enter scores from extra credit assignments, theyll give you a skip disk so you can enter them yourself. These grades can be added to the total. (This is probably more trouble than its worth.)
When youve figured out your grading scale, you can give the ranges to the testing center. They will total all scores and calculate the grades for you.
If a student is positive his/her exam score is too low, the student may be correct. Last year, in Music 162 there were several instances where the scoring machine misread mark-sense forms which were in perfectly good condition. (I think theyve bought a new machine since then.)
Teaching Resources
If any faculty or TA instructors are interested in revising their courses, they might consider working with CIDR (Center for Instructional Development and Research). They came in and did a mid-quarter evaluation the first quarter I had a TAship. The input was quite useful. It gives the instructor a chance to respond to student concerns before the quarter is over.
They are also willing to work with instructors to design a more effective course. I don't know of anyone who has used them for this purpose, but the opportunity is available. I worked as a temp at CIDR two summers ago. They're great people to work with and highly committed to transforming undergraduate education into a positive experience form both students and instructors. And as far as I know, most of their services are free.
AV Equipment
As for operating stereo equipment and video players--if the equipment belongs to the IMS (or whatever they call themselves these days), there is some opportunity for training to run the machines. This may be especially useful if you want to have official clearance to run the video player in the booth for the music auditorium. Otherwise, perhaps Gary Louie might be able to provide instructors with some training (although I think most of us would rather not admit to being inept in this area).
Internet?
Last spring, Tom Collier may have been the first music professor to put his course materials on the web. He transferred all of his listening examples to CDs and also made them available on a Music 162 class web site. (He did this without enlisting the help of his five TAs for the class) He would be a good source for information on how to go about doing this.