Ocean 101 Logistics and Labs

Course Overview

The larger Ocean 101 classes have historically been lecture-based (4 hr/wk), supplemented by a weekly 1-hr lab section. The evening and summer quarter versions of the course are typically much smaller (~30 students), do not employ TAs, and often are taught through inquiry, utilizing field projects and (up to 3-hr) collaborative laboratory exercises in lieu of lectures.

All versions of 101 benefit from diverse video, multimedia, and (increasingly) web-based resources, as well as excellent laboratory models of Puget Sound circulation, estuary dynamics, waves, and coastal erosion. Tours of the R/V Thompson and excurions to gather data in the Sound are sometimes incorporated in the 101 curriculum.

The 101 TA's responsibilities are facilitation of the lab sections, and generation and grading of homework assignments.

Labs

All labs take place in the Old Ocean Building, room 121 (shown in the photo on the right). You can see the basic arrangement of 6 tables, an overhead projector/screen, a video player/monitor, a whiteboard, lab counters (beneath which some exercise supplies are kept).

Here is the sequence of labs that was taught during Winter, 2000, in association with Dr. Emerick's lecture:

    Introductions
  1. Bathymetric Maps
  2. Plate Tectonics
  3. Sedimentary Cores
  4. Properties of H2O
  5. Density
  6. Circulation
  7. Estuaries
  8. Waves

Logistics

Fundamentally, TA-ing 101 means doing a lot of grading! During the Winter 2000 quarter, each TA spent an average of ~8 hr/wk grading homework and about an equal amount of time generating, printing, and copying a homework assignment every other week. This is a full immersion in the difficulties of assessment in large, undergraduate courses, and thus represents an opportunity to learn both how to design effective homework and how to grade it efficiently.

How to compose effective homework...

  1. Take turns (alternate weeks with your co-TA!).
  2. Think about the homework's objectives first. Talk to the lecturer about what will be covered in the upcoming week.
  3. Keep a grading rubrick in mind as you build problems.
  4. Use past homeworks as a source of "types" of questions. Begin with a file from a previous quarter (download via the lab topic links in the lefthand frame) and edit from there...
  5. Try to incorporate current events and exciting ideas. (See Tools for Teachers if you need some inspiration.)
  6. Meet briefly to have your co-TA work the assignment to find problems and refine the rubrick.
  7. During a weekly TA/professor meeting, have the professor proof the assignment.
  8. Print, draw/paste-in figures, and copy...
  9. Upload your version of the homework to the appropriate lab topic directory for the benefit of future TA's!
How to grade homework efficiently...

  1. Grade page 1 for all the students; then grade page 2...
  2. Be consistent by adding notes to the rubrick as you go (call your co-TA with major revisions)
  3. Remember that your multiplying the time to grade one homework by ~70. Be terse in your written comments. Write "see key" or "see me" if a student is way off course. Save your time so that you can interact and teach during office hours, lab, or a pre-arranged meeting!