THis is a simple critical thinking framework, but it also works as a reasoning model for math. It is based on a correlation between learning styles and four aspects of critical thinking as recognized by the Delphi Study. I have attached an article and a Powerpoint. I hope you find them as helpful as our math professors have. I am intersted in your feedback. Best Regards, Eldon L. McMurray Director Center for Faculty Excellence Utah Valley State College 800 West University Parkway Orem, Utah 84058 801-863-8550 mcmurrel(a)uvsc.edu Greetings all, I am an Assistant in Math at Florida State University and part of my job is to coordinate the training and evaluation of our TA's. We usually have a 3-4 day training session before the semester begins to get new TA's ready for recitations. We also have a 6 week course (5 hr/week) during the summer for both new and old TA's that goes into all aspects of teaching both recitations and solo. This semester we are trying a 6 week workshop (1.25 hr/week) focused solely presentations. Historically, most of our TA's were asked to begin graduate school in the summer so they could take our 6 week course. More recently, with budget cuts only a small portion of our new TA's are now asked to begin in the summer. We are also getter quite a few graduate students that do not plan to go into academics. We have a good financial math and bio math program that has attracted many students planning to go into industry. Unfortunately, that also means that we have a lot of TA's that do not see the value of teacher training. Anyhow, I want to change our program so that it balances the needs of our department to have qualified teachers with the needs of the graduate students to not be "unreasonably" burdened with demands on their time. I use quotes because what is an unreasonable burden is debatable, but it is pretty clear that requiring a full 6 week TA class is considered unreasonable for many of our TA's. I have some thoughts on the directions I might take, but I think I will leave it unsaid for now and instead ask what ideas do you have? Also, I would welcome any materials you would be willing to share with me such as TA training manuals, schedules, observations forms, and other misc forms or information you find useful. Please feel free to use the e-mail address given below to respond directly to me if you wish. Thank you ahead of time for your feedback and/or materials! Penelope Kirby ________________________________ Penelope Kirby TA Training and Evaluation Coordinator Department of Mathematics Florida State University Tallahassee FL 32306-4510 (850)644-0667, 108-E MCH e-mail: pkirby(a)math.fsu.edu _______________________________________________ PSTUM-list mailing list PSTUM-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu http://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/pstum-list