TA Seminar:
All new TAs are expected to take PHYS 5072: Teaching Introductory College Physics in both fall and spring semesters. This course will help TAs prepare for teaching and deals with various issues that can occur in classes. TAs should take PHYS 5072 for one credit in the fall and one credit in the spring.
Proctoring:
TAs are often required to proctor exams during the semester. While proctoring, TAs are responsible for answering student questions and deterring/reporting cheating.
Before the Exam
Pick up exams, answer sheets, and extra pencils and calculators from the student services office or mailroom safes the day of the exam, at least 30 minutes before the exam if the exam is held on West Bank. For late exams, be sure you have the access code to the safes where the exams are deposited.
TAs are not allowed to print exams on their own, unless these are group exams given during discussion periods.
At the start of the exam
Read any special instructions from the professor or front office to the class. These can also be written on the board or projected on the overhead.
Remind students that they should put their names, student ID numbers, and x500 on all pages of the answer sheets for identification purposes.
Explicitly tell students what materials (calculator, crib sheet, etc.) they may use.
Ensure that students are sitting in every other seat.
Announce what time the exam ends and write it on the board or projected on the overhead.
During the Exam
Count the number of students in the room
Announce when there are five minutes remaining
Quietly walk around the room watching students work
Answer student questions quickly and quietly
Have students who finish early turn in exams and answer sheets quietly and leave the classroom.
Confiscate any unapproved calculators, to be returned at the end of the exam
Watch for suspicious behavior/cheating - If cheating is suspected, TAs should discuss this with their fellow proctors and instructor and set the test aside with a note on it concerning the suspected infraction.
After the Exam
Have remaining students turn in complete exams and answer sheets in an orderly fashion. Answer sheets must be organized, face up with staple in the same direction.
Check the room for any lost items.
Bring all test materials to the students services office or mailroom safe right away after the exam.
Bundle the answer sheets in an organized way at the top of the returned materials.
Turn in all materials to the front office or return to the safes in the mailroom.
Grading
TAs may begin grading as soon as answer sheets are uploaded to Gradescope. A rubric may be supplied by your instructor in Gradescope or you may be asked to generate a rubric yourself based on a provided solution.
In Gradescope, click through the relevant items in the rubric as you grade, advancing through the students' problems.
Grade changes may be requested via Gradescope. If a grade is changed, inform your instructor so that they may re-sync the Gradescope and Canvas test grades.
Grading typically must be completed two business days after the answer sheets are uploaded to Gradescope. This gives the faculty time to compile and review the gradebook and make any changes or score adjustments as needed before the graded exams are published.
Final Exams
Most TAs will be expected to grade at least one final exam problem. Final exams must be graded before leavong campus. Because submitting final grades late to the registrar has a significant impact on undergraduate students (potential loss of financial aid, enrollment status, etc.), failure to grade final exams before leaving campus will result in disciplinary action.
There are two types of Final Exams:
Regularly scheduled final exam times are determined by OneStop (
http://onestop.umn.edu/calendars/final_exams/). The procedure for regularly scheduled final exams is the same as the exam procedure outlined above same as the exam procedure outlined above
Common Final exam times are chosen by the Office of Classroom Management. These exams are for classes that have multiple sections (12xx and 13xx). Most sections will be split into multiple classrooms to accommodate every other seating, therefore more proctors are needed for the common final than for regular exams.
The common final always starts at 6:30pm. TAs should pick up final exams at least 30 minutes early from the student services office. TAs should follow normal exam procedure for proctoring and returning the exam and answer sheets to the office.
The exam ends at 9:30pm, so TAs should be back to the office no later than 10:00pm.
There is a make-up final exam the first weekday morning after the Common Final, starting at 9:00am. TAs who are proctoring this exam (one from every class that has a student taking the final exam) should show up to the exam room 30 minutes in advance. Exams will be supplied in the exam room. Once the make final is over, exams must be returned directly to the front office so that they may be immediately scanned and uploaded to Gradescope.
The make-up finals and the finals taken at the Disability Resource Center are available for grading on Gradescope later in the first weekday after the Common Final.
Office Hours/Tutoring
Office hours for introductory courses are currently held in Tate B25. Students come to the tutoring room for one-on-one/small group tutoring. Most TAs will have one or two office hours each week in the tutoring room. The tutor schedule is determined by the student services office and the instructors. Office hours are part of a TA’s appointment and are not optional. Failure to attend scheduled office hours will result in disciplinary action.
TAs must sign in to the tutoring room in the online Tutor Sign In Log. If a TA fails to sign in to the tutoring room at any assigned time, the TA is required to hold a make-up office hour in the next week. In the event of a conflict with a tutoring hour, TAs must find a replacement to cover the tutoring hour, except in case of illness or in an emergency. In the latter two cases, the TA should contact the front office as soon as feasible so as to find a replacement TA. If you need help in finding a replacement tutor, please contact the Physics Front Office.