(Based on the Physics 121-122 tutorial TA materials.)

What happens in Physics 131 recitations?

Each week there is a 1-hour recitation section where the students work on a problem in groups of about 4 students, facilitated by a TA and one or more undergraduate LAs.  These problems are not intended to be handed in or graded, but are designed to support group discussion.  The recitation tasks tend to emphasize qualitative conceptual reasoning, and are a part of the course where the students have a great opportunity to make explicit interdisciplinary connections between physics and biology.

What are the goals of recitations?

• ·         To help the students improve their conceptual understanding of physics
• ·         To get the students to learn to reason qualitatively about physics
• ·         To give students opportunities to make connections between the physics they’re learning in this class and the biology and chemistry that they know from other classes
• ·         To give students experiences applying physics principles in situations where there isn’t a clear-cut problem-solving algorithm to follow, and they aren’t necessarily told what information to use to solve the problem 

What is your role in recitation?

Your job in recitation is to keep an eye on the students, check them occasionally, and answer the occasional question.  It is NOT to explain the material in the recitation task to the students.  Mostly you should be listening in to what's going on at the different tables, not talking.  Here are some do's and don'ts:

What to do in recitation

• Listen -- getting them to explain their thinking or confusion is the best starting point for delivering effective hints or suggestions.
• Encourage collaboration -- Get them to confirm every item with other members of their group.  Sometimes each student thinks the answer is "obvious" and as a result assumes that the other students agree with them -- even when they don't. 
• Let them work -- If they are having a good discussion -- even if some of them are wrong -- let them go and try to work it out themselves.  Especially for students new to this type of course, it's good to smile, nod, and say something like "good work; keep it up."
• Check them -- Listen in every once in a while and ask about some of the critical items.  If they have all agreed on a wrong answer that will not be addressed later in the recitation (often these recitations set them up to say something wrong to work it out later) ask them to reconsider what they have concluded.  You might mention some factor they have ignored that has led them astray.  (You might sometimes do this even if they are right -- but then be sure to come back and make sure they have stuck to their answer!)
• Keep them on task -- Encourage them to stay on task and keep on moving.  Sometimes they don't appreciate that getting through these recitation problems will often take their serious attention for the entire period.
• Encourage them to bring in their outside knowledge – Even though this is the students’ first college physics course, it is not their first science course.  They have taken multiple semesters of biology and chemistry, and all of their expertise is valuable and relevant here, in terms of both content knowledge and scientific reasoning skills. (The students may know more biology than you do, and that’s ok! You don’t need to be well-versed in all the biology content to be an effective facilitator.)
• Give some confirmation. While you shouldn't be giving too many answers or confirmations, do not avoid giving them.  Sometimes the students need a confirmation and support -- but finding the right time to give these is a skill that you want to develop.
  

What not to do in recitation

• Do not talk too much.  If you find yourself going on for more than a minute without an exchange and a substantial response (much more than a nod or a "yeah, I see") from a student, you are probably distracting them from productive work.
• Do not pick up a pen or pencil to show them how to do something.  Often TAs will "miss their blackboard" where they can show how smart they are and how well they understand the topic.  That is not your job here!  You are trying to guide them to make sense of the material in their own heads, not to appreciate how well you have made sense of it in yours!
• Do not interrupt what appears to be a productive discussion unless it seems to be getting out of hand with people getting angry or refusing to consider others' points of view.  In the latter case it may be worthwhile intervening and asking people to recap their arguments.  A bit of guidance might help get them back on track, but listen first so you know what the argument is about.
• Do not confirm the correctness of their reasoning too quickly.  Part of what they are trying to learn here is to evaluate their own thinking.  If they come to a conclusion and you immediately confirm their correctness, you steal the opportunity from them to learn how to do that.  A brief "Why are you concerned?" or "Why do you think that's the right answer?" before a confirmation sends the message that you don't only expect them to figure out the right answer but that you expect them to know that it's the right answer.