Greetings, Physics 131 TAs and Lab LAs!

Below are the reminders that I promised you from the most recent Friday training session.  Good luck this week! ~KIM

1. Recitation:

Link to recitation: http://www.physics.umd.edu/courses/Phys131/fall2013/Labs/Forces%20tutorial.pdf

For more info on system schema: http://umdberg.pbworks.com/w/page/68452162/System%20Schema%20Introduction%20%282013%29

*Please remind your students that they should continue to print their own copy of the recitation (to use and take with them when recitation is over).  The printed copies for each student this week (which they can keep) are a one-time special.(Have all students put their laptops away during recitation.)

(Break--see 1 c below....)

2. Lab 1, Part 2:Link to documents: http://umdberg.pbworks.com/w/page/68933700/NEXUS%20Physics%20Labs%2C%202013-2014

*Don't forget to read the TA document from beginning to end--most of what you need to know to run this lab is there.

**Students have a HW problem this week that uses ImageJ--so they should pay close attention and master the skills needed to use it! (Yay, Motivation!)

Lots of stuff is going on in this lab.

a) The students should be working in their SCL roles (Journalist, Data Analyst, Critic and Checker) and you should record which student is performing in which role (remember, they switch roles for every lab, so that they have done each role at least once in the course of the semester).  If they aren't sure what the roles are, refer them to the Scientific Community Lab (SCL)  document: http://umdberg.pbworks.com/w/page/58234096/Intro%20to%20the%20Scientific%20Community%20Lab

b) The students will turn in a lab report TODAY (at the end of the lab).  If students ask what should be in the report, you can always refer them to the SCL document.  Also, your TA lab document includes the following: "Inform students that a lab report (discussing their qualitative and quantitative exploration of and resolution to the scenario) will be collected from each group at the end of the lab today (no error bars needed on graphs for this lab only)."  Feel free to say that again!  The students will push for an item-by-item list of what to write.  Don't give in!  They are asking you to do the thinking for them.....

c)  At some point you do need to pass back their graded data/graphs from Lab 1, Part 1 (amoeba).  I pass that back between recitation and lab (in the break).  I tell the students that "The Checker keeps the lab" when I pass stuff back, but there was no checker for Lab 1, Part 1, so just have them pick somebody to keep it.  Do point out to all students, though, that they should learn from the comments you made on their graded work to produce better data tables and graphs for the lab they are doing today!

d) You may want to hint to students that it is easiest to track objects moving either purely vertically or purely horizontally.  (They have only done 1-D kinematics, at this point.)  For the wound closure video, if they are tracking individual cells (instead of tracking the green 'wavefront'), the cells must be near the leading edge of the migration (cells near the edge move MUCH faster than cells not near the edge).

e) This is students' first exposure to LARGE data files.  Help them lean to handle large data.  I added the following to the TA document:

A particular challenge for the students presented by this lab is the students' first interaction with LARGE data files (especially from the wound closure video).  You will need to help students learn to plan ahead in interacting with large data files:

• ·         before starting a manipulation of data in Excel, they should create a back-up of the data (so that they can easily 'undo' any analysis mistakes and save themselves from having to analyze the video twice in ImageJ);
• ·         before starting a manipulation of data in Excel, they should also sketch out on the whiteboard what steps they will need to take to turn their data (slice and pixel information) into the physics quantities that they want—writing down the plan beforehand will help them be more efficient and will help them diagnose analysis problems before they happen.  (Left to their own devices, the students often analyze the data one lurching step at a time, without thinking about how the next step will/will not help them get to the quantity they want.  As a result, they will do many unnecessary/wrong calculations and will often, when they have finished, not have a clear understanding of what they have done.)

f) Students will turn in a lab and TAs should grade it.  (Remind them to put their names on the report!)  This lab is worth 15 points.  I promised you more information about what the lab report should include, what you should do as a grader, and what you should do to create a lab rubric.  I wrote it all up and put it on the wiki, here:

http://umdberg.pbworks.com/w/page/69242132/Hints%20to%20TAs%20for%20grading%20lab%20reports . 

I also included the rubric that I will be using to grade this lab.  Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

g) If you run out of paper for the printer, ask Bill Norwood (office directly opposite our lab room) for more.  He is also the person you get more staples from.  The stapler, in case you haven't found it yet, is glued to the counter-top next to the printer.  If you notice that the paper/staples are running low, please get more (rather than leaving the next TA running out of supplies)!

h) In case you didn't catch all the cool options the human body uses to protect itself in response to uber-slow white blood cells, here is a recap:

• NETS--ejects its own DNA as a sticky net;
• large concentration--floods the region with LOTS of white blood cells--zone defense; and
• establishing a perimeter--creates a bounded region surrounded by lots of white blood cells--road block.

(Though there are certainly others!)

3. Other issues of note:

a) Handling questions about HW/Grading/WA: encourage students to get help solving problems in the course center.  Any complaints about WebAssign not working well or about how a TA graded a problem should be directed to the Professors.

b) We have sent an email to the students with a short, on-line survey attached.  Please remind them of this survey and ask them to complete it this week.  It should take them no more than 5 minutes (and, likely, less!).  The link is below, in case students didn't get it in their email.NEXUS/Physics Lab Pre-Survey: https://umd.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ewYHIJwZHobXzqR

A particular challenge for the students presented by this lab is the students' first interaction with LARGE data files (especially from the wound closure video).  You will need to help students learn to plan ahead in interacting with large data files:

·         before starting a manipulation of data in Excel, they should create a back-up of the data (so that they can easily 'undo' any analysis mistakes and save themselves from having to analyze the video twice in ImageJ);

·         before starting a manipulation of data in Excel, they should also sketch out on the whiteboard what steps they will need to take to turn their data (slice and pixel information) into the physics quantities that they want—writing down the plan beforehand will help them be more efficient and will help them diagnose analysis problems before they happen.  (Left to their own devices, the students often analyze the data one lurching step at a time, without thinking about how the next step will/will not help them get to the quantity they want.  As a result, they will do many unnecessary/wrong calculations and will often, when they have finished, not have a clear understanding of what they have done.)