CATHERINE DRENNAN: One of the big challenges
of a large lecture is having the graduate student TAs be really
an integral part of this.
And I think if the grad students TAs are not
that excited about this teaching assignment, it's not so good.
You want to have this sense of enthusiasm and energy.
So one of the problems I had when I was first
starting with this is that this TA assignment was not
the most popular.
So when the grad students are coming in in their first year,
there are organic chemistry grad students
and they want to teach organic chemistry.
And there are physical chemistry students
who want to teach thermo and kinetics.
Biochem students want to teach biochemistry,
and inorganic chemistry students want
to teach inorganic chemistry.
So who is there for general chemistry?
And so often, it would be the booby prize assignment
to get stuck in that class, and there might be a feeling
like, oh, I got stuck because I wasn't the organic chemistry
professor's first choice.
So I wanted to change all that because to me,
teaching freshmen in freshman chemistry
is the most fun teaching ever.
So I knew there were grad students
out there that could engage and agree with me that this
is going to be a lot of fun.
I admit, it's more work than all of those other courses,
but it also can be more fun.
So I thought, we just need to get the right people in
and I need to educate them about what
this experience can be like.
So I decided to once the students were accepted
to come into MIT, I would send them an information
packet about how they could be part of this exciting teaching
opportunity, and I made it glossy and pretty
and sent it to them and asked them to apply
to be part of the class.
And so we got some wonderful applications.
I got a great group of people to be part of this class.
So instead of being like, oh no, I have to do this,
they're like, yes, freshman chemistry.
And we brought them in early, and I got to know the group.
We had extra TA training in the beginning.
And t-shirts, and by the time we started,
everyone knew each other.
And it was an opportunity, also, for the TAs
to make friends because they're first year graduate students
and so they get to know other first year grad students
and they build a sense of team as well.
So for many years now when we've been really doing this--
having this extra TA training and applications to be part
of the class-- we've started the semester
with a group of people who are just ready to go
and really excited about being part of that.
And I think that has had such a wonderful impact on the course
as well.
They see this whole teaching team
that really want to be there and are
excited about this opportunity and care about each
and every one of those students.
And the comments that I've gotten later,
both from the students and also sometimes from parents,
that their child in their freshman year
really felt a connection as part of this class
and had this TA just checking in on them, not
just about this class, but about how they were doing overall.
And it was a support system that went
beyond the teaching of chemistry, which
made me really very happy.