This section addresses how to foster an atmosphere of respect when present and involved in lab sections taught by TAs. Not being cognizant of this particular topic may be detrimental to student learning and compromise professional relationships. As a professor, you have every right to attend or sit-in on the lab sections in your course; however, we encourage you not to underestimate the importance of attending lab sections respectfully. At the beginning of the semester, and possibly before the semester starts, if this is the first time you are teaching your course, think about how and why you might attend lab sections. For example, some professors teach lab sections themselves, and have TAs in the lab to assist students with procedures.
Table 8.2 summarizes a few lab teaching scenarios and how they relate to the professor attending lab sections. The bulk of this chapter (and our experience) deals with Scenario B, but we would like to present Scenarios A and C as additional options as there are different levels of instructor involvement in a university lab course.
Table 8.2 Teaching scenarios in the lab room.
Scenario A:
Professor-Led Lab Sections
Scenario B: TA-Led Lab
Sections Scenario C: Professor Co-Taught Labs
• Professor teaches every lab section.
• Course may have 1-3 lab sections.
• TA may grade student work, but not teach a lab section.
• TA may tutor students individually during lab and outside office-hours.
• TAs lead lab sections, usually 1-2 sections per TA.
• Professor may visit the lab occasionally to ”check-in”.
• Multiple labs may meet at the same time (e.g., large chemistry lab classes), or only one lab section at a time (e.g., smaller classes with one lab room).
• Two professors alternate teaching of labs or lab weeks (e.g., based on the course unit).
• Instead of alternating labs, two professors (or TAs) may split up teaching
responsibilities within a single lab session.
• Usually, 1-3 lab sections per course.
• May or may not have a TA to assist.
If you as the instructor have TA-led labs you should establish with your TAs at the beginning of the semester whether you will attend a lab section, and if so, on which specific date(s). Visiting a given lab section can take many respectful forms, from poking your head into the room to quietly sitting in for the entirety of the lab class. You should also estimate how often you will attend (e.g., the first few lab sections, a couple of times throughout the semester), and stick to your word. Do not make any surprise visits, and do not create a promise of attending without following through. If it is the TA’s first-time teaching, they may already be nervous speaking in front of students and might be slightly more at ease without you watching, which may improve their teaching performance. Consider what type of presence you would like to have when visiting a given lab section (e.g., passive approach versus a more hands-on and vocal approach) and communicate this to your TAs. You may even ask your TAs what they prefer. Regardless, we recommend that the instructor discuss with their TAs the reasons why they may want to attend one or more lab sections to help alleviate any nerves associated with teaching for the first time under supervision.
Further, If you (instructor) have more than one TA and lab section, you should attend all sections equally. If there is a lab section at a certain time that you cannot attend, you should consider not attending other lab sections for consistency among the TAs. Another option is to ask another professor 164 | Oversee a Laboratory Course
or graduate TA to observe that section if your goal is to conduct a formal teaching observation for all of your TAs. Consider how your presence in the lab might be a distraction to the TA and students and might give one lab section an advantage if you are never present to observe due to a conflict in schedule. Instead of attending the lab sections, we suggest that you make yourself available during the lab times and let your TAs know you will be available if they need any assistance. Hopefully, your office will be close to the lab room, but if not, you can let the TAs know that they can send you a quick email or text message if they need your help. It may be convenient for you to attend a specific lab section more than others, but attending one class more often can make the TA feel uneasy. Even if it is the only section that fits into your schedule, and the TA knows this, it can still feel like you are giving the TA more attention than the other TAs, which may be unhelpful or perceived negatively (if, for example, you are correcting the TA after a mistake, answering student questions before the TA can respond, etc.). Overall, it is important to set fair and equal boundaries among your TAs to cultivate respect.
When you as the instructor attend your TA’s lab section, you should establish with your TA what you plan to do during the lab. When you attend the lab section, will you arrive at the start of the lab? Or will you visit partway through? Do you want to observe quietly, or do you want to help your TA if they are unclear when instructing students on the lab procedure? Do you simply want to be there for assistance, such as answering student questions?
One way to respectfully attend the lab section is to be there when the lab session starts, introduce yourself, introduce the TA, verbally ”hand over” the lab to the TA, and then either sit down or leave the room. Letting your TA know how you will use their lab time will allow them to plan accordingly.
Another consideration as the instructor is that if you interfere during any of the lab instructions, this might frustrate and “throw off” the TA, negatively impacting their teaching performance. On the other hand, if you quietly sit in the back of the room to observe, you can get a good idea of how the students handle the lab procedures and what kind of feedback might be useful to the TA. As mentioned earlier, it is a good idea to ask your TAs if they prefer when and how you visit and observe their lab sections. Regardless, it is important to set these sorts of expectations ahead of time so that everyone is on the same page and understands how a lab session will operate when the instructor and TA are both present in the lab room.
If you plan on having TAs lead your lab sessions, respect your TA’s authority in front of their lab students. Interrupting the TA, contradicting what the TA says, answering student questions before the TA can respond, and many other considerations may lower the TA’s authority over their students and negatively affect the lab room’s student-teacher atmosphere.
As a TA, establishing a tone of civil authority is crucial in the first few weeks of the semester and will help build rapport and trust with students. As the instructor, if you happen to hear the TA say something incorrect, we recommend that you refrain from interrupting to correct them unless it is particularly urgent. Everyone makes mistakes or misspeaks, and sometimes little corrections are not needed (e.g., if a TA writes “Ca” on the chalkboard but says “Ca2+”, it is clear that the TA meant the common valence charge of
“two plus” when writing it on the board). If a correction is needed, then you can quietly talk to the TA on the side (e.g., “I heard you tell the students that the answer to question three is only [certain answer], but [another answer] is also acceptable for [specific reason]”). This way, the TA can then address the students and announce their mistake and perhaps write it on the chalkboard, and you have corrected the issue without interfering with your TA’s lab room.
Avoiding interruptions in an ongoing lab session also gives the TA a great way to build trust with their students. We have learned that students are more likely to respect an instructor who admits to a mistake and clears up a misunderstanding for the student’s benefit. Recognizing and correcting mistakes gives the TA a good chance to display humility; we all get things wrong occasionally. It is critical to correct ourselves in front of students!
Also, if you are a professor, you do not need to ”one-up” your TA, or vice versa. Your students are aware that you are the course’s main instructor, and the TA is still a graduate (or even undergraduate) student.
In summary, when considering whether or not to attend lab sections regularly, you should consider how many chefs are “too many for the kitchen,” as the saying goes. Co-teaching lecture courses without a cohesive plan does not work well, and it does not work well for labs either. The topic of co-teaching will be discussed in more detail in a later chapter. Consider how the instructor-to-student-ratio might affect student learning. Will the students feel intimidated with two sets of eyes watching them instead of one? Will the students know who to ask for help? Will the students feel comfortable making mistakes and learning from those mistakes in front of both instructors? Make sure the students and the TAs know and understand what your role as the instructor is when you are in the lab room versus the 166 | Oversee a Laboratory Course
lecture room. Additionally, it might be helpful if either the instructor or TA announces to the students at the start of a given lab session what the role of the instructor will be in the lab room.
Here are examples of what to say when you attend a lab:
• “Good morning students, today I’ll be sitting in to observe the lab session. I’m working with the TAs to do teaching evaluations, so I’ll be sitting in the back taking notes. Please pretend I’m not here and direct all questions to your TA.”
• “Hello everyone, I wanted to come to the lab today because this is my favorite lab of the semester. TA will explain the procedure and get you started as usual, and I’ll also be here to help you as you go and answer questions.”
• “I’ll be driving one of the two vans for our field trip today. Once we get to the site, I’ll hand over the lab to [TA name] as usual.”
As the instructor, attending lab sections that are led by your TAs is fine and, in some cases, highly encouraged. However, we suggest visiting the labs thoughtfully and with the intent to maintain students’ respect for their TA and you. Asking TAs what they think of the above points is also an excellent idea to make them feel their opinions are valued. Failing to consider all the points discussed above may cause frustration for the TAs and students, ultimately resulting in a poor teaching and learning environment.