Penn State University - La Vie Yearbook (University Park, PA)

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ONE TO ONE INTERACTION is oflcn poss'iblc wilh TAs. Jim Miller Inkcx Iimc Io unsu'cr 21 question u! the cnd ol' the lab session LOOKING 0 VER THE IIANDOUTS from lhc lhll TA workshop, this TA roads the rccommcndulions on becoming a morc cl'li'clivc inslrucmr. VISUA L AIDS, xuch us the blackboard. urc cspcciully hclpl'ul teaching tools. This Japanese I TA makes :1 point during class, Ucnnix U'Cunnur FOCUSING THE MICROSCOPE, BI'oVOgy 10! teaching assistant Laura Golden. guides two of her students through :1 tricky part of the lab. Tracy Kciacr

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L l l l in. Sea mh Of ERAL ART omen hadn't flocked to the beauticianls chairs to have their hair ?;bbed since the l920ls-they did lS year. Large rou s of colle e studentshadnlt raised their gprotgst signs against Ahd. Pglicy smce the l960ls-they did this year. ov e .ucators hadnit preferred liberal learning er scuentifc snnce pre-industrial daysethey l 1d this year reentifrgok are a time of change and of has puff ? or ways of the past. This decade tech ' e into light the tenswns between TE'Cal education and liberal learning. PTOfeESisgurlce of this illumination was the Specializgg world which found its very . analysts t Eomputer techmcrans anti operations and figuro e the very best at working formulas COmmunies 'flnd the very worst at Weak in cation. These college graduates were Communiana ysllS antl deduction, were unable to Clearly ancgtefln their own or any other language many Wer e fectively, anti along with it all, hiStory an: unsure, If not Ignorant of their own Thes culture. Specificefpelgple were very well schooled in a TOUnded '8 . but were not educationally well- World co liltpf frustration, the professional number :nnp :tned to the birthplace of these In res ac Ines-theiumversnies. unive home to the cries of employers. rsmes looked to the shadows of the past for r to the graduates shortcomings. A refocUsin philosophg on the minor rol lead and edueators arts, literature, and Yxthose fields that had taken on a 6-80 that the sciences could assume the and technological advances. University lechelogiiflros; the nation feel scientific anti of living les a yances hatfc made the-condltlons CduCatiOn ls tedious and time consuming. The time to e: sentiment IS that man again has things wh'JOy dance, muSIc, drama. and those tell he once had to reserve for his rare 0!: leisure time. The new language of SCienccs and Man has enthralled himself in the time for h' made his maehines, but now It IS 1m to broaden hlS intellect so he can better undt3rStand the w ' . - m ' or achmes exisLn 1d in Wthh hlS hr v ' ofOUgh educators influences there is now less a ttindency to think of technology and Slcvc Krupp: liberal arts as being at odds. Instead, people are beginning to realize the two complement and supplement one another. The Universityls Dean of Liberal Arts, Hart Nelson. said that the increased interest in liberal arts extends beyond the universities. It was a nationwide trend. uAs a nation we're asking how our resources should be spent, so were asking whatls important. and liberal arts and sciences are importantf' he said. Dean Nelson also said study groups like the National Institute of Education and the American Association of Colleges were researching the impact liberal arts training had on the specialized fields and added support for more liberal learning. Penn State followed the national trend, Dean Nelson said. liThe University is asking questions about how we can make the baccalaureate experience more meaningful. The fact that welre making an examination, as a university, shows our interest in reasoning and training? The Yuppies were also partially responsible for the renewed interest in liberal learning. These career-oriented individuals wanted high paying executive jobs and were influenced by liberal arts graduates. People are success-oriented, and they define success by the kind of income one makes. Seeing speeches from GM and ATKLT executives on the success of liberal arts graduates in their companies will encourage the college student to. if not major in, then to take liberal arts courses, to take philosophy, history. and writing, Dean Nelson said. Dean Nelson also said the University realized its job to perpetuate the liberal arts trend. ul know parents often tell their children to come to college to major in whats going to get them a job right away. It may be difficult for parents to see job possibilities from liberal arts as opposed to business or engineering. We at the University simply have to communicate to the parents that it is the broad training that serves the student so well and that there are very fine jobs in the liberal arts area. Article by-Lisa Lyles Layout by-Jan Cromo Maj- JimiT-VV'ExX'-'ik111?: :amuav '2-52 SPARKS BUILDING houses many Liberal Arts departments as well as the C ollcgc of Liberal Arts' Center for Computing Assistance. .. . mam. 1:35.11; sue: i-l: Eel ll; 3i l'w l3 ll ii L l' 1 12!; 52:; 115'E32iw Li! .,, L Steve Krcpps A SECOND LA NGUA CE, a requirement 0f the Liberal Arts degree. will be an asset to $00!! Davidson in any work he pursues. Liberal Arts Trend 23

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4 Communication In The LASSROO lowly the students filed into the room, a wave of liThey hate me already. lim going to make a fool of mysellm thoughts roared through my mind. Bong, bong. bong.... I heard Old Main and knew that it was now or never. Deep breath...OK, uGood afternoon. My name is... First day teaching assistant jitters were not uncommon. Laura Golden, a biology TA, said, laughing. ill was only a junior when I started. I stuttered the whole way through the first one. llm really surprised the whole class just didnlt drop it. The worst part for many TAs was to get no reaction from the students. Nathalie Chevrin, a French 1 TA from France, said, uIf someone is a volunteer, you feel much better than if you have to ask someone to answer the question. Dennis Ngo, a chemistry TA echoed similar sentiments. lil don't get any response from the students. I feel that is very disappointing. l donit know if they don't understand or just don't care? Dennis had to face another potential problem. He was a foreign TA and was afraid that he would say something wrong or that his students would not understand him. Chiou-Shann Fuh. a computer science TA from Taiwan, said, ul am confident in my professional skill. The most problem is in my language proficiency. Communication problems such as these occurred frequently. Some students felt especially frustrated by foreign teaching assistants. Robin Evans. a senior in marketing, listed the ability to speak English as a top requirement for TAs, and Laurie Christiansen. a seventh semester marketing major, said she had difficulties in lower level math and economics most opting for back row seats. Suddenly, courses with foreign TAs. However. Steve Boyer, a transfer from Berks campus. said, bl donlt think it matters if they're foreign or not. It's pretty naive if you think theyire not good just because theyire foreign. ltis ridiculous. Junior Eric Barnett agreed and said that TAs try hard to help the students by explaining the labs and by demonstrating the equipment so that no one gets hurt. He felt very comfortable going to a TA for help. Laurie, on the other hand, said, iil try hard to avoid going to them. She explained that no matter how she phrased a question her TAs still did not understand it. uThey should have teaching qualities, not just intelligence. lntelligence is shown on paper. not in communicating. TAs were concerned about this. For Nathalie, low participation and few questions in her French class were a concern. illim just wondering if theyire asking all the questions they want to ask? she said. Fuh felt strongly toward his students as well. He said, uWhenever my students ask me a question, 1 will give them the best answer I can. One aspect of teaching was certain. However one felt about TAs, it was not an easy job. Laura said, All I want them ther studentsy to know is that I'm trying really hard. I'm just a student, just like they are. llm not necessarily a know-it-all type of person. The best part. though, according to Laura was that it felt good to be able to help so many people. iil had fun! she smiled. Article by-Pat Hogg Layout bymPat Hogg x- ., --a-.---.--- Dennis O'Connor A 1' THE BEGINNING OF CLASS. Japanese I TA. Craig Rittenhousc, lmndx brick SONIC homework assignments: GI VING SOME HELPFUL HINTS. Dr. Miirycllcn Gleason, head of the instructional dcvc'lopmcnl progrmn, counsels prolbxsors rind TAs on ht-cmning bcllcr teachers. Slew k rcpps Teaching Assistants