1. Sofa Gradin Queen Mary, University of London s.p.gradin@qmul.ac.uk

2. 7 mins

3. Your job as a TA… Engaging students in subject

4. Ontology/epistemology gesture

5. Your job as a TA… Engaging students in subject Helping students draw out key points from reading

6. Your job as a TA… Engaging students in subject Helping students draw out key points from reading Helping with particular questions

7. Essays Explain to students how to write good essays – most students don’t know! Marking & feedback: don’t spend too much time on it or overwhelm students with too much feedback. Give students 3 positives and 3 negatives for each essay.

8. Common obstacles to engagement Shy students Split up into small groups or pairs, then feed back to full group Get them to take notes before they share their thoughts with the full group Ask questions and offer options initially Give praise when they say good stuff, but not in a patronising way Acknowledge things people have said ('as X pointed out earlier…') Dominant students Facilitate. If someone is speaking all the time, ask them if they would mind waiting for second and ask someone else to answer the question instead. Disengaged chatty students Separate them. Divide and conquer. Set tasks for them. Students who haven’t done the reading Speak to them as adults, but make clear that skipping the reading is not okay. Beware of students who haven't done the reading but who still like to talk out of their a** in the seminar. Ask students to relate what they are saying to the reading.