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The following scenarios are intended for reflection and discussion. You will get the most out of them if you talk about them with other people and try to consider them from multiple perspectives.
Read each scenario and do your best to come up with answers to the prompts below the scenario.
If it helps you respond to the reflection prompts below each scenario, you can refer to this list of emotions:
Scenario 1
Scenario 1
A student gets increasingly frustrated during a lab period. They ask for help a few times but struggle to articulate where they're having a problem. Eventually, while a TA is trying to help them, they have a hostile outburst, blaming the TA's teaching skills for their difficulty completing the lab work. The student's voice is raised and everyone else in the lab turns to watch the exchange.
Some Things to Consider:
How would you feel if you were the TA in this situation?
Why do you think the student is behaving this way?
What impact do you think this might have on other students in the lab?
What are some appropriate ways for the TA to handle the situation?
Scenario 2
Scenario 2
Two TAs are holding drop-in help hours together for the same course. After they've each helped a few students and compared notes, they realize that most students are running into the same problem with an assignment because they don't have a clear understanding of a concept that was recently covered in class. As they continue to help students, TA 1 overhears TA 2 saying to a student, "Yeah, I'm not surprised you don't get this. That professor is terrible. It's a miracle anyone learns anything in that class."
Some Things to Consider:
Do you think TA 2's comment will help students learn what they need to learn in the class? How might it affect motivation levels?
Do you think TA 1 should say something to TA 2 about the comment? If so, should they say it in front of the student or wait until later when they can speak privately? Do you think TA 1 should say anything to the professor?
Why do you think TA 2 made the comment to the student?
Scenario 3
Scenario 3
A student has scheduled a time to meet one-on-one with a TA during office hours. They discuss the difficulties the student is having with a current assignment, which then leads into a conversation about the student's experience in the class so far. The TA is supportive and encouraging, and the student seems eager to continue talking. As their scheduled time ends, the TA tries to be polite in prompting the student to leave by saying, "Well, that's the end of our time. I'm sure you have a lot of other things you need to deal with and I don't want to take up any more of your time." The student doesn't pick up on the hint, says they don't have anywhere else they need to be at that moment, and strikes up conversation again.
Some Things to Consider:
How would you feel if you were the TA in this situation?
Why do you think the student might be eager to continue talking with the TA?
Why do you think the student didn't pick up on the TA's hint that it was time to go?
What do you think the TA could say in this situation to get the student to leave without hurting their feelings or discouraging them from coming back for help in the future?
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