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COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course solidifies previous anatomy knowledge through review of material, guiding peers in Anatomy 403 laboratory, writing practice questions, and discussion of relevant topics in anatomy and teaching. TAs work with faculty to set up and facilitate the laboratory portion of Anatomy 403.

PREREQUISITES: Successful completion of Anatomy 403 and permission from course director

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• • • Identify and describe complex 3D relationships in anatomy

    • Develop a personal teaching philosophy

    • Reflect on personal strengths and areas for improvement

    • Take responsibility for the organization and execution of the laboratory experiences

    • Teach effectively through instruction in different settings and using different modalities

COURSE MEETINGS: The course meets up to three days per week for 2 hours (Monday, Wednesday, and/or Friday from 10AM-12PM) in the gross anatomy laboratory or discussion room. Students should expect to prepare about 2 hours for each laboratory session (set up and teaching) including review of the material, the practice quiz, and review of the student materials. Students are expected to dedicate on average 10 hours per week to the course (including course meetings and independent study).

Deadlines for all assignments are outlined in the course schedule.

Reflections (3): Submit in your Google Drive folder. Write short reflections following the online prompts.

Remediation: Edit your reflection and resubmit for review.

Mock Lab (1): Attend in Lab. Guide your mock students (past/future 510 students and anatomy faculty) in learning the list of structures through active learning, quizzing, and answering questions.

Remediation: Submit a file that shows your preparation for a similar experience in whatever form works best for you (video, narrative, powerpoint, labeled images, etc). Focus on the details of the content, potential questions that may arise (and your answers), and how you will communicate.

Group Reviews (4): Attend in Classroom. Prepare and deliver a 10-minute didactic session with active learning on a subset of the lab material. Sign up for the topic and share your resource on the google document. Be creative and experiment with different approaches.

Remediation Options:

• If scheduled to present: Submit your materials (preferably before class, but within 1 week of the session). Write or record your session and upload it to your Google Drive folder within 1 week.

• If scheduled to give feedback: Provide feedback on the linked resources created by presenters.

Lab Set Up (9): Attend in Lab. Set up lab stations with anatomical donors, label structures (if relevant), set out supplemental images, and set up stations for students to test their knowledge. In the last hour, present your materials to peers and faculty for feedback.

Remediation Options:

• Come to lab before the scheduled setup to complete your station setup.

• If you can't come before, the TA team will set up your stations. Attend the lab to review the material before teaching.

• If unable to attend before the lab, submit a document with labeled images of the structures you were responsible for.

Lab Teaching (9): Attend in Lab. Guide Anatomy 403 students in learning the list of structures through active learning, quizzing, and answering questions.

Remediation: Create and submit a self-guided learning resource for a missed lab topic (choose a challenging one). This can come be a video, worksheet, powerpoint, etc.

Peer Review (11): Submit via Google Form. Review each TA in the lab when time allows and submit a peer review including a description of their teaching, suggestions for improvement, and noted successes. Additional reviews are welcome if you observe more sessions.

Remediation: Prepare to complete peer review at a later time.

Discussion Sessions (3): Attend in Classroom. Review materials and prepare discussion points on anatomy education topics.

Remediation Options:

• If scheduled to present: Submit materials as if attending (if possible). Then, submit (written or recorded) your presentation of the resource and your thoughts on the preparation materials and discussion questions. 

• If scheduled to participate: Submit (written or recorded) your thoughts on the preparation materials and discussion questions. 

Practice Identification Quizzes (9): Complete on Canvas. These quizzes are comprehensive assessments of lab content with unlimited attempts and time, intended as study tools.

If applicable, any remediation assignments shoulb be uploaded to your google drive folder within 1 week of the missed session. Please email Dr. O for review.

MAINTAINING A SAFE AND INCLUSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: The faculty of the Division of Anatomical Sciences aim to create an equitable and inclusive learning environment in the Anatomy 403 and 510 courses for all students. The following is expected of you as an integral part of the anatomy teaching team:

• Communicate with faculty and colleagues in a timely, professional manner.

• Maintain an environment of respect and collegiality for all students, peers, faculty, and staff.

• Maintain an atmosphere of respect for plastinated, osteological, and embalmed donors at all times.

• Maintain a safe work environment.

• Maintain an environment of dignity of the individual (i.e. avoid sexist, racist, ableist, classist, ageist, etc. comments or humor).

• Avoid micro-aggressions, generalizations, and assumptions about life experience, economic means, or future goals.

• Discuss issues or matters arising with the course director in a timely manner.

• Avoid being overly critical of course instruction or curricula in discussions with students.

• Dissuade conversations regarding grades with students. If a student discloses their grade to you, this should be treated as confidential and not discussed with or in front of other TAs or students.

510 TA ROLE IN THE ANATOMY 403 TEACHING TEAM: TAs are an integral part of the Anatomy 403 teaching team. TAs will set up the laboratory, prepare for the application of the lecture material to what is covered in the laboratory, and work with students to help them approach and learn the 3-dimensionality of anatomy in the lab. TAs will all contribute to setting up the laboratory for each session including setting up lettered pins, pinning structures, organizing specimen by station, organizing structure lists by station, organizing supplemental images by station, and repositioning M1 embalmed donor tables and 403 stations to make them more accessible to students. TAs will dedicate some time to watching the lecture recordings from the current group of faculty to understand subtle differences in material and expectations. The most important resources to students will be the lecture and lab materials. Research suggests that creating resources is an important part of the learning process for students allowing them to actively engage with the material. Therefore, additional resources will be shared with students on a limited basis by discretion of the block faculty. However, we encourage you to make and refine your own resources to share with the group of TAs for review and to encourage students to do the same. While TAs may enroll in Piazza, which can help in monitoring student questions, only current 403 students should answer the questions and block faculty clarify and endorse these answers.

510 TA AND ANATOMY 403 STUDENT RELATIONS: Within your role as a TA, you maintain academic authority over the learners within the Anatomy 403 course. Relationships (sexual, romantic, amorous, and/or dating) between TAs and learners violate university policies. Pre-existing relationships must be disclosed to the Dean or designee in the Dean’s Office. The Dean or designee in the Dean’s Office will establish appropriate supervision of the Learner. See the policy for reference: https://spg.umich.edu/policy/601.22

ACADEMIC HONESTY & CODE OF CONDUCT: All students are expected to abide by the academic integrity standards established in their home school/college and the Medical School.  For reference, we have included the policy published by LS&A:

Academic Misconduct:  The University of Michigan community functions best when its members treat one another with honesty, fairness, respect, and trust. The University promotes the assumption of personal responsibility and integrity, and prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty and misconduct. All cases of academic misconduct will be referred to the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education. Being found responsible for academic misconduct will usually result in a grade sanction, in addition to any sanction from the College. For more information, including examples of behaviors that are considered academic misconduct and potential sanctions, please see

www.lsa.umich.edu/academicintegrity.

TAs who act inappropriately or disrespectfully to students, faculty, or staff; or who demonstrate improper, unsafe, or disruptive behavior will either be dropped from the course, or issued a grade of ‘F.’