Learning and teaching resources

This page is under construction. I am gradually digitizing drafts of handouts or workshops I have developed for students and teaching assistants.

Many of these resources were designed to be course-specific, and often based on students’ or TAs’ self-disclosed interests or needs. They are supplements and not replacements for other campus and course resources. The following should be read with that context in mind: not everything that works for some students will necessarily work for you, and not everything that worked for one class will necessarily work in another! Nonetheless, I hope you find them helpful.

Current resources for students:

• How to write an “original” argument / How to agree with an author. Provides brief guidance on what instructors often mean when they ask for an “original” argument, how to show that your argument is “original”, and how in particular to do that when you agree with an author.
  
  
• Scripts for classroom discussions. Provides sample “scripts” that can be used to help plan your engagement in class discussions, and to address some common worries or barriers to sharing.
  
  
• Reading reflection exercise. Provides a series of specific questions to help identify and build on your reading practices and goals. I recommend doing this exercise before going through the other reading resources.
  
  
• Reading philosophy as a STEM student. Provides a heuristic for approaching philosophy papers like “IMRAD” papers in STEM courses, designed to lessen the apparent gap between reading practices across disciplines.
  
  
• Quick tips for online searches. Provides brief guidance on where and how to search for academic sources in philosophy and bioethics, including some links and search tips. This page needs to be updated to account for the influences of AI on searching, but the tips still largely apply.
  
  
• Understanding papers as writing assignments. Provides guidance on how to think about philosophy papers, and suggestions on building a checklist.
  
  
• Understanding grades and grading. Gives an introduction to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences grading scale, what counts as “good” grades and GPAs, and some behind-the-scenes on grading contexts. This page is currently in development but posted in draft form.
  
  
• Reading and engaging assignment feedback. Offers guidance on how to read and engage with feedback, how to develop “SMART” plans for building on that feedback, and keeping a feedback journal.

Current resources for Teaching Assistants:

• Three-column gradebooks. Makes a recommendation about how to grade in Excel, and provides a few motivations for that recommendation based on my own experience and those of TAs I have managed.