Do you shoulder the huge responsibility of being a lab TA? Lab TAs typically have different duties from discussion TAs, and it is high time to arrange a workshop tailored for them. Come to this workshop, and learn how to handle all your duties effectively: setting up and organizing the lab, dealing with equipment and emergencies, fostering interest and creativity among students, and dealing with lab reports. Make the most out of your lab for you and your students! Mike Morrow, Mark Allie, and Jim Barner from Electrical and Computer Engineering facilitated this workshop that was sponsored by the College of Engineering.

What motivates you? What, if anything, frustrates you? What surprises you? What do you wish your instructors knew more about? What do you wish your teaching assistants knew more about? What else would you like us to know? These questions refer to undergraduate courses and learning environments here at UW-Madison. Sandra Courter, the Director of the Engineering Learning Center facilitates this Teaching Improvement Program sponsored by the College of Engineering.

How can you use office hours effectively? Explore some creative group problem-solving that happens during regularly scheduled office hours. Explore a classroom-research project that investigated the impact of creative office hours on student learning and satisfaction. Prof. Thatcher Root, Chemical & Biological Engineering and Matt D'Amato, Associate Outreach Specialist, Wisconsin Center for Educational Research facilitate this Teaching Improvement Program session sponsored by the College of Engineering.

Share experiences from graduate students who have been involved with the program and see for yourself the support that is available on campus for teaching and learning. Whether you are interested in teaching strategies, assessment methods, diversity issues, or more rigorous research related to how your students are learning, you can find other graduate students with similar interests and programs to support your interests. Delta was an NSF-sponsored project but now is a regular campus program. Check out Delta's website at http://www.delta.wisc.edu/. Four Delta faculty coordinated this program sponsored by College of Engineering, and offered their diverse perspectives on teaching topics. 

Your experience in Wisconsin may be long or short. It may include math, chemistry, and physics – the foundation for engineering. Whatever this year has in store for you, this day will be the first day of the rest of your Wisconsin Experience. Explore ways to make your Wisconsin Experience effective for both you and your students. This plenary session will focus on new initiatives to help students develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes they will need as professionals. It will first focus on four key opportunities: global and cultural experiences, leadership and student organizations, research for undergraduates, and applications of course content such as internships, cooperative, and service learning experiences. As instructors – teaching assistants, faculty, and staff – at UW-Madison, we are naturally “part of the Wisconsin Experience.” Aaron Brower, Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning and Steve Cramer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering facilitate Teaching Improvement Program session sponsored by the College of Engineering and Teaching & Learning.