TLC News

The role of a teaching assistant is complex. A handbook developed by Erin Aspenlieder and Daria Ahrensmeier of the Teaching and Learning Centre provides SFU TAs with information and resources to help them handle their multiple responsibilities with greater confidence. The handbook, titled A Guide for Teaching Assistants at SFU, was released in early October as a PDF file. It covers the many challenges and duties that TAs face and offers advice for dealing with common issues that can arise in labs, classrooms, tutorials, or in relationships with professors and students.

The book’s ten chapters address practical issues (for example, setting office hours and responding to email), pedagogical issues (for example, how to grade quickly and fairly and how to prepare for and lead a tutorial), and professional issues (for example, how to evaluate and improve one’s performance). The guide also includes links and references to a multitude of teaching resources both inside and outside SFU.

For more information about the handbook or about performing effectively as a TA, contact Erin Aspenlieder at erin_aspenlieder@sfu.ca or Daria Ahrensmeier at daria_ahrensmeier@sfu.ca.

Related links:

A Guide for Teaching Assistants at SFU (PDF)

Daria Ahrensmeier’s profile page >>

Erin Aspenlieder’s profile page >>

Inside the Teaching and Learning Centre, Dan Moxon is known as a videographer and a really nice guy. Outside, he’s better known as the lead singer of indie band Bend Sinister and, as of last weekend (May 26), as winner in the “best musical score in a feature-length drama” category at the 2012 Leo Awards, sponsored by the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of British Columbia. The award honours his work for Sisters & Brothers, a comedy that premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

This is Dan’s first Leo nomination and first win, although he notes that he has “lots of shorter scores and four or five features” under his belt. He wrote and produced the Sisters & Brothers score in a month and a half last summer, using “vocals, whistling, and the top three strings of a guitar.” He attributes the quirky combination to his desire for a light, ukulele-like sound, coupled with a broken guitar string.

Dan also puts his composing and performing skills to good use within the TLC’s Creative Services unit. Most recently, he produced the soundtracks for three videos featuring recipients of the 2011 SFU Excellence in Teaching Awards.

Want to hear samples of his work? Watch – and listen to – these short videos:

• Interview with Ash Parameswaran (Engineering Science)
• Interview with Lynne Quarmby (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry)
• Interview with Jamie Mulholland (Mathematics)

When it comes to web design, the Webby Awards are a big deal. That’s why the news that the Investigating Forensics website developed by SFU’s Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology has been named an official honoree in the science category at the 2012 Webby Awards is worth celebrating. Other honorees in the same category include National Geographic and Columbia University’s Earth Institute. The Investigating Forensics website “includes information and activities that recreate some of the challenges forensics experts deal with” when they investigate criminal cases. It was designed with the help of TLC media professionals under the direction of art director Ivana Filipovic and lead designer Kirsten Johnson and features video, Flash animation, photography, and other visual elements by TLC professionals. Want to be a CSI? Check out the site here.