Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Shawn Xiong, TATP Sciences Coordinator
Kangbin Zhou, TATP Sciences Trainer
Alli Diskin, TATP Program Assistant

“Once upon a time, in a land far, far way, teachers told tantalizing, creative stories that piques the interest of the novice mind into applying and learning challenging concepts in various domains. These stories ignited a light that formed lasting memories so that they could be applied to solve everyday problems, ensure survival, and pass on this wisdom to other generations.” – NYU

It’s well established that storytelling leads to better retention, faster recall, and livelier learning environment. Yet, storytelling traditionally gets a bad rap in university teaching. The main reason behind this contradiction is the consideration that stories are anecdotal and not representative, thus do not satisfy the legitimacy of academic education. In this workshop, we will argue that when the context moves from research to teaching, stories become not only more appropriate but potentially more effective. Together, we will embark on an interesting adventure to explore:

• Why do we want to use stories in education?
• What is a good story for teaching?
• How do we use stories in classes?