I did pick up a bunch of "how to make things better-scaffolded and more familiar to academics" tips and observations at today's TA training workshop. Some ideas I'll be stealing:

  • Color-code worksheets by activity, which makes them easier to find and reference. "The pink packet" is much quicker to distinguish and grab than "the 'managing learning environments' handout," and isn't actually much more expensive to print.
  • In the handout packet for each activity, include a "Suggested Reading" bibliography referencing a couple good books and/or papers. They did this rather nicely with a front to each worksheet, which consists of a description, goal, learning objectives, and suggested reading all on one page. Then there were notes/content, then worksheet-type stuff in the back.
  • Every time I go to a workshop of some sort, I keep on being reminded -- as much as we've entered the digital age, having something solid in your hands to take home is really important. There's a sense of physicality there, a mental jog to make sure you have access to what was covered, and... just having a thing helps you remember to think about it. (Gosh, it's weird to start thinking in physical space again!)