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CATHERINE DRENNAN: One
of the big challenges

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of a large lecture is having the
graduate student TAs be really

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an integral part of this.

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And I think if the grad
students TAs are not

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that excited about this teaching
assignment, it's not so good.

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You want to have this sense
of enthusiasm and energy.

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So one of the problems
I had when I was first

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starting with this is that
this TA assignment was not

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the most popular.

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So when the grad students are
coming in in their first year,

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there are organic
chemistry grad students

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and they want to teach
organic chemistry.

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And there are physical
chemistry students

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who want to teach
thermo and kinetics.

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Biochem students want
to teach biochemistry,

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and inorganic
chemistry students want

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to teach inorganic chemistry.

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So who is there for
general chemistry?

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And so often, it would be
the booby prize assignment

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to get stuck in that class,
and there might be a feeling

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like, oh, I got stuck because
I wasn't the organic chemistry

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professor's first choice.

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So I wanted to change
all that because to me,

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teaching freshmen in
freshman chemistry

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is the most fun teaching ever.

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So I knew there
were grad students

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out there that could engage
and agree with me that this

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is going to be a lot of fun.

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I admit, it's more work than
all of those other courses,

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but it also can be more fun.

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So I thought, we just need
to get the right people in

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and I need to educate
them about what

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this experience can be like.

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So I decided to once the
students were accepted

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to come into MIT, I would
send them an information

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packet about how they could be
part of this exciting teaching

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opportunity, and I made
it glossy and pretty

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and sent it to them
and asked them to apply

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to be part of the class.

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And so we got some
wonderful applications.

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I got a great group of people
to be part of this class.

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So instead of being like,
oh no, I have to do this,

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they're like, yes,
freshman chemistry.

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And we brought them in early,
and I got to know the group.

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We had extra TA training
in the beginning.

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And t-shirts, and by
the time we started,

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everyone knew each other.

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And it was an opportunity,
also, for the TAs

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to make friends because they're
first year graduate students

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and so they get to know other
first year grad students

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and they build a
sense of team as well.

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So for many years now when
we've been really doing this--

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having this extra TA training
and applications to be part

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of the class-- we've
started the semester

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with a group of people
who are just ready to go

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and really excited about
being part of that.

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And I think that has had such a
wonderful impact on the course

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as well.

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They see this
whole teaching team

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that really want
to be there and are

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excited about this opportunity
and care about each

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and every one of those students.

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And the comments that
I've gotten later,

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both from the students and
also sometimes from parents,

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that their child in
their freshman year

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really felt a connection
as part of this class

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and had this TA just
checking in on them, not

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just about this class, but about
how they were doing overall.

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And it was a support
system that went

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beyond the teaching
of chemistry, which

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made me really very happy.