Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.
Although coordination and supervision of TAs are important topics in themselves, attention must also be paid to the training of teaching assistants. Training programs for teaching assistants exist in only a few departments at UNC, and even where training is available, graduate students often work several semesters for individual faculty members before they receive any formal teaching preparation. For many TAs, the only opportunity to learn basic teaching skills is with the course professors for whom they grade or lead discussions. We believe that faculty have a responsibility to prepare TAs for their teaching duties, not only to ensure high quality classroom instruction, but also to prepare them for teaching careers when they finish their degrees. Increasingly, college search committees are requiring job candidates to show evidence of their teaching ability, so departments can improve placement of their graduate students by providing training and practice in teaching. If, as a faculty member, you feel that training is beyond the scope of your responsibility, perhaps you can persuade your department colleagues to establish a training program for TAs. The staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning will provide information, assistance, and material support to departments that wish to develop TA training programs.
Many faculty members maintain that we follow an apprenticeship model of training in graduate education--graduate students learn their vocation through practical experience, working under the supervision of skilled masters. Unfortunately, we often fail to provide the kinds of structured experiences that are necessary for the model to work effectively. A true apprenticeship system requires (1) a ladder of experience that the neophyte must climb, leading from simple tasks to more complex ones, (2) careful instruction at each stage of the work by a master, (3) evaluation of the apprentice's work and growing skill level, and (4) certification that the apprentice has mastered the work.
To adapt the apprenticeship model to the task of supervision of TAs, four activities are important:
All new TAs experience anxiety about their jobs because it is usually the first time they have to assume the role of teacher after having been students all their lives. Moreover, many new TAs simply don't know what their basic responsibilities will be. A job description is an excellent way to summarize the job and how it should be performed. A job description should clearly establish the parameters of freedom and responsibility within which the TA will operate (see example in Figure 13). One UNC department uses a TA contract that describes the job, is signed by the supervisor and the TA, and is filed in the department office.
Job Title: Teaching Assistant, Geography 10
Reports to:
Salary:
Educational Requirements: Must have been admitted to the Geography Department
Master's or Ph.D. program and been granted TA funding.
Job Requirements: Basic knowledge of physical geography is required.
Familiarity with a PC spreadsheet program such as Lotus 1-2-3 or MSWORKS (or
willingness to learn) is necessary.
Duties: The TA will:
Performance standards:
Job descriptions alleviate TA anxiety and provide the foundation for evaluation of TA performance. As part of their introduction to the job, TAs should be told how their work will be monitored and evaluated, and how that process will help them become better teachers.
Discussion Leaders, Lab Instructors, Graders
Before the semester begins, meet with your TAs to discuss the job description and to emphasize duties that you feel are particularly important. Review the course syllabus and show them how their work fits into the course and how objectives in lab or discussion sections relate to course objectives. Introduce new TAs to others who have assisted you in the past and encourage them to help one another. Encouraging the informal flow of information among TAs can save new TAs from making common mistakes and reduce the amount of time you will have to spend initiating new TAs into their roles. During the semester, let the TAs know well in advance of changes in the course schedule or departures from original objectives.
TAs With Full Course Responsibility
If you are supervising TAs who teach independently, you need to provide more comprehensive training, and the process should begin the semester before they teach. You have a responsibility to the undergraduates in their courses to insure that the TAs under your care have been well-prepared for the task. This handbook, distributed to all new TAs, can provide the outline for such a course. The staff of CTL will help locate additional source material and develop a tailor-made program for you. Such a plan requires that you meet with the TAs regularly and work with them as they develop their course designs. It is a good idea to provide sample syllabi and materials they can use and to schedule sessions in which they share course materials and test questions they have developed.
When you are assigned teaching assistants, you assume the dual roles of supervisor and mentor, roles that will inevitably shape the relationship you will have with those TAs. If your TAs are graders and discussion leaders, they also share a relationship with the students in your course, which adds another dimension to your affiliation. TAs can serve as your eyes and ears in the classroom and identify elements of the course that are working and those that are not. Soliciting and using their ideas for improving the course is a good management technique, because it demonstrates that teaching is an evolving craft that can always be improved, and that you value their insights as developing teachers.
If you are supervising TAs who are independent teachers, the relationship will be different perhaps more collegial but will remain one of master to apprentice (or perhaps master to journeyman). Remember that even experienced TAs can get into trouble and they need to know that you are available for help and support.
Questions to Consider
Regular meetings with your TAs are indispensable for coordinating their work and addressing problems and concerns as they arise during the semester. You can use some of the meeting time to explain common student difficulties with upcoming material and suggest specific ways TAs should approach it in their discussion sections. You should also explain the instructional purpose of each discussion-section meeting and suggest teaching strategies that will achieve these objectives.
Regular conferences also provide opportunities for TAs to share particularly successful teaching techniques. Many times TAs develop original and effective methods on their own, but unless these ideas are shared, only a few students will benefit. These meetings are an appropriate forum in which to bring up suggestions for improving the course and for passing on information about how well students are handling difficult parts of the course (and what might be done to help them).
If your TAs will be expected to help write and grade exams, plan to talk about your testing technique and grading criteria at these meetings. Ask TAs to bring in sample test items and have the group discuss ways to improve them. If you are using essay tests, ask the TAs to write model answers for each question and discuss their answers. Writing model essays can identify weaknesses in the questions, helps to determine if questions can be answered adequately in the time allotted, and provides a convenient scoring guide for the test. Whether or not the TAs contribute to the construction of exams, it is essential that they all understand and agree upon the grading criteria if they are to grade exams fairly and accurately.
One of the most common problems in using TAs as graders is insuring uniformity across graders. It is not advisable for TAs to grade the papers of their own discussion sections, at least not exclusively, because of the temptation to reward (or punish) students in their sections. Some supervisors require each TA to provide samples of "A," "B," "C," "D," and "F" papers for the professor to recheck. Others require TAs to grade papers together, in the same room, and have them compare "A," "B," "C," "D," and "F" papers. In this way, the more experienced TAs teach the less experienced ones about grading, and in the process of discussion any disagreements about the criteria are worked out by consensus. If you choose this strategy, it is advisable for you to be present at least at the beginning of the grading session in case you need to clarify any of your expectations about the test or the grading process.
If you are supervising TAs with full course responsibility, regular meetings are still necessary because problems that arise can be even more serious and difficult than those that crop up in discussion sections. For example, some TAs who are teaching for the first time impose impossibly high standards on their students. Even if their classroom technique is good, their students can be frustrated, angry, and demoralized if they feel the grading scheme is unfair. Other TAs may set very low standards and give high grades in the belief that they will get higher student evaluations. Some TAs become so fascinated with teaching (and, if they are successful, addicted to undergraduate adulation) that they spend inordinate amounts of time on their courses, to the detriment of their own graduate programs. TAs in these situations need your help to solve the problems and grow in their new role.
Training Activities
Teaching is a skill, and the only way to acquire a skill is to practice it. Over time, TAs should have the opportunity to practice all tasks associated with teaching, not just grading or leading discussions. Some large departments have TA career ladders: TAs begin as graders, move up to discussion section leaders, and finally assume full course responsibility. Although this isn't practical in every department, faculty supervisors can involve their TAs in a variety of teaching activities within their own courses.
For example, you could choose three or four classes during the semester that exemplify particular teaching techniques and use them as models for your TAs. Meet with your TAs the day before a particular class and explain what you hope to accomplish and how you plan to do it. You might wish to focus on one element of teaching at a time, such as how to encourage student participation or how to deliver a stimulating lecture. After the TAs have observed the class, meet with them and discuss their impressions of the strategies that you used and whether or not they were successful.
Your TAs should have the opportunity to put their new knowledge into action as soon as possible. You might let them lead the next set of class discussions and observe their techniques. The same process could be repeated for lecturing or any other technique that you normally use in your courses. In any case, provide immediate and balanced feedback about their performance, mentioning both strengths and weaknesses. All of your comments should be directed toward helping them improve their classroom techniques and develop their teaching styles.
Providing Feedback and Evaluation
TAs should know how their work will be monitored and evaluated. Let them know that you see them as apprentices at teaching, and that you don't expect them to know everything about the job. Make sure they understand that the purpose of evaluating their performance is to provide feedback that will help them improve as instructors, and not to grade or punish them.
Observations
Plan on observing your TAs at least once during the semester, but if you can afford the time, two or more observations, spaced well apart, would be better. TAs should know in advance the dates on which they will be observed (their day to day performance will not differ markedly from the times that they are observed, and knowing the dates will help alleviate anxiety).
Another way to observe your TAs in action is to arrange for them to be videotaped, a service offered free of charge by the Center for Teaching and Learning. A CTL technician will tape the class and give the tape directly to the teacher afterward. TAs can review their tapes privately, using a checklist supplied by CTL to evaluate their performance. The checklist is also a teaching device, because the questions are all based on effective teaching practices. You can view the tapes at your convenience and meet with TAs individually to discuss their techniques. TAs can also request videotaping from CTL on their own and, if they like, discuss their teaching with a member of the Center staff.
Observations are most useful when they focus on specific activities, and feedback that is concrete and specific will be more useful to TAs than generalized statements about their performance. It is a good idea to use a checklist or other standard form when observing your TAs (in person or on tape) so that you focus on the most important elements of their teaching. As with all forms of evaluation, TAs should be given a copy of the form before they are observed so they know the criteria on which they will be judged.
In some departments, TAs organize their own informal peer observations and even show each other their videotapes. This approach allows TAs to get feedback and advice in a non-threatening environment, but is insufficient for training purposes and should be used in conjunction with observations by the supervisor.
Self-Evaluations
Learning to be reflective about one's profession is part of the process of socialization that occurs in graduate school. Although we try to develop this skill in our graduate students with regard to research, we may forget that they should also learn to regard their teaching in the same light. You might begin the process by suggesting that your TAs spend five minutes after each class session writing down the successful elements of their classroom performance and what they would do differently next time. They could note points where they need to add examples or fuller explanations, where student understanding seemed to be weakest, and what actions they could take to improve that class session. These notes could be the basis for a teaching journal that you review with them at the end of the semester. A journal might also include their reflections and insights about teaching, which would help them formulate a personal philosophy of teaching. In the last section of the journal they could set specific goals for improvement in their next TA assignment.
Having TAs fill out the same evaluation instrument that their students use is another method for stimulating self-examination of teaching. Any large discrepancies between the instructor's ratings and the students' ratings will signal the need for closer examination of those elements by the teacher. Sometimes the discrepancies indicate a need to change teaching strategies, and, as supervisor, your role is to help the TAs interpret the data and provide suggestions for changes.
Early Evaluations
Traditionally, student evaluations are administered at the end of a course, when it is too late for the teacher to change anything. It is particularly important for new teachers to get earlier feedback from their students so that they can make adjustments in the structure of the course or their teaching methods. The best time to conduct such an exercise is about one-third of the way into the semester, when both the teacher and the students have settled into the course routine. The evaluation chapter of this handbook provides a more detailed treatment of student evaluations, including ideas for early evaluations.
End-of-Course Evaluations
There are many types of student evaluations in use in higher education today. Most universities have specific forms that teachers are required to use, but at UNC each department can decide on the form to be used and the circumstances under which it will be applied. If you decide to use your department's form for your TAs, you should give each of them a copy of the questionnaire before the semester begins. If you prefer not to use your department's form, the CTL staff can develop one to suit your needs.
Whichever form you use, reviewing the results of student evaluations with your TAs should be part of the training process. You can help them identify areas of teaching they need to work on and discuss their approaches to teaching in the context of their student ratings. In some departments, student evaluations become part of a TA's record, providing documentation for letters of recommendation. Increasingly, search committees are asking for such documentation of teaching competence, so establishing a teaching portfolio can be advantageous for graduate students.
In this section, we have suggested a number of strategies for supervising and training teaching assistants. You can decide which strategies best match your teaching situation, conditions in your department, and the needs of your TAs. Keep in mind, however, the four parts of your job as supervisor: defining tasks, defining the relationship, providing support, and giving feedback.
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Last updated: January 30, 2001