TA Resources
TA and Faculty Guidelines
Academic Year 2012-13
Background:
RSMAS PhD students entering as of Academic Year 2012-2013 are expected to be a Teaching Assistant (TA) for two courses while pursuing their degree. This is a change from years past and presents an opportunity to improve the TA program and overall teaching quality at RSMAS. The mandatory TA program will include training of new TAs, evaluation of their performance, and recognition of excellence. The goal is to make the experience as valuable as possible for the TA, the faculty, and the students taking our courses. Below is a description of the program elements (training, evaluation, and recognition), and a set of requirements to be followed by both the TA and the faculty instructor. There are also some suggestions and resources provided in the appendices.
- TRAINING: Students are required by UM to complete an online TA training. To supplement this, and better prepare TAs for their new roles as teachers, a 3-day RSMAS training workshop has also been developed. Day 1 will provide an overview of the basics of teaching, including learning theories, classroom culture, assessment, and classroom management. Day 2 will focus on presentation skills and labs. Day 3 will provide TAs with the chance to give a practice “mini-lesson” in small breakout groups and obtain constructive feedback following their presentation. It is recommended that the faculty instructors attend Day 3 of the workshop. For a tentative workshop schedule, see Appendix B.
- EVALUATION: Evaluations of the TA will be done at the end of the semester (1) by the students in the class, and (2) by the faculty instructor. An evaluation form has been developed specifically for TAs (see Appendix C). In addition, TAs will evaluate their experience at the end of the semester (form provided in Appendix D).
- RECOGNITION: Three ‘RSMAS TA Excellence’ awards will be given at the end of the academic year. The three categories for these awards will be: undergraduate lab, undergraduate lecture, and graduate class. The faculty instructor will be asked to nominate students for the award, and the nominations will be evaluated by the RSMAS Graduate Academic Committee based on a letter from the faculty and the end-of-semester class evaluations. The three awardees will have the opportunity to run the TA training session the following school year.
REQUIREMENTS for the TA:
- Complete online TA training (the graduate school will contact TAs by email before the start of the academic year)
- Foreign students must pass a ‘Speak test’ (the graduate school will contact TAs by email before the start of the academic year)
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Complete RSMAS TA training workshop
- Two sessions: Monday AND Tuesday (August 20-21, 2012)
- One breakout group with practice mini-lesson and feedback: Wednesday OR Thursday (August 22 or 23, 2012)
- Meet with faculty BEFORE the beginning of the semester to discuss duties/expectations (preferably before TA training)
- Attend first day of class to be introduced to students
- Set up and maintain consistent office hours. Add your name, contact information, and office hours (location/time) to the course syllabus.
- Spend on average 12-15 hours/week on class-related duties.
- The student must have a minimum of 2 significant teaching opportunities during the semester. This could be a lecture, a discussion section, or a lab. (For more ideas, see Appendix A)
- Perform an end-of-semester evaluation of their experience in the course.
REQUIREMENTS for the Faculty instructor:
- Provide GSO with a paragraph describing the duties and expectations of the TA for your course (in response to email request from GSO in August); this should include the expected time commitment (attends lectures, gives lecture, office hours, preparation of homeworks/tests, grading ...etc), and list the possible teaching opportunities that the students will have. The course-related duties should be able to be completed within an average of 12-15 hours per week.
- Meet with TA BEFORE course to verify that (1) the TA has a good command of the course material, (2) that he/she understands the duties and expectations, (3) has any feedback on those responsibilities and/or the course.
- Introduce TA on the first day of class, and explain the role of the TA for the course (i.e. leading reviews, office hours, etc.). Make sure their name, contact information and office hours are on the syllabus.
- Provide the student with a minimum of 2 significant teaching opportunities during the semester. This could be a lecture, a discussion section, or a lab. (For more ideas, see Appendix A)
- Hand out TA evaluation forms at the end of the semester (GSO will provide)
- Perform an end-of-semester evaluation of the TA that will include a discussion of the course evaluations, and your own assessment.
- Nominate your TA for the ‘TA excellence’ award at the end of the year if appropriate.
APPENDIX A: SUGGESTION/ADVICE FOR TA AND FACULTY (beyond the usual grading)
- Leading discussion/study groups
- Holding review sessions before exams (during class time or outside)
- Individual tutoring with students
- Developing homeworks /labs/class projects
- Assistance with homework questions, class projects
- Labs - set up, cleanup, running labs, grading lab reports
- Developing lab manuals
- Organizing and maintaining the class webpage/blackboard/blog/facebook page etc. (upload course documents, lead discussions, input grades, etc.)
- Develop grading rubrics for subjective assignments and be consistent
- Developing exam questions (revamping old exams)
- Exam proctoring
- Establishing a set of TA notes
- Developing a personal plan for the semester and each class (i.e. how will you handle your duties)
