Writing, Thinking and Learning > Working with TAs

Working with Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Tutor Markers (TMs)

 

While W courses provide excellent introductions to teaching for new TAs and TMs, even experienced TAs/TMs report that working with W courses can be a richly rewarding professional opportunity. The attention to disciplinary and professional writing in W courses means that professors often work much more explicitly with their TAs/TMs, mentoring them into the codes and discourses of their areas of study. Some TAs/TMs report their own degrees have proceeded more quickly because of this mentoring. In addition, when the TAs/TMs teach undergraduates, they learn a great deal about teaching the course content (as in any course), but also about how students learn the material. Many TAs and TMs report this helps them think carefully about curriculum in ways that are a bit unusual for typical TA or TM assignments.

Some of the best practices to ensure W courses are models of excellence for TAs and TMs include consideration of the following:

TA & TM Best Practices

To ensure your course is a model of excellence for TAs and TMs, be sure to consider:

  • Criteria for W TAs/TMs
  • Contractual issues: W training
  • Course goals
  • Team meetings
  • Tutorial planning
  • Grading

Criteria for W TAs/TMs

Being successful as a W TA or TM requires a solid disciplinary knowledge. While most W TAs/TMs will be graduate students, an advanced undergraduate student may be suitable for a W TA/TM position. TAs/TMs without a sufficient background (such as a qualifying student) may find a W course to be challenging until they have more disciplinary experience. Similarly, because of the intensive pedagogical role that TAs and TMs play in W courses, W TA/TM positions are generally not well suited to those with no teaching experience. That said, a TA or TM with strong pedagogical instincts and interest can indeed succeed in a well-mentored course.

Contractual Issues: W training

TSSU recommends that all W TAs and TMs take W training, which is offered at the beginning of every semester either "in house" or through WTL in FASS, depending on the department. TSSU further recommends that this training (6 hours) is included within the time use guidelines negotiated with the professor at the beginning of each TA/TM contract. The TA/TM training focuses on three modules: introducing Writing Intensive approaches (including examples of various kinds of low stakes strategies), guiding students in the first major assignment, and strategies for efficient and effective feedback on student writing.

Course Goals

Identifying what you want your students to know (main ideas, attitudes, lenses, theories, actors etc.) and be able to do (skills you expect them to develop or products you expect them to be able to deliver within the semester) will help your TAs plan and deliver tutorials as well as aid them in ensuring that your course goals are met.

Team meetings

Regular team meetings are strongly recommended if you have a team of several TAs or TMs. At your discretion, they may be weekly or less often, but having them take place at key points in the term can avoid many problems, as well as consolidate course/TA and TM expectations, streamline lecture time, ensure consistency across tutorials, address student concerns, clarify grading criteria and practices, and support individual TA's and TM's professional development. Professors who work frequently with TAs/TMs report that they typically will meet between 10 and 12 times per semester.

Tutorial planning

Tutorials are an integral part of the course for students, and are key sources of pedagogical development for TAs and TMs. Suggesting topics of focus for tutorials and identifying learning goals for students helps TAs develop and deliver an effective tutorial without spending too much time on preparation. In some cases, such as peer review done in tutorials, you may wish to provide more detailed instructions for tutorials or provide a tutorial plan. Team meetings are an ideal forum for discussing tutorial concerns. Similarly, TMs will benefit from guidelines on how and where to focus their time for online interactions.

Grading

Consistent and on-target grading across tutorials is essential for a successful course. To this end, identifying specific objectives and/or guidelines for each assignment is helpful. Using a rubric that makes evaluation criteria explicit can simplify this process and help TAs and TMs to manage their time effectively. Marking several papers as a group ("norming") during a team or grading meeting ensures that TAs/TMs understand your expectations and can implement the grading criteria. It's also helpful to identify procedures for recording grades, dealing with possible plagiarism cases, late papers etc.

TA/TM Links