The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes exceptional TAs in the School of Computing Science for their outstanding work in teaching and performing other TA duties. The award is adjudicated by the Teaching Assistant Awards Committee in the School, which consists of: two faculty members, one from the undergraduate program committee, and another from the graduate program committee.  

The criteria that the Teaching Assistant Awards Committee will use for selecting the award winners includes the following. Not all criteria need to be satisfied; different criteria are applicable depending on the TAs’ duties in the course.

• The TAs who worked from Fall 2018 to Summer 2022
• Overall quality of teaching, including the ability to understand students’ needs and clearly explain complex information
• Mastery of the subject area and ability to motivate students
• Ability to develop course materials that promote learning (e.g. website, tutorials, assignment and exam questions)
• Capacity to create engaging, inclusive learning environments and promote critical thinking
• Consistency, timeliness, and integrity in evaluating students (e.g. marking) and in handling a variety of student needs
• Going above and beyond assigned duties to assist the instructor in enhancing the learning experience of students in the course
• More information about the award can be found at https://www.sfu.ca/computing/current-students/graduate-students/cs-outstanding-teaching-assistant-award.html

Evidence for outstanding performance of TAs may include the following:

• Observations by faculty
• Documentation such as course materials created by the TA
• Student evaluations (TAs who are nominated will have the option of providing these)

Nominations are due August 12th.

• Any faculty member, undergraduate student, and graduate student in the School of Computing Science can submit one or more nominations to the Teaching Assistant Awards Committee by sending an email to cs-outstanding-tas@sfu.ca
• TAs may also self-nominate by sending an email to cs-outstanding-tas@sfu.ca
• The nomination should describe, in at least two sentences, the nominee’s contributions to one or more of the criteria.

Awardees will be selected in August, and announced in September.

• Top of up to 10% of TAs, chosen by the Teaching Assistant Awards committee at the end of each term, will receive Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards.
• The selection committee of four will be made up of two faculty members, one undergraduate student and one graduate student.