Advocacy: Role of TA

UBC TA Training; Community of Practice
Site content
	Main Page
	Overview by Departments
	CoP Meetings
	Site map

The topic of the discussion for this meeting was Advocacy: Role of TA.

This page gathers notes and thoughts about this meeting.

Thanks to Catherine Rawn (Psych) for facilitating this meeting.

Objectives of this meeting

Identify innovative teaching or course designs that (may) change nature of the TAship in your department;
Consider how to help TAs gain access to potentially rich experiences in innovative courses;
Specify attitudes, skills, and knowledge needed by the TA working in an innovative course;
Evaluate your existing TA development program and brainstorm ways it could change to serve the needs of these TAs working in innovative courses.

Referenced Article

Pentecost, T. C., Langdon, L. S., Asirvatham, M., Robus, H., & Parson, R. (2012). Graduate teaching assistant training that fosters student-centered instruction and professional development. Journal of College Science Teaching, 41(6), 68.

Elements of discussion

What are some of the innovative things that are being done?

More responsibilities for TAs
Online-in class revisioning
TA-Instructor partnership
Undergrad Study assistants (offer tutorials)
Involvement of TAs in course design (both in class and online components)
Creative writing labs run by TAs
Community Service Learning (CSL)
Team-Based Learning (TBL)
In Sociology TAs help revise the TA guide boook at the end of the term

What role(s) could/should/do TAs play in a course like this (=innovative)?

More contact with instructors (planning and debriefing, Course management, Collaboration, etc.)
Help with the arrangement of the physical space
TAs as facilitators in active learning classrooms (esp. in large classes)
TAs that play the role of a bridge between multiple instructors (who team teach)

NOTE: We might want to consider prepping TAs for different team models: 1 instructor, 1 TA; 1 instructor, multiple TAs; Multiple Instructors, multiple TAs.

How can your training program (better) meet their needs?

Group dynamics (how to choose groups and get groups to work well)
How to give effective feedback (insert themselves in a group and offer feedback)
Balance between feedback and questioning

(feedback to students; feedback to instructors; and feedback from instructors to TAs)

Reach out to instructors and see what the role of the TA is in their courses, what are innovative ways they are teaching and how TAs can support them.

Take aways from the meeting

-Find innovative instructors

What are their needs/desires?
what active learning they are doing
use as scenarios for TA training programs (what TAs might encounter)

-How many team models exist - how to prep TAs to work in those models

-Role of technology - Training for TAs

-Instructors need to know what the TAs are getting prepared for

-mentoring for TAs by senior TAs

-Start conversations in departments (with faculty) around what TAs could/should do

-Think about bringing in the voice of instructors

-support for TAs as facilitators

-Offer workshops on:facilitation; group dynamics; feedback; mentorship; technology, etc.

-Providing faculty support around TAs in active learning

-Contact Flexible Learning Liasons at CTLT: how TAs are being deployed in their department/faculties

-Showcase innovative courses with TAs