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These pages contain general resources for graduate students. They include information on professional development tips, events, reading and opportunities. Also included are guidelines for teaching assistants (T.A.s) at Clark University and specific tools for the evaluation and feedback process.
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Graduate Student Opportunities and Resources
Publication Venues
Currents In Teaching and Learning is a new online journal devoted to
creating discourse around higher education teaching and learning methods.
The publication is currently accepting submissions for its inaugural issue,
projected for Fall 2008. For more information, please click
here.
Workshops
CETL workshops offer a great opportunity to develop the professional skills. In our ongoing efforts to
improve the quality of undergraduate instruction and the professional
preparation of graduate students, the Graduate School and CETL have developed a
program of TA training and graduate student development sessions. The August and
January sessions are required for grad students who will be teaching assistants
for the first time in that academic year; all graduate students are encouraged to attend
all events. Materials from the prior TA training workshops are
available to all graduate students.
Visit our events page for a complete
listing of upcoming events.Other Resources
We offer confidential individual teaching
consultations to anyone who teaches at Clark, including full time and part
time faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Consultations are done by
Judy Miller.
The Colleges of Worcester Consortium Certificate in College Teaching Program
is a certificate program designed for graduate students, adjunct faculty, and
full-time faculty who are either pursuing or engaging in a career in academia.
This program offers graduate students and faculty the opportunity to learn best
practices in college teaching with the theoretical background that supports it.
Courses may be taken “a la carte” or in pursuit of the 1.5-unit Certificate in
College Teaching. Clark faculty and graduate students may qualify for
tuition reimbursement for Certificate courses.
Follow the links for information about how to register and apply for tuition
reimbursement. The Certificate in College Teaching Program was recently featured
in an article in the Teaching Professor Newsletter.
Insights from Professors to Graduate Students on Teaching in Academia
If you could tell a future professor ONE thing, what would it be? Compiled
by Kathleen McKinney (POD network); April, 2007.
Teaching Assistants Resource Documents
TA Feedback
and Evaluation Process
What Makes a Good TA? – “Best Practices” for Graduate Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants (TA’s) play a significant role in the education process.
As a TA, you have the opportunity to increase your professional development
skills while simultaneously discovering whether teaching is a field that you
want to enter long-term. In addition to providing support for faculty teaching
large-size courses, TA’s contribute to the learning experiences of
undergraduates. The following ideas offer some “best practice” tips that can
make your service as a TA both rich and useful.
In January, the Teaching and Professional Development Series for Graduate students
focused on the question
what makes a good TA. At this event, experienced TA’s
from a variety of disciplines answered the following questions: 1. What was the
biggest challenge you encountered as a TA, and how did you manage it? 2. What is
the one piece of advice that you would like to give to new TAs? Out of this
discussion, three characteristics emerged as important qualities of an excellent
TA.
Take initiative
Individuals who take initiative in their role as a teaching assistant
improve the likelihood of being an effective TA.
The role of a TA can be challenging. As a graduate student, you have two
roles – that of being a student, but also of an instructor to a group of
undergraduates. In addition to juggling your responsibilities as a graduate
student you need to establish a working relationship with the professor while
participating in the mentoring of undergraduates during their formal years in
college. The multiple roles that you occupy require good time management and
communication skills. Take the initiative throughout the semester to find out
which tasks are most crucial to assisting the professor effectively. Whenever
possible, bring your ideas to the professor in the form of concrete questions,
sample responses/exam keys, and or case examples of challenges that you are
facing in your role as a TA.
Maintain strong communication with your supervising professor(s)
The key to a good TA experience is an open line of communication between
the TA and professor.
At the start of the semester, request a meeting with the professor for whom
you work in order to clarify the following issues:
1) What will your TAs’ responsibilities be? If there are multiple TA’s how
will the work be divided or shared?
2) To what extent and in what contexts will you have interaction with students?
3) How often will you meet with the professor to discuss the course?
4) What are the main goals of the course? And, will some goals be more important
than others in your position as a TA?
5) What aspects of TA teaching are most important for maintaining consistency
and fulfilling course objectives?
6) How will your work as a TA be
evaluated?
How often will you receive feedback and will that feedback come from both the
professor and students?
For time management purposes, attempt to gauge how much the weekly time
demands will fluctuate
over the course of the semester. This information will allow you to manage your
multiple responsibilities most effectively.
Respect the demands of the job
Remember at all times that in your role as a TA you serve as a
professional.
In addition to taking initiative, establishing and maintaining open lines of
communication with the professor and the students with whom you work, be
prepared to respect the demands of the job. Each TA experience will be unique.
Your ability to flexibly adapt to the variety of needs that professors present
may be your greatest asset. To make this experience a beneficial one for you,
the professor, and the students develop relationships that reflect your respect
for the professional work environment.
The following resources are available in the
CETL library.
Freeland, Rea. Collected Wisdom: Strategies & Resources for TA’s. Pittsburg:
Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence Carnegie Mellon University, 1998.
Prieto, Loreto & Meyers, Steven (ed.). The Teaching Assistant Training
Handbook: How to Prepare TA’s for Their Responsibilities. Stillwater: New Forums
Press Inc., 2001.
For more specifics on best practices for TA’s, visit
Resources for Enhancing Education @ Carnegie Mellon.
Do you have ideas for other useful tips for TAs? Please send them to
cetl@clarku.edu, and you may see your
suggestion added to the list! Please use the subject header “TA tip”.
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