Graduate Teaching Assistant Guidelines
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are important and essential members of UMD's Department of Mathematics and Statistics. When they assist faculty by serving as exam or essay graders or laboratory assistants, small group discussion leaders or study section facilitators, or are responsible for their own courses, graduate students enhance the teaching capacities of our department. Due to the importance of the teaching responsibilities assigned to graduate students, serious consideration must be given to how we develop and evaluate teaching in the contexts of both undergraduate instruction and graduate education. To better prepare graduate students for various instructional duties, below we outline the responsibilities of our graduate students who contribute greatly to the vitality of our department by fostering intellectual exchange among faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.
Mandatory Responsibilities
The primary responsibility is that of assisting the instructor who teaches the course. GTAs holding a 50% appointment are expected to work no more than 20 hours per week on average. The following are their responsibilities:
Be prepared- Arrive at class prepared to answer questions on the material for that week. GTAs should review assigned homework, prepare examples and read all emails pertaining to the class. Duties may include assisting in the grading of exams, writing and grading quizzes (quizzes may need to be written in advance and previewed by instructor), recording grades, weekly meetings, including examples or activities as specified by instructor, tracking attendance, assisting with proctoring the final, reviewing for exams, enforcing calculator/notes restrictions, etc. Talk to experienced graduate students who have taught the class before.
Make use of the full hour- Allow time for questions, but be prepared for the worst-case scenario, no questions. Prepare enough examples or other information to fill at least 45 minutes. Focus on working examples. The material will have been covered previously in lecture, except for the first Tuesday of a semester.
Don't predict instructors' behavior- There is nothing worse for a student than to hear the instructor say one thing and then have GTAs contradict the instructor. If teaching assistants don't know an answer to a question, the teaching assistants should tell the students they will talk to the instructor and get back to them via email or the next class.
Tell the instructor of any problems- Discuss with the course instructor right away any problems encountered with a student, the material or the instructor. They will be understanding and work with teaching assistants to find a remedy to the problem. This includes cheating, any student conflict or if teaching assistants misspeak in class.
Be available for students- Tell them where teaching assistant offices are located and when the teaching assistants will be there. Also tell them that teaching assistants are looking forward to them coming to visit office hours. Make students aware that teaching assistants are excited to get a chance to know them one-on-one, but that can't happen unless they visit office hours. Remind them of this several times during the semester.
Keep the students up to date- The grades for classes are able to be available online and updated regularly. Remind the students they can go online and check how each assignment has affected their grade anytime.
Have fun!- Allow natural enthusiasm/excitement to shine through when working with the students. Past experience has proven that the students will be more receptive and engaging when they believe the teaching assistants are enjoying themselves.
Suggestions
First Day Suggestions
1. Be especially prepared for the
first day. Many students decide in the first 10 minutes of the first
class whether they are going to like the class or not. Make sure to meet
with the instructor before the semester begins. Also check the web class
schedule to see if the room has been changed, as this does happen occasionally.
2. Get the students talking immediately. Have
them all say something simple - such as name, hometown, expected major, and
maybe something else they want to say about themselves. If they talk the
first day, they will be more likely to ask questions the rest of the term.
3. Tell the students about yourself - where you are
from (maps are good), what made you interested in mathematics, how you decided
on coming to UMD, what your plans are, what you remember about taking the
course you are now teaching, any interests or hobbies outside of mathematics,
... . This makes students think of you as a real person and gives them easy
topics to start a conversation with you. Make sure they know that you are
also a student and that you need to spend a significant time on the courses you
are taking as well as the one(s) you are teaching.
4. Have a course-related activity ready after your
introductions. This should be decided in cooperation with your instructor.
It may be a review of some topics in a prerequisite course, some examples
from the first chapter, etc. This lets students know that you are
serious about the course and helps set expectations for them in class.
5. It is OK to be nervous. Most everyone is at
the first class, even after many years of teaching. The antidote is to be
prepared. If you have a plan of action, and you are following it, pretty
soon you are concentrating on what you are doing and the nervousness will fade.
Beyond the first class
1. Learn your students' names. They are much
more willing to work for a teacher who knows them personally and cares about
their development. Continue to call on them by name every class. Use a
seating chart if necessary to learn names. Memorize names as students are
taking quizzes and when handing back papers.
2. Enjoy teaching! Explaining math is the best
way for you to learn. The interaction with students is rewarding.
General hints
1. Much of mathematics is an interplay between
avoiding the details (to get the big picture) and concentrating on the details
(to completely understand a topic). Work on both aspects. For
example, say what you are going to do (overview), do it (details), and
summarize (big picture again). Ask students to make (educated) guesses
about what the answer to a problem is or how to work it out before you bury
them in the details.
2. Label your board work carefully. Step back
occasionally to see whether someone who just looked at the board might
understand what you were explaining.
Balance
1. Although you must be overprepared for your first
class, this level of class preparation is unrealistic throughout the semester.
Of course you want to be prepared, but you also need to partition your
time between teaching, the classes you are taking and your research. Be
helpful and generous with your efforts in class and during office hours, but
students shouldn't expect that you are always "on call" to help them.
If they drop by unannounced and you need the time for your own work, schedule
an appointment for the next day. Scheduling makeup quizzes and accepting
late homework can eat up much of your time and does not teach students
responsibility.
2. If you have a "bad" class one day, then
spend extra time preparing for the next class. Everyone has good and bad
days, but you don't want to have two bad days in a row.
Supervision and Evaluation
Instructors should regularly provide feedback to teaching assistants on their teaching during the semester. In addition, the following are required: a formal written evaluation done by the Angela Sharp (or faculty member responsible for the course, section, or laboratory taught by the teaching assistant); direct observation of the teaching assistant in the classroom or lab; and follow-up consultation(s) with the teaching assistant. It is the teaching assistants' responsibility to arrange for the students to fill out student evaluations near the end of the semester. These evaluations will be completed by undergraduate students taught by each teaching assistant to evaluate their performance in lecture, laboratory or discussion sections. The results of these evaluations will be returned at the beginning of the following semester. It is advised that the teaching assistant review these evaluation results and reflect on changes possible to make improvements to their teaching.
Consequences
In the unlikely event that a GTA is not performing his/her
job adequately the following consequences will occur:
1) The Instructor of the course will ask for a meeting with the GTA. The
GTA will be told what is going wrong and given information on how to correct
the problem.
2) The Instructor of the course, the GTA coordinator and the GTA will have a
meeting. The GTA will receive written notice that he/she has reached step
two of this process, and specific requirements will be given that the GTA must
meet.
3) The Instructor of the course, the Department Head, the Director of Graduate
Studies, the GTA coordinator and the GTA will meet in the Department Head's
office to discuss the concerns. The GTA will receive written notice that
he/she has reached step three of this process, and specific requirements will
be given that the GTA must meet.
4) Upon the fourth offense, the GTA's contract will be reduced to 25% for one
semester.
5) Upon the fifth offense, the GTA's contract for any further teaching services
will be terminated.
References
Duke University
http://www.gradschool.duke.edu/policies_and_forms/teaching_assistant_guidelines.html
University of California, San Diego
http://www-ctd.ucsd.edu/resources/tahandbook.pdf
Harvard University
http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/images/stories/pdfs/teachfell.pdf