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Teaching assistants and graduate assistants are a vital part of the Ryerson teaching community, providing necessary services that range from grading exams to leading tutorials and labs. As such, it is important that both faculty and TA/GAs understand their responsibilities, as well as how to best navigate difficulties that arise during the school year.
To help faculty work well with TA/GAs, the LTO has developed Best Practices When Working with TAs and GAs: A Manual for Course Instructors [pdf].
This month, we have ideas culled from the excellent material developed by the University of Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching.
The Center for Teachings's Teaching Guides series includes an issue specifically aimed at Supervisors of Teaching Assistants. This short guide breaks down major topics in TA supervision into compact sections. For instance, the section on "Handling Issues of Responsibility/Power/Authority" offers these helpful tips:
- "Clarify responsibilities, especially if the power/authority is divided among several faculty or TAs. Sometimes TAs are unsure of who is in charge, especially in multisection courses. Issues of consistency and fairness can arise among TAs. TAs can experience a sense of 'heat from above.'"
- "Clarify expectations and let TAs know what can/can not be changed (syllabi, handouts, course policies, etc). Professors are often surprised when TAs modify syllabi and other departmentally-mandated materials."
- "Clarify priorities: the functionality of needing to get the course work done (i.e. prepping or grading) v. communicating content."
- "Keep in mind that training TAs includes their knowing the content AND knowing how to teach it."
- "Have TAs assist in test writing/problem-writing so they have more responsibility and a sense of authority."
The Learning & Teaching Office has recently updated its page on Working with Graduate Students, including sections on mentoring and supervising graduate students, as well as a section of resources that might be of help to your students. Some highlights:
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Best Practices in Graduate Education
The Graduate School. Pennsylvania State University.
1. The Defense of Thesis: A Critical Juncture in the Faculty-Student Relationship
2. The Challenge of Recruiting the Best
3. Graduate Student Mentoring: Be More Than an Advisor
4. Professional Meetings: An Excellent Mentoring Tool
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Western Guide to Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures [pdf]
By Nanda Dimitrov. Teaching Support Centre. University of Western Ontario.
This handbook "is for graduate supervisors who work with students from cultures around the world. The guide addresses the most frequently occurring challenges in supervision across cultures and includes concrete mentoring strategies and case studies to help supervisors promote independence and initiative in their mentees, bridge power differences in the relationship, set boundaries, communicate effectively and support their students in the transition to Canadian academia."
- Graduate Supervision: Guidelines for Students, Faculty, and Administrators [pdf]
School of Graduate Studies. University of Toronto. 2002.
This guide "is intended to provide graduate students, faculty, and graduate units with guidelines
that promote good working relationships between supervisors and graduate students. These guidelines provide
direction on choosing a supervisor, establishing a supervisory committee and maintaining a productive working relationship among all three."
- Western Guide to Graduate Supervision [pdf]
By Elizabeth Skarakis-Doyle and Gayle McIntyre. Teaching Support Centre. University of Western Ontario.
"Based on the experiences of Western's graduate supervisors, this thirty page guide addresses the supervision of graduate students and focuses on best practices in mentoring, promoting student progress and clarifying expectations in the supervisor-student relationship."
- Eleven Practices of Effective Postgraduate Supervisors [pdf]
By Richard James and Gabrielle Baldwin. Centre for the Study of Higher Education and the School of Graduate Studies. The University of Melbourne.
1. Ensure the partnership is right for the project
2. Get to know students and carefully assess their needs
3. Establish reasonable, agreed expectations
4. Work with students to establish a strong conceptual structure and research plan
5. Encourage students to write early and often
6. Initiate regular contact and provide high quality feedback
7. Get students involved in the life of the department
8. Inspire and motivate
9. Help if academic and personal crises crop up
10. Take an active interest in students' future careers.
11. Carefully monitor the final production and presentation of the research.
The Learning & Teaching Office has a collection of books on higher education, many of which are available at the Ryerson Library. Check our library resources page for the complete listings. Following are some books that the LTO recommends:
The Professional development of graduate teaching assistants
Edited by Michele Marincovich, Jack Prostko, and Frederic Stout. Bolton, MA : Anker Pub., c1998.
Call No.: LB2335.4 .P76 1998
The Longman teaching assistant's handbook : a guide for graduate instructors of writing and literature
By Stephen W. Wilhoit. Toronto : Pearson Longman, c2008.
Call No.: PE65 .W55 2008
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Ryerson University provides faculty and students with a variety of helpful services and programs, covering everything from digital media assistance to career development.
Last year, the Learning and Teaching Office introduced the Professional Development in Teaching Program with three certifications.
This program is run, starting in the Fall, by the LTO's Educational Developer, Dr. John Paul Foxe. It is designed to:
- Provide professional development in teaching for Ryerson TAs, GAs and Graduate Students
- Provide opportunities for TAs/GAs and Graduate Students to become more effective in their work at Ryerson and to mentor others
- Provide participants with up to three certificates upon completion of each level of the program.
The program is comprised of three distinct, yet complementary levels.
- Level 1 consists of eight hours of workshops which can be facilitated at the Departmental or Faculty level or by the Learning and Teaching Office or eight hours of peer mentorship. The second component involves completion of an 18 hour teaching theory course.
- Level 2 is also comprised of two components. The first component consists of 15-24 hours of Course Instructor Apprenticeship plus completion of a 18 hour advanced teaching theory course or completion of an Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) plus completion of a 16 hour advanced teaching theory course.
- Level 3 focuses on peer development and the successful creation of a teaching dossier.
The LTO runs a series of workshops and orientations specifically for TAs/GAs and Graduate Students. Do you have a teaching assistant with no prior teaching experience, or a graduate assistant interested in perfecting their craft? They might be interested in learning about our programs.
The LTO is pleased to offer a TA/GA Orientation at the beginning of the academic year, designed to help prepare new TAs and GAs for their first day of class. This orientation is open to all TAs and GAs from all Faculties at Ryerson University and will be run on September 13th and 14th.
Register for TA/GA Orientation on September 13th or 14th
A learning and teaching workshop series, covering many aspects of professional development in teaching, will be offered beginning September 2010. These workshops are open to all TAs, GAs and interested graduate students from Ryerson University. These workshops will count towards Level 1 of the TA, GA and Graduate Student Professional Development in Teaching Program.
On Monday, September 19th, the LTO will be hosting the workshop Establishing Effective Working Relationships Between Teaching Assistants (TAs)/ Graduate Assistants (GAs) and Course Directors (CDs), facilitated by Dr. John Paul Foxe, Educational Developer, Learning and Teaching Office.
Register for Establishing Effective Working Relationships
On Wednesday, September 21st, the LTO will be hosting the workshop Planning Effective Tutorials, facilitated by Dr. John Paul Foxe, Educational Developer, Learning and Teaching Office.
Register for Planning Effective Tutorials
Check our website often! Additional workshops for graduate students and TAs/GAs will continue being added:
When the Status Quo Isn't Enough: Fulfilling Your Duty to Accommodate
Facilitated by the Access Centre
Monday, September 26th
Wednesday, October 26th
Facilitating Discussion
Facilitated by the LTO and the Arts TA Development Program
Friday, September 30th
Academic Integrity: An Essential Guide for TAs and GAs
Facilitated by Donna Bell, Academic Integrity Officer
Wednesday, October 5th
Effective Marking: Essays and Short Answer Questions
Facilitated by the LTO and the Arts TA Development Program
October 7th, 13th, and 21st
Using Project Management Concepts in the Facilitation of Group Work
Facilitated by Dalia Hanna, Program Coordinator and Dr. John Paul Foxe, Educational Developer, LTO
Wednesday, October 12th
 The LTO has been busy over the summer! In addition to Best Practices and the Monthly Digest, the LTO has developed the LTO Blog.
The LTO Blog will be a place to highlight new developments at the office and encourage discussion amongst Ryerson instructors. Once a month, for the next year, we will also be posting a podcast recorded at the 2011 Ryerson Faculty Conference with some related resources.
The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fund (LTEF) is a grant program that supports and promotes both better engagement in the classroom and scholarly research around higher education teaching.
Learn more about the LTEF at Breakfast with the Vice-Provost on September 7th.
The deadline to apply is September 30, 2011.
"The LTO Best Practices" is produced monthly by Michelle Schwartz, Research Associate at The Learning & Teaching Office of Ryerson University. Our next issue will be "The First Day of Class."
Do you have any thoughts, suggestions, or best practices that you would like to see appear in this newsletter? Please send all submissions to michelle.schwartz@ryerson.ca. We look forward to including your contributions in our next issue!
Location: Kerr Hall West, room KHW373.
Phone: 416.979.5000 x6598
Email: lto@ryerson.ca
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