HANDBOOK FOR TEACHING ASSISTANTS
The Corona System
1999-2000
Revised Edition
Material in this handbook is copyrighted through the provider, Northeastern University and/or its contributors. For information about obtaining permission to copy any of the material, contact the Center For Teaching.
Dear Teaching Assistant:
As a graduate student, you have undoubtedly considered the range of responsibilities which you will encounter during your tenure at the University. You have already demonstrated commitment and excellence in your chosen field of study. Now you add a new role requiring similar dedication and commitment: the role of teacher.
Whether this is your first teaching-related assignment or you have already had some teaching experience, we hope that the general information and guidance contained in this handbook will be useful to you. It is intended to provide a broad view of the educational process and also to serve as a resource for you to draw upon when you need practical information and advice about specific aspects of instruction.
As a teaching assistant at the Corona System, your assignment may be to help in the laboratory, to grade papers, to lead discussion sections, to tutor, to lecture, or to perform tasks which, in any number of ways, relate to teaching. You will also have the opportunity to transform your own experiences as a learner into a unique source of knowledge about the learning needs of your undergraduate students.
We recognize that the teaching assistant plays a vital role in the education of our undergraduate students. To many first- and second-year undergraduates, you will be the most important link to the University. We warmly welcome you to your new responsibilities and your new opportunities. Best wishes as you join the Corona community as a teaching assistant.
Sincerely,
Dean of the Graduate School
Dear Teaching Assistant:
Interest in support for teaching assistants among the Provost, the Deputy
Provost, the Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, the Faculty Senate Council on Teaching, Learning and Technology, and the Graduate Student Senate provided the impetus for this handbook.
The Handbook for Teaching Assistants, Corona, has been adapted from Northeastern Handbook for Teaching Assistants produced at Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts and made available for adaptation under the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. A list of those who generously gave permission for their work to be adapted is included at the end of this handbook.
Appreciation is due to F.I.P.S.E. project director Michael Theall and to Jennifer Franklin and Lauren Pivnick, editors of Northeastern Handbook For Teaching Assistants, on whose work this handbook has drawn liberally.
Director
Associate Director
Table of Contents
PART 1: ELEMENTS OF THE TEACHING ASSISTANT ROLE
THE TA AS TEACHER.......................................................................................2
Improving Your Teaching.................................................................2
Documenting Your Teaching............................................................3
Services and Programs at the Center For Teaching.......................5
THE TA AS GRADUATE STUDENT....................................................................6
Balancing it all..................................................................................6
Help from senior teaching assistants ..............................................7
THE TA AS STUDENT ADVISOR .......................................................................7
Office hours.......................................................................................7
Helping students individually .........................................................8
THE TA AS FACULTY-STUDENT LIAISON ........................................................9
THE TA AS ASSISTANT TO FACULTY .............................................................10
Negotiating responsibilities ...........................................................10
PART 2: CREATING INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS
GETTING TO KNOW OUR STUDENTS .............................................................12
CORONA UNDERGRADUATES AT A GLANCE ....................................................12
Demographics .................................................................................12
Geographic profile .............................................................13
Ethnic and racial background...........................................13
Freshman academic credentials .......................................13
Teaching freshmen: special considerations .................................13
STUDENT DIFFERENCES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS
FOR TEACHING ..............................................................................................14
Cognitive development...................................................................15
Implications for teaching ..................................................16
Women's development....................................................................17
Cognitive styles...............................................................................18
Field independence and field dependence .......................18
Cognitive styles and classroom learning..........................18
Cognitive styles and teaching strategies .........................19
Student differences.........................................................................19
Women students ................................................................19
Older students ...................................................................19
Disabled students ..............................................................20
Students of different cultural backgrounds.....................21
INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANTS......................................................22
Cultural differences in the classroom............................................22
The Foreign TA Orientation...........................................................23
Center For Teaching.......................................................................23
TEACHING EACHING AND MULTICULTURALISM ...........................................................24
Students...........................................................................................24
Instructor self-awareness...............................................................24
Course content ................................................................................24
Teaching methods ...........................................................................25
PART 3: COURSE DESIGN AND PREPARATION
ESTABLISHING INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES...............................................26
Teaching General Education classes .............................................27
SELECTING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES.....................................................27
The syllabus ....................................................................................28
Keeping class records .....................................................................30
Classrooms ......................................................................................30
DEVELOPING YOUR INSTRUCTIONAL STYLE.................................................31
Interactive teaching style...............................................................31
Tips for surviving your first class ..................................................32
Building a supportive classroom environment .............................33
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT ..........................................................................36
Resolving disagreement..................................................................37
Chalkboard use ...............................................................................37
INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY..................................................39
PART 4: APPROACHES TO INSTRUCTION
ACTIVE LEARNING: DISCUSSIONS, WRITING, AND PERFORMANCE...............41
Discussions ......................................................................................41
Preparing for discussions................................................42
Implementing discussions...............................................43
Moderating discussions...................................................44
Leading discussions of a case analysis ...........................45
Incorporating writing into instruction ..........................................46
Using writing to learn ..........................................................46
Responding to students’ writing ..........................................47
Peer response ........................................................................49
Special active teaching situations..................................................50
Teaching in the lab ...............................................................50
Teaching in the studio ..........................................................53
Working with students in the field......................................54
Summary .........................................................................................55
LECTURING ...................................................................................................55
The pros and cons of lecturing .......................................................55
Lecture preparation..............................................................56
Planning a lecture ................................................................56
Generating an outline ..........................................................56
Filling in the outline.............................................................56
Ways to begin........................................................................57
Delivering the lecture...........................................................57
The conclusion of the lecture ...............................................58
Questioning in the classroom.........................................................58
Managing students’ questions .............................................59
Questioning students............................................................59
Rewarding student participation and providing feedback...........61
Teaching outside the field of specialization ..................................62
PART 5: EVALUATION
EVALUATING STUDENT PERFORMANCE........................................................63
Determining evaluative criteria.....................................................63
Test construction.............................................................................63
Objective tests.......................................................................63
Essay tests.............................................................................64
Grading............................................................................................65
Records and distribution of grades ................................................66
The university grading system ......................................................66
PART 6: OTHER TEACHING-RELATED CONSIDERATIONS
ETHICS AND THE TEACHING ASSISTANT .......................................................67
Assisting emotionally troubled students .......................................67
Academic honesty ...........................................................................67
Cheating ................................................................................67
Plagiarism .............................................................................68
Privacy of student records..............................................................68
Letters of recommendation ............................................................68
Preventing student grievances.......................................................69
Sexual harassment .........................................................................70
Definition and examples of sexual harassment..................71
Complaints of sexual harassment .......................................71
APPENDIX
RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTORS......................................................................73
INSTRUCTOR'S GUIDE TO STUDENT SERVICES...............................................77
REFERENCES..................................................................................................81
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................84