Expectations of the Computer Science TA
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to document the general expectations
that the faculty has of a TA. This is necessarily general and needs
to be adapted to the needs and styles of specific faculty members
teaching specific courses. It is also designed to give everyone an
idea of what a reasonable TA load might be. We want to avoid the
feeling "why should I do so much when so-and-so is required to do
so little." There will be variations. However, this document should
be used as the reference, not the least loaded TA one can find.
Goals
Most bluntly put, one of the TA's primary goals is to make life easier for
the instructor. However, your overarching goal is to produce an outstanding
course, making the experience for the students in the course as rewarding as
possible. Another important goal of the TA experience is to expose
the TA to the university level teaching process. As with many
jobs, there are many components to teaching a successful course. Over
and above academic content there are management, clerical, and entertainment
components. The TA should try to learn as much as possible about all
sides of teaching and participate to the fullest that time permits.
Starting and Ending Dates
TA duties begin when the TA is notified as to whom he/she will be working
with and end when the final grades for that course have been turned in.
This means the TA may be required to do work in preparation of the course
before the semester starts. It also means that the TA will not likely be
able to leave town until the final exam period is over. (This will depend
on the finals schedule for that semester and the nature of the work
required to compute final grades.
Weekly Work Load
The normal TA load is up to just below 20 hours per week.
If a TA finds that he/she
needs to spend more than 20 hours, relief should be sought.
The instructor should be consulted first. If this does not lead to
satisfactory resolution of the problem(s), contact the Associate Chair.
If a TA finds that he/she is regularly spending much less than 20 hours
on the course, then the spirit of the TA assignment is not being met.
There are many ways in which the TA can help improve the
quality of the teaching and the materials used. This should be discussed
with the instructor.
Duties
Possible duties that may be assigned are outlined below. Any given
class and instructor will have a more specific list of duties. They will
be outlined in a contract which the TA will review with the instructor.
- Attend Lectures
- This will assure that the TA knows what is going on.
Help with equipment (such as projectors) used in the classroom
for teaching purposes.
- Office Hours
- Set aside regular hours during which students may obtain assistance.
- Grading
- Grade homework, quizzes, labs, papers, and exams.
In other cases the TA may need to coordinate UTAs (graders) and
provide oversight and quality control.
- Referral
- The TA will be seen as a source of help. In some cases the TA may
need to refer students to the Tutoring Office to get help or
point them to private tutors. Referral to the OIT Help Desk for
certain technical problems may be appropriate.
- Teach Labs
- Some courses have labs separate from the lectures. Running a lab
is like having a course that meets only once a week. Usually
the TA will coordinate UTA's who will assist in various ways.
- Prepare Lab Materials
- Good assignments do much for a course. Thinking up new assignments,
testing them out and writing them up are all important.
- Prepare Assignments
- Good assignments do much for a course. Thinking up new assignments,
testing them out and writing them up are all important.
- Prepare Quizzes
- Good quiz and exam questions take time to prepare. They
need to be carefully checked out to see that they are clear and
unambiguous.
- Handle Class Notes
- In some cases it is desirable to develop class notes from the lectures
and to make them available to students. This can be a first step
toward developing a new textbook.
- Clerical Duties
- Copying and other clerical duties are an important part of any course.
TAs need to work out a careful system of timing with the instructor
to make this go smoothly.
- Substitute Teach
- The instructor may be absent at certain times and the TA may be asked
to teach in his/her place. This is an excellent way for the graduate
student to get some real teaching experience. The TA should ask to do
this even if the instructor will not be absent during the semester.
- Run Extra Sessions
- Often review session need to be held before major tests and exams.
Toward the beginning of the semester, remedial sessions for students
that were not quite well enough prepared may be in order.
- Set Up Class Software
- The course may require the setup and use of fairly complicated
simulators and other teaching software. Sometimes it needs to be
customized for the course.
- Monitor Class Newgroup
- Many courses have newsgroups associated with them. The TA can monitor
the group and jump in with responses where appropriate.
- Deal With Class Evaluation Questionnaires
- The TA can design regular questionnaires to gauge the effectiveness
of the course, certain lectures, demos, and assignemts and to
evaluate the effectiveness of the instructor and the support staff
(TAs and UTAs).
- Supervise UTAs
- The larger courses have UTAs to help with labs and grading. The
TA may need to provide leadership, organization, and quality control
for a number of UTAs.
- Maintain Class Web Page
- Many courses have a class WWW page with assignments, notes, sample
exams and assignments, and other useful references. The TA may be
asked to maintain the Web information.
- Test Out Exams and Assignments
- It is useful to have someone test out exams to see they are clear,
are free of errors, and are of appropriate length. Homework
assignments and projects may also require a trial run.
- Performs Other Duties As Assigned
- This is the standard escape clause in any job description. Courses
will differ and innovative faculty will come up with different, even
unusual assignments.
Split assignments
A TA may be assigned to split his/her time between two courses. Ideally, there
should be a joint meeting brining both instructors together. Then
one can make sure that all expectations are reasonable and everyone will know
what is expected.
Language
If English is not the TA's native language, he/she will have to work extra hard at
being understood. However, the TA shouldn't withdraw and hide from students.
If the TA make a serious effort to help, it will be appreciated. TAs should
get to know the students.
Ethics
There is a separate document on ethics. TA's should read it and certify that
it has been read and understood. Key points include: Don't Tutor your students
for money, don't date your students, don't handle cheating problems on your
own (follow proper procedures), and don't lose assignments, tests, and grades.
Contracts
The TA may be asked to sign a contract which spells out the duties in detail.
The instructor and TA should carefully discussed this document to make sure
that there are no misunderstandings.