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Preparing to Be a Teaching Fellow
Teaching Fellow Handbook
Link to a guide for graduate teaching fellows at Boston University composed by the staff of the Center for Excellence in Teaching.
Responsibilities of graduate teaching fellows
Why graduate students should teach
Behaviors of good teachers
How to ensure a positive graduate teaching experience
Responsibilities of graduate teaching fellows
There are three basic types of teaching duties a Graduate Teaching Fellow may have: grading, teaching laboratory sections, or teaching discussion sections. Your teaching activities should account for about 20 hours per week on average. You should speak with the supervising faculty member for more detailed descriptions of duties, as class activities are discipline-, department-, and course-specific.
Grading
- Office hours and attendance at lectures are usually required
- Evaluate student performance on problem sets, quizzes, or essay exams
- Maintain accurate grade records
Laboratory
- Usually multiple sections per week, depending on duration of each session
- Office hours and attendance at lectures are usually required
- Maintain accurate attendance and laboratory grade records
- Give an introduction to the concepts, materials used, and safety concerns
- Actively monitor student activities
- Give summary of the day's objectives
- Evaluate student performance on assignments such as homework, quizzes, tests, and papers
Discussion
- Usually multiple sections per week
- Office hours and attendance at lectures are usually required
- Maintain accurate attendance and discussion grade records
- Lead problem-solving sessions or discussions of primary literature, concepts, etc.
- Evaluate student performance in homework, discussion section quizzes, and lecture exams
In addition to your primary teaching assignment, your teaching duties may also include the following:
Office Hours
- Number of office hours required per week will be determined by the faculty supervisor, but is usually at least 2 hours per week
- Consistent and prompt attendance at your own office hours
- Time and place convenient to most of your students (e.g., not 8 AM Monday)
- Give undivided attention to students during office hours
- Help students arrive at the answers to their questions themselves instead of giving them the answers
Proctoring
- Number of proctor sessions required is determined by the faculty supervisor based upon the class size
- Arrive at least 10 minutes early to lecture exams
- Assist faculty member in distributing and collecting exams
- Check BU IDs when students return completed exams if faculty supervisor sets this as policy
- Vigilantly watch students throughout exam for wandering eyes and use of inappropriate materials
- Make sure students' course materials are put away during the exam
- Inform faculty member immediately of suspicious or inappropriate exam behavior
Why graduate students should teach
(adapted from Marilla Svinicki (1995). A Dozen Reasons Why We Should Prepare Graduate Students to Teach. Journal of Graduate Teaching Assistant Development 3 (1): 5-8)
Benefits for the Graduate Student
The skills you learn as a teacher are transferable skills because they will help you in other academic and professional tasks.
Time-management and multi-tasking. Assignments need to be graded, emails need to be answered, and lessons need to be planned and prepared. These teaching duties take time away from your research and your classes, yet you are expected to do them all well.
Public-speaking. Teaching will build your self-confidence in giving professional presentations at conferences, at committee meetings, and at qualifying and exit exams. Even if you do not remain an academic for life, many organizations will expect you to give presentations.
Managing personnel. You will gain experience in actively monitoring and assessing the progress of your students as they perform classroom activities. Learning to be a good mentor now can help you professionally because many post-secondary degree holders are responsible for the duties of other people.
Benefits for the Department
There are many classes in the department where professors need help, whether it is lecture, discussion or laboratory. Teaching duties might include the following:
- Grading
- Setting up demonstrations
- Photocopying and distributing handouts
- Setting up audio-visual devices or computer projection
- Participating in or leading a discussion
- Assisting in or leading laboratory exercises
- Answering student questions during office hours
Typically, you may have at least three to four years of experience in the field over your students in a course. Because of your experience, you can easily impart enthusiasm for the field to your students. You may be responsible for the grades of a small subset of the students in the major, possibly 30-50 students. Undergraduates in smaller classes taught by graduate students will have more personal interactions with people actively working in the field.
Benefits for the University
Students at a large university can become overwhelmed or lost by the size. They become "little fish in a big pond." As a graduate student teaching generally smaller classes, you are an important contact point for students, and you can make the university community feel more tight-knit. In addition, students tend to be more engaged in their coursework if they believe someone is interested in their performance. Students look up to you, the graduate student. These interactions can greatly improve student satisfaction.
Behaviors of good teachers
(adapted from the American Association of Higher Education Bulletin, 1987)
Encourage high expectations
- Set challenging goals for learning
- Make expectations clear both orally and in writing
- Set consequences for non-completion of work
- Encourage students to write and speak well
- Discuss progress of class
- Communicate importance of high academic standards
Encourage cooperation among students
- Ask students to explain difficult concepts to each other
- Inquire into students' interests and backgrounds
- Encourage students to prepare together for class
- Allow students to critique each other's work
- Create study groups and project teams
Emphasize timeliness
- Expect students to complete assignments promptly
- Estimate and communicate the amount of time to be spent on tasks
- Encourage rehearsal of oral presentations
- Encourage steady work and sensible time management
Give prompt feedback
- Provide sufficient opportunities for assessment
- Prepare classroom activities (e.g., active learning exercises ) that give immediate feedback
- Return graded assignments within one week
- Give detailed evaluations of work starting early in the term
- Give a pre-test at the beginning of the course to assess students' background in the subject Encourage student-instructor contact · Adopt a demeanor that communicates that you are approachable
- Welcome students to drop by your office Respect diverse talents and ways of learning · Encourage students to interject when they don't understand
- Discourage silliness, sarcasm, vulgar language, and verbal attacks aimed at you or fellow students
- Use diverse teaching activities Encourage active learning · Ask students to present work to the class
- Ask students to relate outside events to class material
- Give students real-life situations to analyze
- Use simulations and role-playing in class
- Encourage students to challenge course material
How you can ensure a positive graduate teaching experience
Be professional
- Be attentive to deadlines
- Use professional language in all communications, written and verbal
- Be friendly to, but not friends with, your students
- Be critical but fair in evaluating student work
- Grades should distinguish among different levels of quality
- Refrain from sharing personal problems, especially with your students; however, if these issues interfere with your ability to do work, you should make your faculty supervisor aware of this
Be positive
- Use positive reinforcement to motivate students: praise correct or interesting responses, create incentives rather than penalties
- Encourage students to think that they can understand all the material; refrain from blaming students for their lack of understanding; ask students what aspect is difficult to understand and try a different explanation
- Communicate effectively and regularly with your students, the administrative staff, and the faculty supervisor
Be on time
- Return papers in a timely manner
- Arrive to class early to prepare
- Start and finish class on time
- Check email regularly and reply to email promptly, even if it is to state that you received the email but will need more time for a complete reply
Be prepared
- Participate in all preparatory sessions arranged by your department or faculty supervisor
- Read and understand the course materials ahead of the preparatory session
- Perform labs or demonstrations yourself during preparatory session
- Find out in advance how to set up audio-visual devices, etc.
- Think through all possible problems that could happen in your class
- Get advice from your faculty supervisor and other TFs on common student questions, problems that arise, etc. Consult with a fellow graduate student who has served as a TF in the same course in the past
- Complete student assignments yourself without using the answer key; outline paper assignments ahead of time
- Decide upon your grading criteria before the assignment is due and inform students of the criteria
Be organized
- Keep accurate records of students' grades, attendance, and email communication
- Make hard copies of students's grades to guard against a disk failure
- Provide an outline of the class plan at the beginning of class
- Make clear the objectives of the class
- Keep students' papers in a safe place
- Store emails to/from students in a separate folder for the class
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