Teaching Assistant Development

Date To Be Determined

Requirements for undergraduate TA training varies by department. Please contact your program coordinator with any questions about fulfilling this requirement.

Date to Be Determined

All M.S. and Ph.D. TAs are required to be trained in the following topics during the TA development program:

• Diversity in the Classroom
• Communication and Management Practices
• Effective Grading Practices
• Enhancing Teaching Skills
• Universal Design for Learning
• Responding to Students in Distress
• Relevant University Policies

All new M.S. and Ph.D. TAs are required to participate in a two-hour microteaching session where they teach a micro-lesson to a micro-class. Afterwards, they review a recording of their teaching. These sessions provide an opportunity for small-group discussion about teaching in general and about individual concerns and experiences in particular. Microteaching offers a valuable opportunity to see and reflect on teaching approaches, to get feedback from peers, to learn the teaching styles of others, and to practice teaching in a safe environment.

The midterm feedback process provides TAs with direct student input regarding teaching skills, methods, and approaches. These results can help TAs identify potential areas to implement changes and improve teaching, and thus lead to a more productive and enjoyable experience for everyone. The Office of Inclusive Excellence administers this process each semester, and additional information will be provided to TAs as the mid-semester approaches.

Consultants are experienced, enthusiastic, and highly motivated engineering graduate students interested in learning more about making learning happen. They play a key teaching role in the Engineering TA Development Program for graduate and undergraduate students. In addition to serving as role models and resources for newly appointed TAs in Cornell Engineering, consultants also do the following:

• Conduct microteaching sessions
• Develop and co-facilitate workshops to prepare new TAs for their roles in working with students
• Research and share evidence-based teaching methods
• Collaboratively develop skills in workshop facilitation

This part-time position requires an average of five hours per week, with a higher number of hours during weeks that the TA Development program offered. These hours will primarily be worked during mid-May through mid-September for the Fall semester, and from early January through mid-February for the Spring semester. This position may be held concurrently with other TA or Research Assistant appointments.

Questions or messages of interest can be sent to: ta-develop-eli@cornell.edu.

ENGRG 6780 is an optional component of the Engineering TA Development Program and is highly recommended for those considering a career in academia or for those who are simply interested in improving their teaching. Course offered every semester and it limited to graduate students with a TA assignment in a Cornell Engineering course who have completed the TA development program. To register, follow the online add/drop procedures. The course is fun and flexible, and designed around the needs and interests of participants. Graded: S/U

By the end of the semester a student enrolled in this course will be able to:

• Reflect verbally and in writing on their own strengths and challenges in the role of teacher/facilitator, and changes in those throughout the course.
• Describe the value of applying discussion, reflection and metacognition to their own practice as a teacher/facilitator.
• Apply selected evidence-based teaching practices during their current teaching assignment.
• Gather formative feedback from students (as feasible) given the particular role the TA is playing on the teaching team. This includes reflections on TA mid-semester evaluations.
• Apply at least one change in a teaching practice, in response to student feedback, that aligns with evidence supported practices.

The Interactive Learning Collaborative is a collaboration the Office of Inclusive Excellence and the McCormick Teaching Excellence Institute. It is a low-time investment initiative for course faculty that will support graduate TA development and will result in the inclusion of several (flexible) short, student-centered, activities into lectures to support learning of challenging concepts. An alternative model is for one TA to design an activity for multiple discussion sections and have all TAs implement in their discussion sections.

Objectives for this initiative include:

• Increasing TA knowledge and confidence in designing and implementing active learning with support.
• Help improve students’ comprehension of the course material by increasing peer interaction and reflection in the classroom.
• Facilitate more active learning opportunities in the lecture portions of engineering course while TAs practice student-centered pedagogy.

Faculty interested in participating in the ILC, please contact us at ta-develop-eli@cornell.edu.