Frequently Asked Questions

1.   What can I do to not feel nervous?

Feeling nervous is a problem faced by almost all new Undergraduate TAs (UTA).  There are a few things you can do to at least reduce how nervous you’ll feel the first time you UTA. Make sure that you know where your classroom is and you should check out your room a couple of days before classes actually start in case there are any problems to be addressed. Be sure that you have read over the syllabus and are prepared to discuss it with the students in case there are any questions. Remember that the students are nervous too. As the students get to know each other they will begin to relax.

2.   How important is it to learn every student’s  name?

Learning the students’ names is critical to communicate to them that you care about them as individuals. Although it may seem daunting at first, you’ll be pleased at how much your efforts will be noticed and appreciated by the students.

 3.   What do I do if I have a student who makes  trouble?

Also remember that your professor is your first line of defense. Always check with your professor on how to handle these types of problems. You can also consult with the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (2^nd Floor). You should never try to handle a problematic situation by yourself.

4.    Should I be friendly or formal?

Generally speaking, an informal and friendly attitude is the norm for American classrooms, but the issue of just how friendly you should be is not always clear. You want the students to feel comfortable with you in the classroom but you don’t want to undermine your authority in the class. It is possible to be friendly while maintaining your authority as long as the students do not mistake your friendliness for leniency.

5.   What if my students don’t like me?

This is a common concern among new UTAs, but one that rarely actually arises. As long as you are enthusiastic about your teaching and subject matter and show a genuine interest in helping the students learn, the students will likely respond very positively.

 6.    What if I am the same age as my students?

When you are similar in age and experience to your students, your first priority is to demonstrate your competence as an undergraduate teaching assistant by being prepared and organized for every class. If you are able to grasp their questions and respond to them effectively, students won’t be concerned that you may seem young. If some cases, your knowledge of the course based on taking it yourself may give you greater insights in the nature of the student’s difficulties.

7.    What if I don’t know the answer?

Keep in mind that, by pausing to think, you are also showing students that it is okay for them to stop and think before answering. Saying, “I don’t know, but let’s see if we can figure it out together” or “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you” are also appropriate responses in many situations.

Responsibilities

At the iSchool, undergraduate teaching assistants may:

•  Conduct drill or practice sessions
• Tutor students on a one-on-one basis
• Oversee labs
• Attend lectures
• Attend weekly undergraduate TA meetings
• Provide written feedback (individual comments, detailed solution sets)
• Report on common student errors or difficulties
• Prepare quizzes, handouts, assignments, exam questions
• Hold regular office hours
• Conduct review sessions before exams
• Record attendance
• Proctor exams
• Maintain on-line resources for students

The critical thing to remember is to discuss your responsibilities with your professor to make sure that you understand what is expected of you. Also try to establish a regular weekly meeting time with your professor in order to discuss any questions or problems that come up.

Help for Undergraduate TAs

Your primary source of guidance and teaching assistance is your professor. Also, don’t hesitate to ask the  experienced UTAs for help and guidance as well.

In addition to the help you can get from your professor, you will also receive information from attending the three day IST337 course which will orient you to becoming a new UTA.

Becoming an Effective Undergraduate TA

Do we really know what constitutes being an effective UTA? Is effectiveness something that can be defined, evaluated, measured? What does the research tell us?

The studies which have been done on this topic have used various approaches and perspectives to examine the construct of “being an effective UTA,” ranging from classroom observations to measuring student learning outcomes to expert opinion and learning theory. (Chism, N. 2004)1 Although the approaches varied considerably, there is consensus on what makes UTAs successful.  Enthusiasm, rapport, interest in students, organization and intellectual challenge are the traits that appear over and over again in descriptions of excellent UTAs. Think about your own experience and these traits will undoubtedly come to mind.

In terms of effective methods, there are many to choose from depending on one’s own context. When deciding what methods to use, it is helpful to keep in mind the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education:2

Good practice:

1. Encourages Student-Faculty Contact:

Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.

2. Encourages Cooperation among Students:

Learning is enhanced when it’s more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to other’s reactions improves  thinking and deepens understanding.

3. Encourages Active Learning:

Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences and, most importantly, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.

4. Gives Prompt Feedback:

Knowing what you know and what you don’t know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In classes students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to learn and how to assess themselves.

 5.   Emphasizes Time on Task:

Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one’s time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators and other professional staff can establish the basis for high performance for all.

 6.   Communicates High Expectations:

Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone—for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves and for the bright and well-motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations for themselves and make extra efforts.

7.   Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning:

There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college. Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students’ rich hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.

As far as your role as a UTA goes, students should be actively involved in the learning process and encouraged to ask questions. Furthermore, it is better to say you don’t know an answer and will find it for the next meeting, than to pretend you know or to ignore the question. One of the major roles a UTA has is to answer student questions and nothing frustrates undergraduates more than feeling that a UTA does not understand or is not willing to answer their questions.

Additional Tips to Become a More Effective Undergraduate TA

1. UTAs should attend the professor’s class to identify gaps to be filled and to prevent redundancy.

2. Don’t assume the students know the basics of a discipline. Find out the students’ backgrounds and realize that the basics may need to be taught or reviewed.

3. By the same token, don’t assume students know how to learn. Discuss good study or reading strategies so the weaker students can find out how the better students go about the task of learning.

4. Do all homework assignments yourself BEFORE you try to help students so you can check for any mistakes and anticipate their questions or difficulties.

Following the guidelines above will help you decide what TA methods will work best for the class and help you avoid some of the usual beginner’s mistakes. But remember, no matter what methods you choose, nothing can substitute for your enthusiasm for your discipline and your interest in the students.

One of the most difficult areas to negotiate is setting the right tone for your relationship with the students. Friendliness is highly valued by undergraduates but you are not their “friend.” While you want the students to be comfortable learning with you, they must also respect you as a TA of the course. How can you establish yourself as an authority figure in the class while maintaining a friendly and comfortable learning atmosphere? If you are a new TA it may take some experimentation to get the right balance. You must recognize what kind of TA you are and decide what kind of behaviors are compatible with your personality. There are some general guidelines that will help you negotiate this terrain.

• Use self-disclosure sparingly. Do not share too much personal information with your students; rather talk about campus events, course issues or small-talk topics such as sports or weather to build rapport. Of course, when appropriate, you should feel free to talk about things like trips you’ve taken, pets or your hometown, but you should not discuss your personal life or problems with your students.
•  Be aware of your body language. Nonverbal messages are very powerful. Reduce the distance between you and the students by moving around the classroom rather than standing behind a desk. Be sure you make and maintain eye contact with all students in the classroom. Don’t forget to smile and show your enthusiasm for the subject material.

These guidelines will help you establish rapport with the students regardless of your preferred style of TA. While engaging in friendly discussions outside the classroom and acquainting yourself with the students’ lives can facilitate teaching and learning, you must maintain some distance and objectivity.

In the classroom there are many ways to communicate your interest and concern for the students. Remember that the students are likely to learn better when they feel that their experiences, thoughts and feelings matter and when they know that they will be treated with respect. Here are some suggestions to help accomplish these goals:

• Call the students by name.
• Watch students’ body language for signs of boredom or lack of comprehension (e.g., dozing, chatting with a neighbor, paper rustling). If you see this behavior, try moving around the room, or have a discussion with your professor after the lecture is over.
• Be sensitive to students who have different cultural backgrounds and therefore different cultural interpretations of behavior. For example, an unwillingness to express an opinion may be a culturally-based norm, rather than a sign of lack of preparedness.

If students perceive that you are friendly and interested in their success at the University, you may find that they will approach you for assistance in other areas of their lives. Be sure you are familiar with the counseling and tutoring resources available on campus. Remember your role is not to solve all the students’ problems, but to refer them to the appropriate office.

Relationships with the Professor

In terms of the teaching assistant's relationship with the professor, good communication is again important. Each of us can gain knowledge about being a good UTA by talking with our professor and learning from their years of experience. By working with different professors, different styles can be observed and our own individual approaches to being a UTA can be developed.

It is also important to talk with the professor if the UTA's role and/or responsibilities need clarification. Questions you may wish to discuss with your professor are suggested below.

1. What do you want the course to accomplish?

2. Is attendance mandatory?

3. How much responsibility will I have?

4. How can I get some help for being a UTA?

5. How often will I meet with the professor?

If there are several UTAs working with the professor in the same course, to what extent am I to coordinate my plans with theirs and what is the mechanism for doing this?

Many of these questions may be answered in initial meetings, but if you have any unanswered questions, be sure to find a time when it is convenient for your professor to answer those questions BEFORE the semester begins so that you are comfortable.

Many of the problems faced by international teaching assistants are the same as those faced by American teaching assistants. The International teaching assistant, however, is new not only to Syracuse and to being a teaching assistant, but also to this country. Two unique concerns affect you: language barriers and the different culture and behavior of American students.

The greatest concern of International teaching assistants is language. You fear that you won’t be able to understand the students or that the students won’t be able to understand you. As you gain more experience speaking English, your concerns will lessen.

Give the students a chance to get accustomed to your accented English. Students are exposed to many things that are novel to them, including different accents. There are different accents among Americans as well. Begin slowly. Tell students what country you’re from and why you’re here at Syracuse University. If students understand a little about your culture and background, they’re more likely to give you a chance. They’re also more likely to make the small effort necessary to understand an unfamiliar accent. Keep in mind that American students tend to be very forgiving and flexible.

One important way to gain acceptance by the students is to let them know that you care about them and their success in the course.

Make it clear to the class that they should let you know if they don’t understand something you say. Be patient when this happens and don’t be offended or defensive about these communication breakdowns. If you don’t understand a student’s question ask the student to rephrase it.  This won’t compromise your authority. However, pretending to understand when you don’t will undermine your authority and lose the students’ respect for you.

 American students are different from the students in many other countries. Their dress and manner may be quite casual. Classroom behavior may be informal, with students sometimes questioning or disagreeing with the instructor. This is accepted behavior and should not be treated as a challenge to authority. It isn’t a sign of disrespect but rather a student’s interest in dialogue.  Also be careful not to be overly authoritarian -- it’s resented by American students and will interfere with your effectiveness as a teaching assistant.

Lastly keep in mind that you’ll make some mistakes. Try to laugh at them and make them work to your benefit. Demonstrate that you care about your students and this country and you can minimize any problems you’ll encounter with language and the American culture.

Teaching Freshmen

Adapted  with  permission  from  the  University  of Massachusetts for Teaching Assistants.

There are some special characteristics of freshmen students that set them apart from other students and which TAs of freshmen should keep in mind. Entering freshmen have been socialized for twelve years into a system of primary and secondary education in which:

High School

• They perform according to a set schedule of daily assignments that are often collected
• Many students moved together from class to class and from term to term, forming a continuing and strong support network
• Weighted grading systems differentially rewarded performance in courses by level of difficulty
• All of the institution's resources (including the teacher) were right there every day in the classroom

As a result, the expectations of university academic life, emphasizing self-initiation, independence and responsibility may be quite jarring for first-year students. Some factors to consider are:

College

• Most often, college is the first extended experience freshmen have had with independent living. The transition from family, town and school to the newness of independence and the wonders of university life can all too easily overshadow what may be perceived by the student as dull academic responsibilities.
• The very size and complexity of the university can be tremendously confusing and intimidating to students, especially those whose entering class is often larger than the population of the entire high school from which they came. Also, whose classmates and even roommates are strangers to them, and whose schooling up to this point has been mostly passive receivers of educational services which makes them unused to seeking out assistance, especially in an alien environment.
• For the most part, entering freshmen are used to being in the upper halves of their graduating classes, to being widely known and respected by their peers and teachers - in other words to being “big fish in small ponds.”  At the University, many of them are anonymous, submerged in large classes and competing with the cream of the crop of a number of high schools - very “small fish” in an awfully “big pond.” This is often a difficult transition.
• Unlike upperclass students, whose prerequisites assure some consistent entry levels into courses, the variety of learning styles and the level of preparation of freshmen students varies as widely as do their study skills. Students are often shocked to discover what is expected of them as freshmen.
• Therefore, try to take these things into consideration when working directly with freshmen students.

Tips on Sustaining a Positive Learning Environment

1. Make the examples you use relevant to the students' lives. For example, “What if this situation happened in your home town? What is the first thing you would do?”

2. Address students by name. Use a seating chart, name tags, whatever may work for you to learn their names.

3. Remember not all reasons for incomplete assignments are excuses. Yes, we must establish rules, but there are occasions where the rules need to be broken. Be compassionate, not cynical. Grandmothers really do die.

4. Constantly read your audience's response:

a. If it is clear from the expressions on their faces they have no idea what you are talking about, be willing to take the time to present the concept in different words, with different illustrations. Expecting their confusion to disappear with time is not good enough.

b. If students are bored or you have just covered an in-depth topic intensively, there is nothing wrong with stopping. Allowing them to talk or stretch for a minute or two and then continuing.

5. Provide nonverbal encouragement:

a. Maintain eye contact.

b. Move about the room. Display your willingness to be a person; sit on a sturdy desk or table.  Move into their space.

c. Be animated and expressive, both facially and bodily. Let them see and feel your enthusiasm.

6. Model the thinking processes in your field for the students. Do not just tell them; show them and then let them practice.  If you are not talking, it does not mean you are not helping.

7. Use positive reinforcement:

a. Give students recognition for contributing to discussions or answering questions. Use positive reinforcement when possible, but if the answer is incorrect, try to lead the student through continued questioning to reach an acceptable position.

b. Use student test answers to review material after a test.

c. Validate student opinions by referring to points students made previously, not always using "as I said last Thursday…”. Say, “to follow up on John's point Tuesday...”.

8. Keep constant tabs on how the students are progressing:

a. Be willing to provide review, catch-up or further explanation sessions.

9. When asking questions, pause. Students need time to process the questions and their answers. Count to 15 before moving on. If you do not, the message you are giving is, “I really don't want to take away from my time to listen to a student.” This is not the message you should be sending out if you want your students to learn. Verbalizing information helps students internalize it. We should provide as many occasions as feasible for them to verbalize.

Invite responses by pausing for a good length of time.  If you wait long enough, you will get an answer if you have not worded the question in an alien language or manner.

10. Do not talk down to students:

a. Avoid judging behaviors, which cause students to feel inadequate.

b. Avoid stereotyping. Do not think that females have a certain set of interests and males have another. Do not think that all older students like to talk in class. Do not target examples and questions towards certain groups in the class.

If you make appointments with students, keep them. If you are detained, call someone to post a note for the student.

Teaching in a Lab

Lab classes, like all other types of classes, have goals that relate to the course as a whole and to each lab session as well. With regard to viewing the course and lab as a whole unit, there is usually a general goal that the labs will provide a concrete, hands-on experience that will help the students tie the abstract concepts to a concrete process of discovery.

Each lab session furthermore provides students with an opportunity to master technical skills such as coding, creating databases, creating websites, etc. In mastering these technical skills, students are learning the skills we associate with inquiry: observation, hypothesis, pattern recognition, inference, classification or categorization. And of course, each lab is making some concept presented in the lecture come to life in a way that students can see, feel, touch, smell and count. Labs, like discussion sections, also have a social aspect in that students typically work together in groups as collaborators and learn the value of teamwork.

Weaker students can particularly benefit from this aspect of a lab course by observing how the more successful students go about accomplishing the tasks laid out for them. It is critical that all students be encouraged and shown that information technology is something everyone can DO, not just a body of knowledge that must be memorized.

Like other types of teaching situations, a good lab should be well organized and should have three distinct components: 1.) an introduction which links the lab to previously learned material and explains exactly what is expected, 2.) the active part in which the students are working on their lab problems and 3.) a closing or summary, in which you generalize the results back to the lecture or upcoming lessons and give the students a take-home point to help them retain what they have learned.

Any presentations you make should be short and to the point as the students are there to work, not to hear your version of the lecture. In longer labs you may also want to build in a short 3-5 minute stretching break to help the students stay focused and on task.

Due to the amount of work involved in most labs, thorough advance preparation is critical.

Before you TA each lab you should:

• Read the lab assignment and do the lab so that you can anticipate difficulties that the students may have with either the explanation or implementation.
• Ask other lab TAs who have already been a TA for the course where they saw students having difficulties.
• Check out all the equipment at each station to be sure everything is working on the day of your lab. Be sure you know whom to contact about broken or malfunctioning equipment.
• Make sure you know where to get any materials you need for your lab.
• Explain all grading criteria and lab report requirements such as the weighting of content versus form.
• Decide how you will form student groups: randomly, their choice or by your design, if needed.

While you are in the labs you should:

• Write an outline of the lab on the board.
• Begin on time so students have the full amount of time to work.
• Be active while your students are working in groups, walking around and listening to make sure they are on the right track, offering suggestions or questions to help those who are having some problems and keeping tabs on how they are doing in terms of time.
• If you find yourself answering the same question or addressing the same problem more than 2 or 3 times, take a few minutes and address the issue with the entire class.
• Give students some reminders about where they should be in their labs given the time elapsed.
• Plan to end with time to summarize and conclude.
• Remind students of reading and preparation for the next lab.

Use of Humor in the Classroom

“How can I use humor in my class?” is one of the most common questions asked of good teachers. Teaching Assistants experience faculty members who are clearly comfortable using humor in its many different forms but do not know how to start to build it into their style. There is little mention of humor in teaching texts so here are a few suggestions.

Humor can often help a student remember a point. There becomes an association between the (remembered) humor and your instructional item. Be sensitive to gender issues and do not use possibly offensive items. Be careful not to use humor involving ethnicity, race, sex, disabilities and other sensitive issues. Some humor is high risk. For example, quick quips may come out wrong and offend. Cartoons and other proprietary humor can be used in the classroom but not posted on the web. Copyright is something of which you should always be aware. Self-effacing or self-deprecating humor is very safe. It is often best to laugh at yourself.

Humor can be a lot of fun for you too!

Why would you not use humor? It might offend your students, embarrass you, not be your style, completely fail, take too much time, not be appropriate or break copyright. If you are a sensitive person you will be OK. There are lots of sources of humor around.

Exploit it and use its great educational effect.

Questions are an integral part of the classroom discourse and can originate either from the students to the instructor or instructor to students. In order for questions to succeed and learning to occur, there are certain conditions that must be met:

UTA to Student

1. Questions should be at the appropriate level and there should be a variety of levels of questions in each class.

2. You must allow sufficient wait time (minimum 10 seconds) for students to answer the questions. The more complex the question, the more wait time they will need.

3. Do not answer your own questions. If no one volunteers an answer after a reasonable wait, rephrase your question. Tell students to discuss their answers with a partner or write down their answers and exchange them for discussion before asking for an answer in front of the whole class. Always give students the message that they must attempt to answer the questions and that you will not jump in to do it for them, just to save time.

4. Never ask “Any questions?” because you will most likely not get any responses. Either ask students “What questions do you have?” or ask them a real question about the material you have just covered.

Student to Instructor

1. When students ask questions, make sure you listen to the whole question and then repeat it, paraphrasing if necessary, so that all of the students know what the question is before you begin answering it.

2. Never brush off a student’s  question or answer sarcastically. If you don’t know the answer, be honest and tell them you will find out before the next class meeting.

3. Don’t feel you must answer every question—let other students respond to student questions when appropriate.

4. Encourage the students to ask questions—this promotes engagement in the material and lets you know when they are having difficulties.

Question and answer is a form of dialogue between students and TAs. Remember that getting answers to questions is never a waste of time from the students’ perspective, even if it means that less content is covered. There is not much point in covering more material if the students are not following you and staying engaged and the best way to judge that is through the effective questioning techniques outlined above.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

The various types of questions that are used with students can be categorized in many ways, but probably the most often cited taxonomy is Bloom’s. Bloom based his taxonomy on the types of tasks most often called for in academic settings.

1. Knowledge Questions: recall and recognition: major ideas, dates, names, places, etc.

   Key words: Who, what, where, when, define, describe, select, identify, tell, choose, match, which one, omit, etc.

2. Comprehension Questions: understanding, interpreting facts, translating knowledge, comparing and contrasting

   Key words: summarize, contrast, explain, predict, state in your own words, demonstrate, discuss, show, give an example, select the best definition, which statements support, infer, etc.

3. Application Questions: use information, solve problems, apply information to new situations

   Key words: Calculate, illustrate, show, relate, what would result, modify, judge the effects, tell what would happen, complete, discover, examine, etc.

4. Analysis Questions: finding patterns, parts, organization, components

   Key words: Identify, analyze, connect, classify, arrange, order, what does the author believe or assume, find the inconsistencies, separate, compare, what conclusions, separate fact and opinion, etc.

5. Synthesis Questions:  creating new ideas from old ones, generalizing from facts, relating elements or knowledge in a new way, predicting, drawing conclusions

   Key words: Combine, develop, choose, state a rule, solve the following, plan, formulate, rearrange, compose, modify, generalize, propose an alternative, etc.

6. Evaluation Questions: discriminating between ideas, making choices and defending them, assessing the value of theories, verifying the value of the evidence, identifying subjectivity

   Key words: Assess, criticize, judge, recommend, convince, appraise, what fallacies/inconsistencies appear, what is more logical/better/appropriate/moral, rank, support, grade, summarize, measure, discriminate, etc.

Being an undergraduate teaching assistant for an online course offers a new perspective on the possibilities and challenges of supporting online faculty and students. Effective communication and collaboration are essential. Here are a few recommendations for getting everyone on the same virtual page:

• Consider a contract or memorandum of agreement. This can be informal, but captures in writing the expectations you and your instructor have — the specific tasks you will complete, synchronous or in person requirements —and communicate them before the term begins.
• Coordinate in advance. Encourage your instructor to share their approach to teaching in general and the course specifically. Walk through the syllabus, class schedule, and assignment instructions, and review learning objectives and grading rubrics. Meetings, in person or virtual, are great, but this kind of coordination can also take place via email to make sure resources are available and questions are answered.
• Be available for questions and clarification. See if you can set aside time during the week to connect with or hold virtual office hours with your instructor. And respond to email as quickly as possible. Instructors are often trying to answer questions students have emailed to them, so shortening this cycle of response is helpful to all involved.
• Provide access to information and resources. You will have add/edit content privileges in Blackboard and it can be helpful for you to view any information related to student progress, especially if you are responsible for monitoring student activity and intervening when problems occur. It is also beneficial to have copies of textbooks and any other course materials students will be using to complete their assignments. Be sure to let your instructor know if you made any changes to the course content so they are not surprised the next time they enter the course looking for information.
• Ask for feedback after the course. Through informal conversation or structured survey, you have an obligation as an undergraduate TA to express ideas for the course and suggestions for instructor-assistant interaction and communication. Your experiences working with the students can inform the revision of materials and use of technology in future academic terms.

You will be helping yourself, your instructor and the students by getting clear guidance and expectations as early on as possible. 

Review Expectations

Familiarize Yourself with Blackboard Roles and Permissions and Any Other Necessary Tools

As an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA), you have permissions equivalent to the Instructor role in Blackboard, including all course-level permissions, such as the ability to add, edit, and delete all content in a course. You are encouraged to become comfortable with navigating all basic Blackboard tools and features. 

Figure Out the Logistics 

Check-in with your instructor to figure out the course logistics, including your individual and shared responsibilities, such as adding content to the Blackboard site, leading discussion sections, monitoring the discussion board, etc. You should also agree on communication methods between yourselves and with students. Will you copy the instructor on messages to students?  How should you plan to communicate with each other if there is more than one TA per class? 

Additionally, you and your instructor should agree on the amount of time you should be spending in the course site, including any fixed or recurring deadlines and expected turnaround time for tasks.  

As a best practice, be sure to prominently display your contact information and virtual office hours on the syllabus and in the Blackboard course site.

Communicate Through Announcements 

When communicating with students through Announcements, consider sharing a friendly welcome, a weekly wrap-up, an accolade, a news article, a Blackboard tip, or a reminder of an upcoming deadline. These can be written, video, or audio announcements. Be sure to include a text equivalent (transcript, captions, etc.) on any recorded announcements. 

Participate in Remote Class Sessions  

You can help support an instructor in a class session by:  

• Muting participant microphones to reduce feedback  
• Monitoring the chat feature 
• Organizing the breakout rooms and returning the groups to the larger class
• Managing waiting rooms as directed by faculty 
• Sharing their screen to display slides, desktop, or whiteboard features 

 You can also lead your own remote class sessions by presenting content, guiding discussions, facilitating activities and study sessions, and fielding questions. 

Keep Discussions Active  

If leading weekly discussions, plan to actively engage students by asking questions, supporting dissenting opinions, and encouraging civil discourse. If you are using Zoom, you can use breakout rooms to assist you with this, otherwise it will be a large group discussion. In addition to facilitating discussions, monitor discussion boards regularly to keep an eye on ongoing or weekly discussions. Ideally, you may be required to summarize questions and challenges for the instructor on a regular basis.  

Host Office Hours or Discussion Sessions Virtually Through Zoom, Blackboard Collaborate or Microsoft Teams or…?  

Schedule virtual meetings through Zoom, or Blackboard Collaborate or Microsoft Teams for office hours.

• Communicate with the students about how you will use the tool.
• Post an Announcement in the course notifying students of the date and time of the meeting; let them know they can access the meeting through Zoom or whatever tool you decide to use.
• Test the platform at least 24 hours before the first section you plan to lead remotely.  
• Record the meeting for students who are not able to attend. Recording options are available during the session.  

Make Contact Information Clear for Students

It’s important that students are aware of the best way to contact you and understand the way you will communicate with them. Consider including the following on the syllabus and in Blackboard: 

• Name – How do you like to be addressed? 
• Pronouns 
• Email – Include how quickly you will respond to student email and Blackboard messages.
• Phone – You may choose whether or not to include your phone number. What hours are you available to speak on the phone? Can students text you? If so, how quickly will you respond? 
• Office Hours – Are you available to speak with students upon request, or will you hold regular drop-in hours each week via videoconference? 
• Synchronous Meetings – Will you hold any sync sessions during the quarter? 
• Biography – Compose a short professional biography that introduces you to the students in the course in an approachable way. Describe your roles and responsibilities as an undergraduate teaching assistant so that students feel comfortable coming to you with questions and value your feedback. This statement could be delivered as an infographic, audio recording, or video message. 

E-Mail

E-mail can be an extremely useful tool in communicating with the students, either individually or as a whole class. Although the majority of the students will be familiar with e-mail and will have university accounts, you should not assume that everyone is using e-mail on a regular basis. If you want students to use e-mail as part of the communication process, you must be explicit about it.