Teaching Assistant Training Program (TATP)

The Teaching Assistant Training Program is a hands-on, twenty-hour blended program comprised of both asynchronous and synchronous learning, designed for new TAs embarking on their teaching careers. Learn about fair grading practices, diversity in the classroom, lesson design, and giving students feedback on written work. Get real-time, hands-on teaching experience in our unique microteaching sessions where you can try out your teaching skills with a small group of your peers and receive helpful, constructive feedback. At the end of the session, you will receive a certificate as evidence of your commitment to the development of your knowledge and skill as a teacher.

Topics

Lesson design, feedback, marking, microteaching, facilitating discussions, interpersonal communication, and the intercultural classroom.

Outcomes

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• design and deliver lessons using the Bridge-Outcomes-Pre-Assessment-Participatory Learning-Post-Assessment-Summary (BOPPPS) model
• apply the characteristics of effective feedback when giving verbal, written, and non-verbal feedback
• listen openly to feedback on teaching and reflect on personal approaches to teaching and learning
• define the TA’s interpersonal communication responsibilities and identify resources available for student and TA academic success
• describe strategies to facilitate effective classroom or laboratory discussions;
• implement consistent grading practices
• identify cultural influences on communication in the classroom.

What to expect

This program is designed to be engaging and highly interactive through topic-based workshops and small group microteaching sessions. Each participant will prepare two, ten-minute lessons and deliver these lessons to small their group of peers during two synchronous sessions.

Statement on Diversity and Inclusion by TATP Instructors

As the instructors of TATP, we recognize that equity, diversity, and inclusion are key to a safer learning community and facilitating the outcomes of the program. We believe that a wide range of experiences, languages, identities, cultural backgrounds, and other forms of social and intellectual diversity enrich and enhance the learning experience. We are committed to modelling and collectively establishing a classroom community that embraces.

Research on program impact

• Assessing Graduate Teaching Development Programs for Impact on Future Faculty (HEQCO, 2013)
• Evaluating the Differential Impact of Teaching Assistant Training Programs on International Graduate Student Teaching (Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 2015)