Fall quarter workshops are posted at the bottom of the page.

Topics for TA seminars and workshops offered by the TA Development Program (x8395) include but are not limited to the following:

Survival Skills for First Quarter TAs:
Depending on the academic department, this may include discussion and handouts on what constitutes good teaching, the first day of class, confidence in the classroom, getting students to participate in section, structuring discussions, checking student understanding, and more.

Questioning Skills and Student Participation:
Types of questions posed and how questions are worded affect how readily students participate in discussion sections. Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive skills can help TAs vary question level, build depth into the classroom, and provide direction to discussion. Wait-time, redirection, and other questioning techniques can also increase student participation.

Using Collaborative and Cooperative Group Learning:
The session may focus on the value of small group learning within a particular discipline, using short active learning exercises throughout a section, designing group activities, or trouble shooting specific problems in sections where collaborative learning is already occuring.

Student Learning Styles:
The Kolb Learning Style Inventory identifies two dimensions of learning preferences and four learning styles. By varying instruction to include methods congruent with student learning strengths, instruction becomes more conducive for more types of learners. Instruction can also be designed to strengthen particular learning weaknesses once the instructor understands the learning style.

Effective Learning:
There are many ways to make a lecture a dynamic teaching tool and you don't have to be a thespian to make a lecture meaningful. Keeping student attention, not falling prey to the myths of lecturing, and using a lecture style that best suits your own teaching strengths are some of the topics that are discussed.

Classroom Assessment Techniques:
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) are methods of quickly and easily collecting data on student learning in your class, analyzing that data, and using the results to improve instruction. Numerous general and discipline specific techniques can be provided.

What Do You Do If...?
There are many teaching situations that can take a new TA by surprise. This session identifies numerous dificult situations that can be disconcerting if you have not thought about how you would respond. For example, What do you do if a student monopolizes a discussion? What do you do if a student tells you that they think you are being racist in your grading of their papers? What do you do when a student harshly criticizes another's performance?