TA Survival Guides

Is this your first time TA'ing, or returning after a long hiatus? The below handouts will cover the following topics as a crash course into best practices for teaching:

Logistics, Policies, and Administrivia [pdf]
Office Hours and Recitation Sections [pdf]
Grading and Feedback [pdf]
Gradescope [pdf]

Logistics Best Practices

The below checklist covers common administrative, policy, and logistical considerations for TAs to make to set yourself up for success for the remainder of the term.

Logistics Checklist (Before term starts) How are other graders/TAs receiving onboarding? Are recitation/office hour locations and times set? Have we ensured that these do not conflict with lecture, athletic practice/dinner (4-7 PM), and other core classes? What is the format for exams? Do we have students with accommodations that we should support? Are all necessary rooms booked for exams? Do we have a schedule set with assignment deadlines and exam dates? How do we facilitate communication between staff (Slack, Discord, Email, etc.)? Do we have a process set for grading expectations and timelines? Do we have an extensions policy? Do we have a collaboration policy? A policy on generative AI? Are we meeting regularly with other TAs/graders in the course? Will the instructor be present? Do we have a mechanism to collect feedback from students (ombuds, surveys, etc)? Logistics Checklist (Weekly) What is the content to be covered in the upcoming recitation? Are there relevant announcements for the students to know about? Common Staff Meeting Activities (can be done async!) Announce: Any reminders for staff for the upcoming week? Icebreaker Reflect: How busy was office hours? Any common student misconceptions? Particular points of struggle in the recent problem set? Discuss: Any policy changes or other observations TAs made throughout the week. Preview: What topics will be covered in the coming week? Any changes from previous terms?

OH and Recitation Best Practices

How do you encourage attendance at your office hours and recitations? How can you keep students engaged? The below handout covers best practices in both office hours and recitation sections.

Office Hours Encourage Remind students of the importance of office hours Create a welcoming environment for students who come Prepare Office hours should not be the first time you see the material! When preparing, try to anticipate common student misconceptions Consider the different ways you could explain a concept Interact Ask probing questions to identify student misconceptions: “Can you clarify what you mean by X?” “Can you explain your current understanding of Y?” NEVER bring the solutions to office hours. Planning a Recitation Section Prepare an agenda that is reasonably scoped to the length of your recitation section (typically one hour). Start with your goal and work backwards to pick out suitable activities. Review the material covered in previous lectures/homework assignments to get a sense of where the students should be at. Recitation Do’s: Learn your students’ names Promote Active Learning Encourage group work and peer collaboration with think, pair, share Give your students time to: Ask questions when prompted Answer questions you pose Gather feedback at regular intervals across the term and address concerns explicitly Connect the work done in recitation to other components of the class. Recitation Don’ts: Don’t try to rush through all the material – if you’re running out of time, poll your students to see which topics they’d like to cover Don’t go straight to the answer: try to explain your thought process so you can break down the steps Don’t assume prior knowledge, especially with concepts that build on top of others Don’t treat recitation as another lecture – this is a time for active learning!

Grading and Feedback Best Practices

What are general best practices for grading? What are some example rubrics? How can I give my students wise, actionable feedback?

General Grading Goals Rigor: Maintain high standards Consistency: Similar feedback between different graders Fairness: Similar feedback between different students Self-Care: Don’t spend excessive amounts of time grading. Grading should be… Timely Aim for 2-3 day turnaround, or at least before the next set is due Structured Plan how each question should be answered and graded Schedule when grading should be completed and posted. Grading should not involve… Sharing or mentioning student grades to others Student grades are protected by FERPA Exception: Fellow TAs and instructor. General Feedback Goals Constructive: Areas for improvement are clear Targeted: Explanation of where/why the error began Wise: Leave encouraging comments indicating what the student did correctly to promote a growth mindset Standardized: Use tools like Gradescope to apply similar comments to similar errors across different student submissions.

Gradescope

Gradescope helps streamline grading for larger classes, and facilitates rubric creation, regrade requests, and tailored feedback. If you have questions about using Gradescope, feel free to contact us at [email protected].