Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?

Metropolitan State University of Denver has quite a few ways for students to engage as teaching assistants, learning assistants and supplemental instructors. If you have been wondering about working with a student in your class or currently work with a student but want to hear about this experience from the student point of view, this SIP is for you.  

TAs (using this as a blanket term even though students do different things in each of these roles — see below for the differences) bridge the relationship between faculty members and students and are often a “safer” person for students to ask questions of. They give you insight into the student experience. They often take on tasks that help the class function and free up your time. And if you make time and space for them to teach, you get to see new ways of sharing the same content. 

Here are tips from an experienced teaching assistant in their words: 

Be transparent. Make sure roles, responsibilities and expectations are clearly communicated. When asking a student to be your TA, be transparent about what you expect from them when they accept this job. This ensures that student and professor are on the same page and there are no issues.  

Meet frequently. This can be in person, via Teams or by phone. It is valuable to stay connected weekly to discuss plans, tasks and any complications. 

Communication is key from professor and TA. Not only does this build a stronger relationship, it aids in decision-making and staying on track. Also, there are times when the TA may feel overwhelmed with balancing school and work. There should be enough trust for the student to feel comfortable expressing this for accommodations to be made. If the TA is not meeting your expectations and you would like to see more from them, it is necessary to communicate that ASAP.  

Let them be involved. It’s often significant for the TA to be able to teach classes on their own and create part of the lesson plans. This provides the TA with firsthand experience and lets them thrive in practice and involvement. Also, this gets students more comfortable working with and reaching out to the TA. 

Have the TA keep track of their hours in a shared document. It may be helpful to keep a record of the days and times when the TA worked with a brief description of what they worked on. Just in case the professor has any questions or if the TA is unsure, the record is there to refer to.  

Get to know each other. This doesn’t have to be on a completely personal level; however, this builds trust and respect and makes the job more pleasant when knowing who you are working with. It can be comforting for the TA to know that you care.  

Positive, constructive feedback. Positive feedback will make the TA feel confident, motivated, and appreciated. Usually, the TA will want to progress and can do so with proper guidance. Recommendations on improvement, solutions to specific errors/problems and avoiding deconstructive criticism are ways to positively deliver constructive feedback.  

And a few tips from faculty members who work with TAs: 

Make introductions. Professionally introduce your TA to students and explain their role and appropriate ways to contact them. 

Relationships. Be clear about what sort of relationship you want to build between the students and the TA. Clarify this with the TA early in the semester and give guidance so that you both know who is interacting with students in what ways to reduce possible miscommunication.  

Push yourself. If you struggle to share the teaching floor, challenge yourself to find three opportunities for the TA to take a leadership role such as introducing the lesson of the day or planning a learning activity.  

Visit the Well at http://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/ for more great ideas and resources for Strong Instructional Practices in your higher–education classroom.