I'm a TA for the first time
Get ready for your first tutorials, labs and marking without letting the role swallow your research.
In short
Start here, today. Email the course instructor and ask for a short meeting before term starts. Bring a list of questions about your duties, marking, email and office hours. This takes about 20 minutes.
After that, work through these steps. Choose one to jump to it.
Step by step
Tick each step as you finish it. Open a step for the how.
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Clarify the role before the first class
Ask the instructor what you're responsible for and what you aren't: running sessions, marking, answering email, holding office hours, invigilating exams. Ask how they want you to handle extension requests and grade disputes, which are usually theirs to decide. Write down what you agree so you can check it later.
Keep your first sessions simple
You don't need to build anything from scratch. Ask for last year's materials, sit in on a session run by an experienced TA if you can, and plan one clear activity rather than trying to cover everything. Arrive early to test the room and the technology. Your first sessions will be over-planned, and that's fine.
Mark with a rubric and a timer
Divide your marking hours by the number of assignments to get a time per paper, then stick to it. If there are several markers, each mark the same three to five papers on your own, compare results and agree on standards before going further. Keep comments short and focused on what the student can do better next time, and build a bank of comments you can reuse.
Set boundaries with students early
In the first session, tell students how to reach you, when you answer email and how quickly they can expect a reply. Be friendly and clear about what you can and can't decide. Students cope well with limits that are stated up front. It's uncertainty that brings the late-night messages.
Know what to do about academic misconduct
If you suspect plagiarism or cheating, don't confront the student or decide on a penalty yourself. Make notes of what you noticed and when, and pass them to the course instructor, who is responsible for following it up. Keep it confidential, including from other TAs, and don't keep it secret even if the student asks you to.
Protect your research time
Put two or three research sessions a week in your calendar before term starts, and track your TA hours for the first few weeks. If you can see the hours running out, tell the instructor early, while something can still change. The guide on teaching load covers this in more detail.
Words you can use
Is this you? Signs to look for
- You've been given a course name, a room number and not much else.
- You're not sure how much the instructor expects you to decide on your own.
- The first stack of assignments is due back next week and you have no idea how long each one should take.
- You're quietly dreading a question you can't answer in front of the class.
Why this happens
Most graduate students are trained as researchers, not teachers, and many start their first TA job with little more than a short orientation. Knowing your subject helps, but it doesn't tell you how to run a tutorial, mark forty lab reports consistently or respond to a student who is upset about a grade. Feeling unprepared at the start is normal, and it says nothing about how good you'll become.
A TA job also sits in an awkward spot. You're a student, an employee, a teacher and a researcher at once, often in the same building and sometimes with students not much younger than you. That mix makes it hard to know where your responsibilities end, which is why so many first-time TAs either over-prepare or wait too long to ask questions.
Most of the difficulty eases once you know three things: what the instructor expects of you, how many hours you're paid for, and where the course rules are written down.
Worth a look (7)
- Resources for teaching assistants, Taylor Institute for Teaching and LearningThe University of Calgary's collection for TAs, including an orientation module. Your own university's teaching centre will have something similar.
- Consistent and effective grading, Taylor Institute for Teaching and LearningPractical advice on rubrics, calibrating with other markers and giving feedback students can use next time.
- U Have Integrity: a resource for teaching assistants, Taylor Institute for Teaching and LearningWhat a TA should and shouldn't do when they suspect academic misconduct.
- About to give your first lecture? Read this first, NatureAdvice from PhD students, postdocs and faculty on teaching a class for the first time.
- Shut Up & Write!Free writing sessions, online and in person in over 80 countries, where you write quietly alongside others for a set time. It's a gentle push when you keep putting off your thesis.
- FocusmateBook a short video session with another person, say what you'll work on, then work quietly side by side. The free plan gives you three sessions a week.
- Time managementVitae's guide to managing research time, with simple techniques like logging your hours, separating urgent from important, and working back from deadlines.
When to bring someone in
Your university's teaching and learning centre runs TA orientations and workshops, and often offers classroom observation with friendly feedback. Take questions about the course itself to the instructor first. If you're worried about your contract or hours, your TA union, where there is one, or your graduate student association can help. If a student tells you something that worries you about their safety or wellbeing, point them to student wellness or counselling services and let the instructor know.
Find the right person, or talk to Ify