Graduate Student Professional Development

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2007 TA Conference Agenda (for reference only - please note different starting time for Monday, August 25, 2008 event)

Information about the 2008 Conference - Online Registration (by August 15, 2008)

Each August  the Center for Teaching Effectiveness sponsors the Annual Conference for Graduate Teaching Assistants.
The 2008 TA Conference has been scheduled from August 25 - August 27 at the Trabant University Center and Gore Hall. Registration begins at 11:45a.m. on Monday, August 25 at the Trabant University Center, followed by a buffet luncheon with seating for the opening plenary session by disciplines.

Preliminary conference schedule: August 25: 11:45a.m. - 4:15p.m.; August 26 - 27: 8:00a.m. - 1:00p.m.

For information, please contact Gabriele Bauer, 831-2027.

The Center for Teaching Effectiveness hosts monthly rap sessions for graduate TAs to gather and discuss their most pressing teaching issues. Graduate students from all disciplines are invited to attend these informal, open forums for sharing ideas about teaching at the University of Delaware. Senior TAs facilitate the sessions that are geared to address the concerns of first-time TAs.

Prominent issues discussed at past TA Rap Sessions include:

• Grading papers, lab reports, tests, and quizzes effectively and efficiently.
• Responding to students' questions about their grades.
• Facilitating lab or discussion sections.
• Dealing with difficult students or faculty.
• Balancing your teaching load with your own classes.
• Encouraging students to attend class on time.
• Maintaining student attention during class.
• Responding to incidents of academic dishonesty.

• I liked hearing from other graduate TAs, and hearing that others had similar problems.
• I gained inspiration from the ways that other TAs had solved their problems.
• It's good to have more experienced TAs answer questions.
• I liked discussing solutions to problems, learning about other TAs' problems, and learning about potential problems I might encounter.

• The English Language Institute at the University of Delaware provides high quality intensive language instruction to foreign students wishing to improve their language skills to pursue study in an American university or for personal or career reasons. The Institute offers a wide variety of instructional programs, including the International Teaching Assistant Training Program offered each summer and a shorter program during winter term.
• International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Interest Section, TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• ITA Handbook, University of California - Santa Barbara

A number of departments are following up on the annual campus-wide TA Conference by offering discipline-specific preparation for their graduate TAs. These programs are designed specifically to meet the pedagogical needs of TAs in their respective departments.

Current Articles on TA Training and Development

Re-envisioning the Ph.D., funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts is a project that poses the challenging question: "How can we re-envision the Ph.D. to meet the needs of the society of the 21st Century?" and is developing several ways to effect a national dialogue contribute to the answer.

"Teaching Assistants Until Now,"  National Teaching & Learning Forum. Volume 7, Number 1.

"Here Today , Not Gone Tomorrow,"  National Teaching & Learning Forum. Volume 7, Number 2.

• Teaching Assistants and Professors as a Teaching Team

A resource from the Center for Teaching and Learning at UNC, Chapel Hill dealing with roles and guidelines to help TAs and faculty members develop a more productive relationship in the context of their shared teaching responsibilities.

• This annotated bibliography contains print and video materials available in the Center for Teaching Effectiveness Library, 212 Gore Hall and web links to online resources such as online TA handbooks from other institutions.

• University of Delaware Handbook for Graduate Teaching Assistants

• This is a speech Jerry Gaff gave at the University of Missouri at a recent symposium on Graduate Education.  It contains information about a good deal of research and other projects on change in doctoral education.

• Office of Graduate Studies
• Graduate Student Senate
• Graduate Catalog Online
• Office of the Registrar
• Student Information System (SIS)

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