UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 2, Page 7                                
September 10, 1992                                             
Training session for TA's provides practical advice            
                                                               
     Two former teaching assistants, President David P. Roselle and  
arts and science Dean Mary P. Richards shared memories of their first
teaching experiences with students attending the University's 1992   
Annual Conference for Graduate Teaching Assistants (TA's), sponsored 
by the Center for Teaching Effectiveness Aug. 24-25.                 
     Roselle spoke of his experience at Duke University, where he    
decided to emulate the best teaching he had experienced as a student.
It was not he who entered the classroom the first time, he said, but a        
"collage" of individuals.                                            
     He told the TA's that they would be affecting lives and         
transmitting knowledge, and that teaching , especially at the        
university level, was a great career, dealing with bright and exciting        
minds.                                                               
     Richards said when she was a TA at the University of Wisconsin, 
there was no training, other than being handed a syllabus and class  
assignment. It was just assumed TA's knew how to teach. It was"an    
unsafe assumption to make," she said, and it was not until later in  
her career, when she helped develop a workshop on teaching, that she 
became systematically knowledgeable about teaching and the learning  
process.                                                             
     "Keep a journal of what you learn at this conference and refer to  
it," she advised the almost 200 conference participants. "You can    
never learn enough about teaching."                                  
     Classroom management and problems, group discussions, lab       
sessions, the first day of class and critiquing students' writing were        
among the topics addressed by the program. Orientation sessions to   
acquaint new TA's with University resources also were held.          
     One of the most effective workshops, according to last year's   
participants, dealt with common classroom problems and was offered   
five times this year. Participants watched a series of short videos  
dramatizing common classroom problems. Each was then followed by a   
group discussion.                                                    
     Topics included how to get discussions under way, incomplete    
assignments, third-party conversations while a lecture is going on,  
handling students with personal or academic problems and dealing with
those who made advances to the instructor.                           
     The topic of exams brought forth more suggestions, such as a       
trial exam after the beginning of the semester,  especially for      
freshmen. Another advised that TA's take the exam themselves to make 
sure there is time to complete it. Assessing exams was another       
concern. If a large percentage miss a question, something is probably
amiss in understanding that area.                                    
     Another suggestion was to state in a syllabus at the beginning of        
the year what is expected of students and then stick to it.          
     If a student seemed to be having personal problems, a TA could  
steer the individual to counseling. If the problems are academic, most        
TA's said they would be available for outside help or, in some cases,
recommend a tutor.                                                   
                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure