For Faculty: Establishing Effective Partnership with Your TAs
If you have a team of graduate teaching assistants (TAs) for a course that you teach, working effectively with TAs becomes an essential aspect of successful teaching. Clear communication, shared expectations and roles, and a system of accountability help ensure that teaching responsibilities are carried out collaboratively as a team (Buskist et al., 2012; Gehringer, 2009; Marbouti et al., 2013).
Working with TAs is a partnership in which TAs support your teaching and you support their professional growth. As graduate students, TAs often need to balance multiple roles such as completing their own coursework, conducting research, and attending to other departmental duties and events. It is therefore important to be mindful of their workload and discuss with them in advance what would be a feasible amount of work they can carry out for your course and how you can support their TA work. As their supervisor, you can also play the role of a mentor that guides their development. In a healthy partnership, all parties mutually benefit each other and grow together.
Click the buttons below to download the full resource packet that details practical advice for establishing a productive working relationship with your TAs.
Resource Packet – Word (greater accessibility)
References
Buskist, W., Benassi, V. A., & Meyers, S. A. (2012). Creating Effective Working Relationships Between Faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants. In V. A. Benassi & W. F. Buskist (Eds.), Effective College and University Teaching (pp. 9–16). SAGE Publications.
Gehringer, E. (2009, June). Working effectively with teaching assistants. In 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition (pp. 1-11).
Marbouti, F., Rodgers, K. J., Jung, H., Moon, A., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2013, June). Factors that help and hinder teaching assistants’ ability to execute their responsibilities. In 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (pp. 1-18).
Richards, K. A., Velasquez, J. D., & Payne, L. B. (2012, June). The influence of a college teaching workshop series on teaching assistant perceptions of preparedness and self-efficacy. In 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (pp. 1-17).