Last week, the Office of the Dean of the College announced a series of four workshops for undergraduate teaching assistants focusing on skills like leading discussions and reaching out to students.
The workshops, which started Sept. 23, were created in response to requests by both faculty and students. A working group composed of members of the faculty, the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Dean of the College surveyed faculty members who work with undergraduate TAs.
"The responses provided us with material to work with and we found a recurring request for supplemental workshops — something which was immediately feasible," said Douglas Brown, director of Writing Support Programs and adjunct lecturer.
Brown said the "initial impetus" for the workshops came from a few incidents involving students who felt their work was being unfairly dealt with by undergraduate TAs. These cases, he said, involved comments made by TAs on students' papers that were "significantly more destructive than productive." In one instance "the student felt very troubled and humiliated and couldn't understand how to make it better," he added.
Christina Skonberg '12 recalled one incident in which the TA "basically just had too much on her plate." Skonberg received a low grade from her TA on a paper and, when she asked her TA how she could improve next time, "she didn't even remember it."
"She even said, ‘This is actually pretty good,' but she never changed anything," Skonberg added.
Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron said that the workshops were not a reaction to complaints but instead an attempt to provide TAs with an opportunity for "general discussion" about issues that professors might not cover — for example, how to lead a good discussion. A professor, she said, is generally more concerned about the day-to-day specifics of the classroom, and not necessarily about broader teaching methods.
The workshops are "not simply remedial — they are a deeper, richer experience for TAs," Brown said.
Eileen Landay, adjunct senior lecturer in education who will conduct one of the workshops, calls them a "great opportunity for undergrads to try their hand at what it means to be a teacher" and to experience what she calls the "power and joy" of teaching.
"The quality of the skills of the TA to orchestrate an effective section make a huge difference," Landay added.
Undergraduate TAs are some of the most effective teachers in the classroom because they are "much closer to the learners," she said.
Both Brown and Landay said that the workshops are by no means intended to replace the guidance already provided by professors, but to supplement it.
With this in mind, the workshops are not mandatory. Only two out of 200 undergraduate TAs showed up at the first workshop on Sept. 23, and when only four indicated interest in the second workshop on Sept. 29, it was canceled. The remaining two workshops on Oct. 6 and 13, however, are still scheduled to go on.
Bergeron attributed the low attendance rate to the busy nature of the first few weeks as well as the novelty of the workshops. "We hope to get the word out," she said.
The task force behind the workshops intends to develop the series over the semester, she added.
"We want to find out what students want, and what the faculty thinks is useful," she said.
