TA Advice about TAing

At the end of Spring 2020 the CS&E Department surveyed TAs, asking questions such as “What is one piece of advice you would like to pass along to future TAs about TAing an online class?” Here are eight tips based on that survey, many of which are relevant not only to online classes, but also to in-person ones.

1. Learn to use online tools in advance. The most frequently mentioned advice was to learn how to use online tools, and learn to use them in advance. For example, if your class is using Zoom and Slack for office hours, make sure you are familiar enough with them that your office hours go smoothly. All the commonly used tools (Zoom, Canvas, GradeScope, Piazza), etc. have much online documentation -- see, for example the CSci tool training document -- so use it to familiarize yourself with the tools. But also do practice runs (e.g., with other TAs) to actually practice using the tools.
2. Use discussion forums, etc. as appropriate and useful. A number of TAs mentioned being swamped with questions, or answering the same question multiple times. Use discussion forums (or related tools) to facilitate students answering each other’s questions, or for allowing TAs to post information once for many students rather than multiple times for individual students.
3. Use some type of queue management for crowded online office hours. If you are having online office hours, remember students get frustrated when they need to wait for office hour help but don't know how many students are ahead of them. Use some queue management techniques; this could involve using Zoom (for the office hours) plus Slack or Discord or Google Doc or some other way that students can see frequently updated information about the queue and where they are at in it.  For example, see the latter half of the CSE-IT zoom document, especially the Zoom + Slack part, for more information.
4. Be patient with students. This semester we will still not be back to “normal,” more communication than usual will be online instead of in-person, etc. Understand that some students will be having difficulties, that online communication is usually more difficult than in-person communication, and be patient.
5. Communicate often with other TAs. Class coordination is difficult, especially in large or complicated classes, and especially if communication is online rather than in-person. Make sure all TAs are clear about their duties, and that they all communicate regularly. 
6. If useful, be able to use a whiteboard to explain concepts online. If you are having online communication with students, for example, online office hours, diagrams or other hand-written material are often helpful in explaining many computer science concepts. Be able to use online whiteboard or drawing features as needed. For example, Zoom has a built-in whiteboard you can access when you share your screen. Or, as a second example, you can set up a Google Doc where you can collaboratively work with students. 
7. Answer questions reasonably promptly; be on time to office hours, etc. Timely communication is often particularly important, especially when much communication is online rather than face-to-face.

Use common tools as much as possible. For example, if students need to use different tools for different TAs they will get confused quickly. Unless there is a compelling reason to do so, use commonly used tools: have all TAs in the same class use the same tools and associated practices (e.g., the same queue management tools and techniques for online office hours), and whenever possible try to use tools that are being used by other CSci classes as well.