TA Training: TA Duties and Expectations

TA duties will vary from class to class. The usual TA duties are, of course, grading, holding office hours, and — depending on the course — leading or assisting with labs or discussion sections. However, TAs must sometimes help with other duties such as being in charge of the grade book, preparing answer keys, answering forum questions, etc.

Clarifying what your TA duties are, and learning more about them is an important "getting started" step. Here are four resources that might be useful:

  • The Department Graduate TA Handbook has a subsection (Subsection 3.2) on TA Responsibilities. This lists a number of possible duties and related items that might need clarification. It also recommends talking with the course professor if you are unsure what your exact duties will be.
  • The department document “Expectations” briefly lists expectations for both TAs and for teachers working with TAs. There is also a similar University document Tips for TAs and Supervising Instructors.
  • The document "Being a Head or Lead TA” discusses some of the administrative or other leadership duties that a head TA might need to do. These include items such as preparing a grading rubric, overseeing grading done by other TAs, or filling in for the instructor on occasion. 
  • The document "Handbook for CSci Teaching Assistants of Writing-Heavy Classes” contains a good amount of information about many aspects of our writing-heavy classes. This handbook addresses some questions such as "What is a WI class?", "What are some tips for preparing a grading rubric for a writing assignment?", and "What are some suggestions for how to teach students about good writing?" This Handbook is moderately long — about 30 pages — and not all sections are relevant for all TAs. However, if you are TAing a WI (writing-intensive) class, or any other class that has a lot of writing, I suggest you read the first few pages of this handbook and skim any other sections you think might be useful in your TA work. You can then come back to the Handbook, as needed, later in the semester.

 

Your Task: Make sure you have a reasonable idea what your TA duties will be this semester.

More About TA Resources