TA/Course Organization

Ideally, your course was designed with assessment in mind. The amount of feedback a GTA can give is proportional to the amount of time they’re given on a per-assignment basis when grading. Automating repetitive, quantitative portions will allow GTAs to focus their time on providing more valuable, qualitative feedback. The rest of this page should help you get the most out of your TAs by front-loading some organizational work.

Define tasks/schedule at beginning of term

Well-defined work schedules aid GTAs in balancing their time, relative to scholarly activities. GTAs should be given an idea of their work assignments throughout the term up front to assist with planning. To this end, a document clarifying faculty expectations for GTAs, and their responsibilities (e.g., grading, material-related, and otherwise) should be provided at the start of their assignment (the 16th of the month before the start of a quarter).

Effective distribution of tasks among TAs

From a resource-expenditure point of view, GTAs should be put to use where they are most valuable.

  • More experienced GTAs will require less time grading, and will be more valuable to students for office hours. They may also be interested in developing tools to streamline their tasks or have suggestions for new subject explorations for the students.
  • Less experienced GTAs may be an actual detriment to students for office hours until they fully understand the material - but they may be useful in helping design learning activities (since they themselves are still learning the materials).

GTA Communication Planning

  • Mechanisms for communication between GTAs and students should be established in the course syllabus. Ideally, GTA preferences can be taken into account. For example, Canvas Inbox may be used if GTAs do not want their email addresses published. Teams may also be used if that is set up for the course.
  • For Faculty/GTA communication, the following is recommended:
    • an email at the beginning of the quarter detailing duties/timelines (see “Define tasks/schedule…” above);
    • a meeting before or at the start of quarter to have everyone get to know each other, to establish a working relationship and learn about capabilities/preferences, and establish office hours (See “Effective distribution…” above);
    • establishing an open communication among the instruction team will help solve issues before they become problems;
    • regular (weekly or bi-weekly) check-in meetings for conversations about grading issues, student conceptual gaps, GTA conceptual gaps, suggestions for supplemental explorations, status on development of explorations, etc.;
    • an end-of-term meeting where responsibilities are officially divested prior to final grade-posting.

TA Evaluation

Feedback is important, especially at the beginning of a job. Early and frequent feedback (highlighting both the things that are going well and the things that need improvement) will help to improve our classes and help clarify expectations. Therefore, faculty are encouraged to meet with the GTAs assigned to their classes early and regularly to set clear expectations and let them know if they are straying. It is great to meet in person, but we recommend following up with email to help overcome any communication barriers and remove any uncertainty that may arise from a face-to-face meeting.

Formal evaluations of GTAs are required by the CGE-OSU contract (Article 15). In EECS, faculty are asked to evaluate all GTAs assigned to their courses at the end of every quarter on whether they meet the following criteria:

  • possessed, demonstrated or showed the ability to learn the technical and academic content necessary to answer student questions, competently grade, and perform other duties for this particularly class; and
  • performed tasks on time, responded quickly and professionally to emails and other communications, showed up to meetings and office hours on time, and acted ethically, fairly and consistently.

At the end of the academic year, this feedback will be summarized in an evaluation letter and made available to the GTA. GTAs who do not meet expectations in one or both aspects will be informed in writing with constructive criticism and a plan for improving performance as soon as possible, ideally before the start of a new academic quarter. If a GTA continues to under-perform, despite notice and progressive and commensurate intervention, the GTA’s contract may be suspended or the student may become ineligible for a GTA position in the future. Students may refute any charges and may seek the support of Union representatives. Refer to Article 17 of the CGE-OSU contract for details.

Above all else, the aim is to improve the performance of our GTAs so that our classes run smoothly and the educational experience for both undergraduate and graduate students is a positive one. The School of EECS will also recognize our most outstanding GTAs with awards at the end of the academic year.