Supporting Teaching Assistants in Online Teaching
Teaching assistants (TAs), markers, and lab demonstrators can be valuable supports for your course, but many are unfamiliar with the online teaching environment. While some TA duties won’t change, such as marking or entering grades in Brightspace, other responsibilities are likely new, such as managing discussion boards and hosting virtual office hours. Your TAs provide valuable support for your class, but they will also need guidance to complete their tasks. In my years as a TA, I was lucky to work with instructors who supported me through new challenges and encouraged me to take on more leadership when I was ready. I was TA-ing when we unexpectedly moved online during the winter term. I was grateful that I had a great working relationship with the instructor because the instructor, the other TA and I worked as a team to sort out the best course of action for us and the students. Having an ongoing channel of communication and an existing relationship allowed us to handle the move online. Supportive TA and instructor relationships can help the course run smoothly and benefit the instructor, the TA, and the class. Here are some strategies you can use to support your TA:
Communicate Clearly and Frequently
At the beginning of the course, you should meet with your TA to outline their duties for the semester. Ensure that your TA is aware of what aspects of the course they’re responsible for. These duties could include marking, managing discussion boards, making announcements, holding office hours, organizing asynchronous or synchronous tutorials, etc. It may be beneficial to have a written document of TA duties and the number of hours expected for each responsibility.
Beyond simply stating what the TA duties are, it’s best to outline some expectations along with the responsibilities. These may include how quickly you expect marking to be completed or how frequently your TA should be checking the discussion board. Additionally, you should ensure that your TA understands all parts of their duties including the grading rubric or general marking criteria.
Communication should be frequent and extend beyond the start of the course. As the semester progresses, check in with your TA about their workload and their hours. It’s important for your TA to communicate with you if they’re close to exceeding their hours so that you can adjust their responsibilities. Frequent check-ins can help to ensure that you and your TA are on the same page about the workload.
You should also keep your TA informed when you’re communicating with students about things that will affect the TA’s duties such as extensions or exemptions. If the student is communicating by email, you may wish to CC your TA so that they have the information as well. However, be mindful of the content of these emails as a student may feel uncomfortable if the subject matter is personal. To protect the student’s privacy, in situations such as a student sharing mental health difficulties, it’s best to email the TA separately and let them know of the outcome, for example an extension, but not include the reason.
Preparing your TAs
Since many TAs are new to the online teaching environment, it will be helpful to connect with them about their comfort level with the technologies and policies associated with teaching online. Provide them with information about the technologies that they will be using including Brightspace, Panopto, and/or Collaborate Ultra. Depending on how many hours your TA is allotted, it may be beneficial for them to spend a few hours attending Academic Technology Services (ATS) training on the technologies they will be expected to use. In addition to the workshops, you should share with your TAs where they can find answers to any tech problems that may arise. Your TA may also benefit from support and professional development through the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT). TA Day is held at the end of the summer and your TA may also be interested in pursuing the Certificate of University Teaching and Learning to develop their teaching skills.
Beyond addressing comfort with technologies, you should also inform your TA of the relevant course and university policies that will govern and influence their role. Course policies that TAs should be aware of include late work policies and rules around missed exams. It’s also important for TAs to understand any Dalhousie policies that will affect their work such as the Student Accommodation Policy. Additionally, it’s important that your TA knows where they can find support not only for themselves but also for the students through Student Affairs and Student Health and Wellness.
Support and Encouragement
For first-time TAs, and TAs that are new to the online environment, it can be stressful trying to navigate a new position. It’s important for your TAs to feel supported. Remind your TAs that it’s okay to ask questions or ask for clarification. As a TA, it can feel like you have to fake it till you make it and that asking for help is a bad thing. Assure your TAs that they can approach you without feeling like they aren't cut out for the job. Sometimes TAs will run into problems that they’re not prepared for. In addition to encouraging questions, make sure that they know they can turn to you if they run into any issues, whether it’s a technical problem or a conflict with a student. It may also be helpful to share resources with your TAs, such as events organized through the CLT, that you think will benefit them.
Fostering a good relationship with your TAs will make the semester run more smoothly for you, your TAs, and your students. I’ve been lucky to work with encouraging and supportive instructors throughout my teaching assistantships. Their guidance helped me to improve as a TA and I know will help me in future teaching positions. While instructors aren’t directly mentors to TAs, showing them support and guidance will help to make them better TAs and, maybe one day, better instructors.
Resources
Melissa A. Venable, Working with Online Teaching Assistants Faculty Focus, November 2012.
University of Toronto, Working with Your TAs