Describes a peer-based, department-specific initiative to train graduate assistants in the Biology Department of the University of Victoria, Canada. Focuses on the resource manual and orientation day that are aspects of the program. (SLD)

Describes a training program for graduate teaching assistants at the University of Aukland and a survey showing that support for such training across the campus was inconsistent; while teaching assistants often understood the efficacy of such programs, "decision makers" often did not. (EV)

Describes guidelines used in a teaching assistant development course for the University of California, Davis' physics department, and provides examples of activities that the guidelines inspired. The development course focused on meeting both short-term course preparation goals, and long-term professional development goals. (EV)

Describes an instructional design process, the Gagne, Briggs, and Wager (1992) Events of Instruction, and applies it to a topic to demonstrate its utility. Suggests that directors of graduate teaching assistant programs can use the information to integrate instructional design training into existing programs for teaching assistants. (EV)

Describes a case study of creating a teaching community among the graduate teaching assistants in a physics department at a major research university. Shows that graduate teaching assistants themselves can start a change in the culture of teaching, contributing to their satisfaction from teaching as well as to undergraduate education. (EV)

Describes a collaborative language-focused curriculum design project in a 3-week training workshop for international teaching assistants. The design attempts to deal with the shortcomings of short and intensive programs. Outlines the theoretical underpinnings and structure and process of the curriculum design effort. (SLD)

Presents a "how to" plan for a workshop for a group of teaching assistants (TAs) from a variety of disciplines. The workshop aims to help TAs learn more interactive teaching methods with less reliance on the lecture, with the idea that such methods can help their students to become learners. (EV)

Describes and evaluates a four-session training program for Multidisciplinary Engineering Laboratory (MEL) teaching assistants at the Colorado School of Mines. The sessions focus attention on student development approaches to learning. (EV)

Cornell University's College of Engineering TA Development Program trains experienced engineering graduate students, called TA Fellows, to deliver instruction in teaching to new teaching assistants (TAs). Two TA Fellows act as co-facilitators at all times, in all workshops. The instruction is grounded in engineering case study and delivered using…

Describes a successful workshop for graduate teaching assistants which focused on the "notebook method" of writing scholarly papers. This method transforms writing a paper into managing a project. The method is linked to the pragmatic theory of inquiry developed by Charles Sander Peirce and John Dewey. (DB)

Presents innovative international teaching assistant (ITA) training programs at two Ohio public universities that focus on sensitizing new ITAs to cultural differences and teaching strategies commonly used in American classrooms. The training programs are designed to reflect and incorporate each institution's own culture, such as the geographical…

Describes a conflict management workshop for graduate teaching assistants, including the workshop's rationale, a detailed plan of such a workshop, and results of a survey of participants (n=20) that shows improved perceived ability to deal effectively with conflict. Workshop handouts are appended. (DB)

Describes a half-semester course for incoming graduate teaching assistants that provided six weeks of discussion, six formative observations, and six peer reviews and culminated in a summative performance evaluation. The course was based on literature supporting the importance of social interaction in workplace learning. Provides results of…

Describes a "Basics of Teaching Physics" course as an approach to training teaching assistants (TAs) in science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET) departments. The regular graduate course is based on constructivist learning: TAs construct their own understanding through guided questions, problem solving, reading and analyzing papers,…

Describes a training program for graduate teaching assistants that utilizes examples, coaching, evaluation, and "prep meetings," conducted like a class in cooperative learning, but emphasizing teaching techniques as well as subject matter. Notes program effectiveness is assessed by classroom evaluations, student feedback, and self-evaluations.…