Creating space for Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) to work as active members of the department and take ownership of certain learning and teaching activities has many potential benefits. Allowing GTAs the autonomy to pursue personal projects and share their enthusiasm for their subjects could help GTAs to develop a sense of professional…

This article describes an innovative curriculum design that has been created at a research-intensive university to prepare Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) for their role as teachers within higher education. The underlying concepts and frameworks for the design of the programme are discussed in depth in an attempt to unpack the assumptions that…

Rapid change in higher education (HE) has lead to a reappraisal and debate about the role and "mission" of the university and the university teacher. In the diversification of the HE sector, it is possible to see a shift away from the "advancement of knowledge" as the primary purpose of the HE sector as a whole. This article…

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs') niche in the current UK higher education system by means of reflecting on the results of a survey undertaken at a department of the University of Sheffield. The survey highlights that GTAs occupy an ambiguous niche; they are simultaneously…

The employment of graduate students on a part-time basis to help with the teaching of undergraduates is growing in the UK and many higher education institutions are confronted with challenges about how best to do this. UK institutions have much to learn from North American experience of appointing graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), and this…