College can be a trying time in any individual's life. For adults with Asperger Syndrome this experience can be overwhelming. This title in the new DVD series Asperger Syndrome and Adulthood focuses on educating professors, teaching assistants, and others on what it means to be a college student on the spectrum and how they might best be able to…

Provides advice for graduate teaching assistants on how to organize the first meeting of a class and what to include so that they will be regarded as "real" teachers. Also provides a sample outline for a first class period. (SLD)

Points out appropriate and inappropriate uses of part-time faculty. (PD)

Discusses how English departments, which employ a substantial number of teaching assistants and adjuncts, will make progress toward solving some of their problems by recognizing that students can major in English and the humanities as they have been traditionally conceived and find professionally and financially rewarding employment. Suggests that…

This book provides a range of models for undergraduate student-assisted teaching partnerships to help teachers and administrators make learning more student-centered, effective, and productive. The 31 models describes a range of approaches and applications in a variety of settings and disciplines. The chapters are: (1) "Establishing a Common…

Notes that new teaching assistants (TAs) and first year composition students similarly grapple with ambiguity, multiplicity, and open-endedness. Contends that new TAs' queries and early classroom experiences can provide a valuable occasion to re-balance the emphasis in a pro-seminar between teaching and learning. Presents strategies for addressing…

Explores theoretical and administrative tensions arising when the freshman writing program is not directed by the same faculty who teach in the graduate program. Discusses the effects of these tensions on the writing program and those who teach in it. Explores ways to resolve such conflicts. (RS)

Explores three forces currently at work: the crisis in the academic job market, public attacks on higher education, especially teaching, and the rise of composition studies as an academic discipline. Suggests professionalizing these areas to counteract the three forces. (SG)

The variety of cultures represented by international teaching assistants (ITAs) demands a skillful accommodation of intercultural information to assist effective adaptation for the American classroom. The literature on intercultural communication often provides a simple illustration of persons representing different cultures interacting to create…

A model for employing graduate assistants is presented based in part on a survey of employment conditions during 1980 for graduate assistants at 56 major institutions in all 50 states. Responses were received from 46 or 82% of the institutions. The model is designed to offer directions to institutions that seek to develop or revise assistantship…

Examines the composition of the faculty and instructional staff in English, 1996-97 and examines the average percentage of undergraduate course sections taught. Analyzes the staffing of undergraduate courses in baccalaureate-, master's-, and doctorate-granting institutions. Considers the use of full-and part-time adjunct faculty members and the…

This synthesis derived from literature on effective teaching and learning motivation consolidates the current and best knowledge available for post-secondary educators interested in instructional improvement. It presents ten key motivating principles which graduate teaching assistants and other educators can use to inform their instructional…

Graduate teaching assistants are too often given only "survival training" to prepare them to teach freshman composition. For the following reasons, the focus of teacher preparation in this area should be on rhetorical theory: (1) the study of theory informs the practice of teaching, (2) the study of theory is likely to give the beginner…

Reviews the author's professional experiences from 1946 to 1986. Includes lessons learned as a: (1) graduate student, (2) supervisor of teaching assistants, (3) mentor of future teachers, (4) researcher, and (5) textbook author. Stressing the importance of peer support, thinking about students' motives and cognitions in planning instruction,…

The purpose of having Teaching Assistants (TAs) seems to be 3-fold: (1) to provide a system of load-relief for senior faculty who are completing research; (2) to help offset the operational costs of the administration of higher education; and (3) to regularly train a body of people who will influence the future face of academia. A positive…