Responsibility Overview

Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the Integrative Biology Department are generally appointed on a 40% FTE, which equals 208 hours of work over a 13-week period. Based on the contract with the Coalition for Graduate Students, only 85% of these hours (177) may be within the 11-week academic term. Divided into 10 weeks of teaching, this equals approximately 17.5 hours of work each week. The remainder of your hours are comprised of orientation, prep and grading that occur outside of the 10-week term. Your hours will fluctuate weekly but will likely average 17.5/week.

Housekeeping/New TAs

• Complete all Modules in BI22x GTA Orientation Canvas site
• Submit all forms required in Canvas site
• Exchange contact information with your assist and lead partners and teaching interns

Before your First Lead Lab:

• Review/print class roster
• Develop a syllabus unique to your lab
• Develop an introduction to the first lab
• Set all the due dates and publish your lab’s Canvas site
• Visit the classroom to familiarize yourself with the space, equipment, and location of materials
• Practice using technology in the lab
• Review policies on late work, tardiness, leaving early, missing labs, electronic devices, food/drink in lab, grading

Every Week:

• Review pre-lab and lab materials prior to Monday lab prep meeting
• Attend Monday 8 am lab prep meeting
• Attend Teaching Seminar (new GTAs) or complete professional development activity of your choice
• Lead and assist your labs
• Prep and grade lab materials for each week
• Post in-lab and other assignment grades to Canvas within one week
• Attend Vole Hole hours
• Attend and facilitate lecture M/W/F
• Log hours in activity log

Periodically:

• Complete teaching evaluation (Self—Fall, Peer—Winter, Other—Spring)

At the End of Term:

• Download grade sheet from Canvas and email to course coordinators in format outlined
• Finalize and sign GTA activity log
• TI Evaluations, if applicable

Detailed Responsibilities

“Lead” one lab section - 3 hours/week

Each 3-hour laboratory class period is taught by a team of two TAs, one TA taking the lead and the second assisting. Your “lead” is “your” lab section. You deliver the introduction to the material and lab (usually using a PowerPoint presentation), prepare the pre-lab discussion, prepare, administer and grade 2-3 quizzes, generally lead the lab and facilitate activities, do the associated grading, and maintain a Canvas gradebook. You will have an assistant TA in your lab section.

“Assist” one lab section - 3 hours/week

The job of the assistant TA is to help answer student questions, facilitate student participation, aid in preparation of materials, and generally help the lead TA in making the lab session a success. The assist TAs should be proficient in the lab mechanics and material upon coming to lab and be able to act as a resource to both the lead TA and the students.

Attend the course lecture – 2.5 hours/week

Each week has three 50-minute lectures for the Biology 22X course. TAs are required to attend these lectures and help facilitate active learning activities. Even though the material is likely familiar, attendance helps each TA determine what students should know for the upcoming lab. Depending on the year and the time of the week, a given lab section may be “ahead of” or “behind” lecture topics. It also helps ensure that the TA is supplementing the lecture material and using similar vocabulary in lab as in lecture. Daily attendance is taken by the mentor TAs.

Attend weekly TA prep meeting - 1-2 hours/week

Every Monday morning, starting at 8:00 am SHARP, is a mandatory prep session in Weniger 226. At this meeting, TAs are briefed on the lab and lecture activities for the week. TAs are required to work through the lab. Depending on the lab and the TA’s familiarity with it, the time spent working through the activities may take longer or shorter.

Professional Development – 50 min/week

As a new GTA, you are expected to attend the weekly 50-minute teaching seminar co-led by Dr. Adam Chouinard, an instructor in Integrative Biology and the BI22x mentor TAs. This seminar will take place weekly on Mondays at 11 am in Weniger 226. Sessions cover topics ranging from effective teaching for various leaning preferences and facilitating critical thinking to properly addressing academic misconduct and providing accommodations to students with disabilities. TAs may enroll in the session as a 1-credit pass/fail course (IB512), if they wish (contact Traci Durell-Khalif for an override). Returning TAs that opt to participate in another form of approved professional development and should develop and submit at least one hour’s worth of original material to the course coordinators. All GTAs must participate in the following projects (fall—class capture/self-evaluation; winter—peer evaluation/COPUS; spring—statement of teaching philosophy or teaching portfolio).

Prepare materials for your lab section - 2-4 hours/week

This includes preparing:

• An individual lab syllabus outlining your explicit classroom expectations
• Materials for supplementary activities you want to carry out
• A 15-minute (maximum) introduction covering the lab topic and procedures. There are outlines for each lab topic will be posted on the TA Canvas site.
• Any materials not prepared by the “prep” staff. Some of this may also be done by the assistant TA or TI.
• Copies of anything you plan to hand out, including quizzes and syllabi.

Grade assignments for your “lead” section - 2- 4 hours/week

• Weekly: Verify completion of in-labs; maintain the Canvas grade book weekly.
• Periodically: There will be skills tests (2 per student) throughout the term.
• Once per Term: Various assignments and term projects. Upload grades within 1 week of due date. Rubrics provided in Canvas.

Hold a Vole Hole hour - 1 hour /week

All TAs hold their office hours in SLACK. Each TA must hold at least one office hour each week, at their scheduled time (between 10 am—6 pm). TAs are expected to be responding to SLACK channel for the entire hour that you are scheduled (i.e. from 11-12). If you have a class immediately after office hours please stay as late as possible. TA office hours are posted on Canvas. If you need to miss your scheduled time in the Vole Hole, you need to find someone to switch office hours with you and notify the course coordinators. If no one can switch office hours with you, you need to schedule a make-up hour, notify the coordinators, post a note in SLACK and notify your students of the changed hour.

Activity log - 5 min/week

TAs are required to maintain an activity log. You should receive an activity log Google Spreadsheet via email from the course coordinators at the start of your assistantship. If you are not provided access by the end of week 1, please contact the course coordinators.