Resources

For instructors, a plan for Teaching Assistants (TAs) help running the course more smoothly and enhance the learning experience for the students. Effective training and advising of Teaching Assistants (TAs) benefit both the students in their learning and TAs in their professional development. Working effectively as a Teaching Assistant also accelerate their professional development. Perticipating in CTI's Teaching Assistant Online Orientation is helpful to prepare incoming TAs for their teaching responsibilities. This provides information and guidelines to prepare teaching, classroom roles and strategies, policies and campus resources.

Learning Management, Communicating with students , Programming related tools

Learning Management

Most of the CCI TAs use Canvas to operate a class. Canvas shows all the information and materials of the class. Also, the speed-grader in canvas always starts with the same student and will show the student in the same order. These situations may create bias during the grading process.

Some tips for grading blindly (for canvas):

  • Navigating course

  • Using modules

  • Creating a Page

  • Creating an assignment

  • Grading an assignment

  • Grading Quiz

  • Managing Quiz


Communicating with students

It is important to establish a good communication with students for class progress. Sometimes TA's can help and understand students better than instructors. Ultimately the goal of a class is to make the students learn and bring out the best of them.

TA can keep the communication below ways:

  • Use Introductions

  • Setting up office hours

  • Facilitating online discussion

  • Creating Canvas Announcements

  • Concise and well crafted communication

  • Being Clear

  • Being Courteous

  • Knowing the audience

  • Make communication personal

  • Keeping virtual gradebook current

  • Provide timely feedback

  • WebEx enabling

  • Google Hangouts

  • Wikis

  • Asking feedback



Programming-related Tools

For the grading purpose, programming related tools such as autograder an be useful for TAs to make their grading work more efficient and time effective. To grade everyone equally and fairly, it is better to use grading related programming tools.

Bolow some grading related tools:

  • Repl

  • CodePost: Free autograder and code annotation tool that makes easy to grade computer science course work.

  • Autolab: Course management service. Enable auto graded programming assignments.

  • Web-CAT: For Java, Python , C++ and a few other languages , Web-CAT is the most widely used tool for program grading.


Student Success

  • Resources to support socially and culturally diverse students

  • Goal is to expose students to diverse ideas and worldviews.

  • Enhance learning and imbuing classroom


Ask for feedback, and act on it!

Asking students what they think adds another personal touch with students. Using surveys or short opinion polls how they think things are going in the class. Suggestions comming from students should go under consideration. Not necessary students opinion always has to be established but constructive feedback helps to upgrade the quality of a class.