Teaching Resources

Teaching Assistantship Overview

Depending on funding availability, graduate students may be offered or directed to be teaching assistants during their degree. As of 2024-2025, full time graduate teaching assistants should not exceed >20 hours per week on their teaching duties. 

Opportunities for Professional Development

Refer to the ongoing list of opportunities here.

Resources for TAs and for your Students

If you are looking to recommend resources and services to your students (including but not limited to writing help, counseling, resource centers) or are looking for resources for yourself as a TA (including but not limited to how to report incidences and misconduct), refer to the ongoing list of resources in the Grad Resource Cheatsheet.

Additional resources for TAs are also housed in the BIOS Graduate Student Sharepoint. This includes Discrimination, Retaliation, and Harrassment reporting, and TA Expectations.

Inclusivity in the Classroom

Resources

• NIU's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Educators Toolkit

• Other Inclusive Teaching Toolkits by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

• Scientist Spotlights Initiative - Studies have shown that including examples of diverse scientists in class activities can shift stereotypes regarding STEM and promote a more inclusive environment. The Scientist Spotlights Initiative is a free resource for finding discipline-specific examples that can easily be added to PowerPoint slides to highlight work of diverse scientists.

Training and workshops 

• NIU's Office of Academic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - attend short workshops on specialized topics to enhance your cultural competency and promote inclusion

• NIU's Conversations on Diversity and Equity (CODE) workshops - engage in longer workshops to enhance your cultural competency, share a deeper understanding of yourself and others, and develop skills to live and work in an increasingly diverse society

Other teaching tidbits

• Avoid tables in assignments and syllabi - screenreaders do not handle tables and may omit this information when narrating

• Caption videos/content - NIU's mediaspace website makes it easy to host videos and edits captions. Close captioning can also be requested here.

• Zoom offers live closed captioning/transcription

Example of Diversity Statements for Syllabi

Respectful Learning Environment: Please show engagement and respect for the classroom learning environment by focusing only on class during synchronous labs. Online class discussion and debate are highly encouraged (and will be facilitated) in this class, but only in a professional and respectful manner. 

This is an anti-racist and inclusive space: Systemic racism is a tenet of U.S. institutions, and academia is no exception, nor is NIU, which until the 1960s was a sundown town. In this course, we will discuss some of the racist history of science, and the current perpetuation of racism in the sciences and our society. I expect every student in this course to do their part to build up a just and equitable society by engaging in anti-racist behavior. This includes honoring the uniqueness of every student and actively avoiding treating people differently because of race, sexuality, gender, creed, culture, or religion. It could also include honest reckonings with the materials I’m providing you or the way I frame certain topics. Anyone not adhering to these principles could risk receiving a failing grade.

Inclusive language: Language is gender-inclusive and non-sexist when we use words that affirm and respect how people describe, express, and experience their gender. Just as sexist language excludes women’s experiences, non-gender-inclusive language excludes the experiences of individuals whose identities may not fit the gender binary, and/or who may not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Identities including trans, intersex, and genderqueer reflect personal descriptions, expressions, and experiences. Gender-inclusive/non-sexist language acknowledges people of any gender (e.g., first year student vs. freshman, chair vs. chairman, humankind vs. mankind). It also affirms non-binary gender identifications and recognizes the difference between biological sex and gender expression. 

I value diversity and inclusion and I am committed to a climate of mutual respect and full participation. It is my goal is to create a learning environment that is usable, equitable, inclusive, and welcoming.  If you anticipate or experience any barriers to learning in this course (including, but not limited to, the considerations below), please feel welcome to discuss your concerns with me.  

Names and Pronouns: It is important to me that I call everyone by the name and pronouns they use. You are invited to share your proper name, including pronunciation, and pronouns so that I may make certain my records are complete. If you prefer to change your preferred/proper name in NIU’s system see this link. Please correct me if I make a mistake.