An orientation workshop for graduate teaching assistants is described. Held prior to the first day of teaching, the workshop seeks to reduce anxiety, introduce the teaching assistants to educational problems they will face and to methods and resources for coping, and to acquaint them with available university resources. (JMD)

This course combined English language training with guidance and practice in teaching mathematics and represented a joint effort on the part of the English and Mathematics Departments. (MP)

This paper presents a longitudinally replicated and cross-validated path analysis of the relations between students' attitudes in a leadership training program. Available from Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011. (Author)

The approach described here of assessing Teaching Assistant effectiveness involves three components: class visitation, a student instructional rating instrument, and teaching of the TA's class. The eclectic approach provides a more complete view of TA performance than individual measures. (CHK)

The University of Minnesota's TA Web Certification program is designed to give teaching assistants (TAs) the skills needed to create course Web sites that are technically robust and pedagogically useful. Provides an overview of successes and challenges encountered by designers of and instructors in the program, highlighting salient data from…

Implicit theories held by graduate teaching assistants were investigated. Information related to their theories-of-action was elicited through interview questions about what they mean by teaching, about how they respond to everyday classroom events, and about assumptions they make regarding those events. (MLW)

Describes three components of the teaching assistant program used in the screening process. Outlines the training procedures for all teaching assistants, follow-up program, program director and instructor's perspectives. Presents tables on recommendations and questions asked on feedback forms which focus on improvement and international experience…

A survey and comparison of 60 graduate-level physical education programs indicated such current trends as the consideration of standardized examination scores and grade point average as admissions standards, residency requirements, written and oral comprehensive examinations, and dissertation defense. Programs greatly varied regarding masters…

A survey of 74 law schools using upper-level law students as teaching assistants in first-year legal research and writing courses provided information on the roles given to teaching assistants (classroom teacher, evaluator, mentor, mediator), and their selection, training, supervision, compensation, and evaluation. Advantages and disadvantages of…

Data from all Ph.D. students in four fields at Cornell University, 1962-1986, showed that students with fellowships or research assistantships had higher completion rates and took less time to complete their degrees than did than those with teaching assistantships, tuition waivers, or self-support. (SK)

Describes a teaching assistant (TA) training program to improve quality of a college physics course. Presents the goals and structures of the physics course and the TA training program. Describes the formative evaluation procedure and its role in developing the training model. Concludes that students in the physics class valued the recitation and…

Examines the curriculum of international teaching assistant (ITA) programs within a sociolinguistic model of language use, the "communicative competence" model proposed by Hymes (1972). The authors advocate reconceptualizing language skills in terms of communicative competence allowing ITA programs to better prepare ITAs for their roles as…

Presents research results regarding the use of graduate teaching assistants (TAs) in undergraduate courses. Reports that the use of TAs had no significant effect on grading. Reveals that students felt they learned no less in courses taught by TAs. Suggests that students preferred TAs, the courses they taught, and their attitudes about students.…

To prepare new international graduate students for assignments as teaching assistants, the University of Washington chemistry department worked with specialists in language, pedagogy, and chemistry to design a discipline-specific training program. The program's structure, participants, benefits and limitations, and effectiveness in its first year…

A study examined the growth and development of graduate students holding teaching assistantships and research assistantships and compared it with that of nonassistants. In general, teaching assistantships contributed less to student professional development than did research assistantships. Students who had experienced both types of assistantships…