If you are applying for a TAship in Biology in Summer 2020 but are not a graduate student in Biology directly, please use this form in addition to your application on UW Hires.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR BIOLOGY TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Table of Contents
1. SAFETY
2. COURSE ORGANIZATION
3. BEFORE THE QUARTER
4. AFTER THE QUARTER
5. DURING THE QUARTER
6. TEACHING RESOURCES
Since TAs come from a number of different home departments and course logistics vary with the size and level of the classes, the Biology Department has developed the following outline of duties and expectations for TAs.
• A regular TA position is considered a 20-hour/week job for the duration of the quarter. Each TA teaches two 3-hour labs or three 2-hour labs in lower division courses, while upper division direct contact hours may vary by course. The actual hours worked per week will vary throughout the quarter.
• Expectations vary in different courses, so make sure you touch base with your instructor before the quarter begins. You are expected to be available for a TA meeting before the quarter begins and to be available for several days after the final exam period to do final grading. Please let the instructor know of ANY expected absences during the upcoming quarter, before the quarter starts; do not arrange for someone to cover an absence without prior approval of the faculty.
• If you are a graduate student, you must enroll for a minimum of 10 credits during Aut, Win, or Spr Quarters or 2 credits during Summer Quarter, whether you are appointed as a Pre-doctoral Lecturer or a TA.
1. SAFETY:
Graduate TAs have an integral role to play in the safety of students and staff. Fulfilling these roles supercedes all other tasks that a TA must complete, and TAs should be mindful of these roles even when not explicitly discussed by faculty or within a particular course.
Graduate TAs are expected to:
• Discuss safety first: As the first element of any TA/student discussion in any section for which they are the
instructor in charge, TAs are expected to discus safety concerns for that lab. By putting safety first in every lab, the department will instill an appropriate respect and cognizance of safety for all.Typically, this will be very brief and simply a reminder of unchanged hazards from the last class. For new hazards, students should be informed concisely and clearly about the threat, how to prevent it, and their next step if something goes wrong.
• Know the safety information: Any instructor should know basic safety information about their classroom or lab. You don’t need to know the text of the MSDS, but you should know where that information is. You don't need to know every aspect of the fire or earthquake plan, but you should know where to go. You don't need to be an expert dissector, but you should know how to describe safe use of forceps. TAs are expected to prompt faculty instructors or coordinators to give safety information as needed. If a faculty member is repeatedly difficult to get this safety information from, then TAs should report this to Ben and/or Marissa.
• Report all incidents and near misses: For any safety problem in a section, the TA has two choices. They can complete an OARS report online, or they can report the problem to the faculty instructor by email and then the faculty instructor will complete the OARS report. In either case, the TA must complete a written record. This goes for ALL lab injuries and ALL near-misses.
These safety expectations for graduate TAs are relatively new in our department, and faculty may require some assistance to get used to them. Through this process, we expect to make our teaching spaces safer as well as familiarize all staff and students with modern safety procedures.
2. COURSE ORGANIZATION:
Introductory Lab Courses:
One or two lecturers and a course coordinator organize and teach each introductory Biology course. In addition to giving the lectures, the lecturers decide which exercises will be done and what theoretical objectives each lab should present. The course coordinator is in charge of day-to-day practical matters and has close contact with TAs. As a TA, you are responsible to both. The course coordinator, in particular, is very knowledgeable in both the subject matter and in the logistics of this course. This person is in charge of keeping the labs running smoothly and may ask your help in recording grades, cleaning lab rooms or equipment, cleaning aquaria, etc. Fulfilling these tasks is an expected part of your duties.
Upper-division Lab Courses:
There is no course coordinator so the TA is expected to do most of the weekly set up and take down. Since there are fewer people involved, there is often more leeway for variation and more opportunity for the TA to offer creative input. There is also a greater need for the TA to be pro-active and verify that MSDS sheets, lab safety manual, and needed equipment are available and in good repair. At the end of the quarter, the TA also needs to be sure the lab room (and support space) is cleaned up and ready for the next quarter’s class. Be sure unused chemicals are discarded or returned to faculty labs, chemical waste disposed of properly,
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equipment returned to where it came from, and whiteboards cleaned. Leave the room the way you’d like to receive it!
Lecture-Only Courses:
Lecture only courses typically range from 60 to 250 students and are organized in a variety of ways. The typical TA load is 60-80 students, and quiz sections will be either 20 or 30 students each depending on instructor preference. There are fewer direct student contact hours in lecture courses, but generally more hours spent grading, as writing tends to be an important component of these courses. Quiz sections are assigned from a central office and are scattered around campus (although we request them close to Kincaid and Hitchcock)
3. BEFORE THE QUARTER:
Note: There is a significant amount of pre-planning that you need to do for every quarter. Make this a routine! You have to be your own agent through this process, and neither your PI nor the Grad Coordinator will be able to look out for you. If you miss out, you may end up paying for the term yourself or missing out on important classes or research.
• About 6 weeks before the beginning of any quarter, the Grad Program Manager will send out a message to all departmental grad students, alerting you that the TA request system is now open for the following quarter. If you need a TAship for that quarter, you will have about 10 days to submit your choices.
- The drop down menu should only list courses that need TAs for that quarter
- Check the time schedule before you request a course to make sure it fits your schedule
- You may talk to specific instructors about their courses and whether this is a good TAship for you o Assignments are made by the Faculty Coordinator in consultation with the Graduate Program
Chair and the Grad Program Manager
• Check with course personnel as soon as you are assigned to TA a particular class. Large introductory class faculty will need your class schedule before TAs can be assigned to sections. Find out when the first TA meeting is likely to be and plan on being available then. Your appointment actually begins well before the first day of class and, particularly in Autumn quarter, you should plan on being available in the week before class starts for the first TA meeting. Find out about this before making plans to be away from campus over any quarter break!
• If you are TAing for a lab course, pick up keys to the lab and outside door of Hitchcock Hall or Johnson Hall from the Biology Office in 106 Kincaid, before your first lab. There is a $10 deposit for these and you will need to fill out a key authorization form (available from course faculty). Keys should be returned promptly at the end of the quarter for a key refund. This is very important, as there are only a limited number of keys available and we need them back.
• Your responsibilities to the class do not end until final grades have been completed. Check with course personnel before making final travel plans!
Please note that graduate students often have to work out conflicts between TAships and courses. It is your responsibility to be communicative, as the graduate student may be the only person who can see that there is a conflict. You may need to work out a special arrangement if your TAships cannot be flexible enough to allow for your attendance at all of your class sessions. Working on this early is your best path towards a good schedule for the upcoming quarter.
4. AFTER THE QUARTER:
• The lecturers and/or the course coordinator evaluate your performance at the end of the quarter. Evaluations
are shared with your home department and are considered when future TA appointments are made. We consider teaching an important duty and work hard to make sure that all of our TAs are conscientious, well informed, and well supported.
• If there have been significant problems with your TAship, please mention these to Ben and/or Marissa by soon after the end of the quarter. It is much easier to make improvements when we hear about the problems within this time frame. If you wait to report, then we may not always be able to act until after other people have had to go through the same problematic experience. Reports will be kept as confidential as possible at your discretion.
• Students may ask you for evaluations for medical school, dental school, etc. It is generally better for students to get recommendations from smaller, upper level classes, but many students will need recommendations from a large introductory course. It usually is best if these come from the lecturer in charge of the course and you should tell students to feel free to contact the professor directly. Check with the personnel of your course to find out how they would like you to handle this. Many prefer to get input from you, since, in most cases, you will know the student better than the faculty will. Never agree to write a recommendation if you can't honestly write something good; it is better to tell the student you can't than to just fail to hand one in.
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5. DURING THE QUARTER (The following areas are detailed in no particular order of importance.)
a. Lectures: Attendance at all lectures is mandatory, even for graduate students teaching in their specialty. This: • Ensures that TAs know what a lecturer has said to better answer student questions and anticipate issues
• Allows exam grading to be consistent with information presented to students in class.
• Ensures that the lecturer will have help available (handing out papers, AV equipment, etc.)
• Helps in communication of all sorts. Both faculty and students need to be able to catch you to make appointments, ask brief questions, pass on information, etc.
b. TA Meetings: Attendance at weekly TA meetings is required.
These meetings are set up to give you the chance to practice laboratory procedures you will be responsible for teaching and to ask questions about parts of the exercise that are unclear to you. Please avail yourself of this opportunity and don't be shy or embarrassed to ask questions. No one understands all of biology equally well and if something is unclear to you, it is probably unclear to other TAs and almost certainly will be unclear to your students. Make sure you understand all parts of the exercise and what students are supposed to do and get out of each section before you leave the meeting. Pay particular attention to logistical details; it is unfair to others when a TA early in the week uses up the whole week's supply of something or misinforms an entire class, for lack of paying attention to instructions given in the TA meeting. You are expected to take notes at each meeting. At TA meetings, you can also expect to be asked to give feedback about how the previous week's procedures went. Instructors welcome your suggestions about how to improve an exercise or make it flow more smoothly. After each meeting, you will spend some independent preparation time readying yourself for your teaching that week.
c. Office Hours:
You may be expected to hold office hours and be available to answer student questions at set, predictable times. In introductory courses, the course coordinator will go over how many office hours you should have (generally 1 or 2 hours/week) and how/where they should be conducted.
d. Covering for Absences:
If you are unable to teach in a given week, please contact your course coordinator or the lecturing faculty member before arranging a trade with a fellow TA; all trades, absences, or other irregularities must be pre-approved by the faculty, even if a last minute problem arises.
e. Punctuality:
Be punctual to all labs, TA meetings, and lectures. If you are coming from off-campus, take transportation time into account. Many labs require some preparation by the TA prior to the time the students arrive. Make sure you know what is required and how much time should be allotted before the TA meeting is over. Students will assume that you do not care about them if you show up late, even if your excuse is reasonable. This directly translates into worse experiences and outcomes for students, and often for a less-enjoyable and time-consuming quarter of TAing for the graduate student.
f. Room Access:
Check out keys to your assigned lab room(s) (see above under ‘Before the Quarter’). If you need access to a locked room in HCK, please see the Biology Office in HCK for a key that can be temporarily checked out. Outside doors to the lab building (Hitchcock Hall) are open until 8 pm on weekdays and not at all on weekends. Do not prop the outside door open when the building is locked! If students need access, the instructor needs to make arrangements with the Biology Office. We have access to fewer facilities in JHN than in HCK, consult the instructor or the Bio office in HCK. Lecture rooms and quiz section rooms assigned in other buildings should be unlocked
g. Materials, Equipment and Facilities:
• You are responsible for your lab and the equipment in it while you are teaching. Try to make sure students
are using instruments properly; circulate through the lab and check usage.
• If you are running low on something (pipettes, chemicals, etc.) please let the course coordinator know, either
in person or by note (the coordinator will tell you the best way to communicate about these sorts of problems). In upper division courses, it will generally be your responsibility to keep track of these kinds of supplies and make sure that there is a sufficient amount on hand.
• Please report malfunctioning equipment to the person in charge of your course as soon as possible-- especially incubator or aquarium problems that must be corrected or a whole week's labs may be spoiled. Problem equipment should not be put back in the cabinet; set each malfunctioning piece aside, with a note describing the problem so it can be fixed and not just passed on to the next lab.
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• Check to make sure the room doors are locked and windows closed. Do not leave a student with this responsibility. If demonstration scopes are being used, at the end of lab close the windows and close the curtains (especially in first floor rooms). Be sure microscope lamps are turned off before you leave. You are responsible for the state of the room and equipment, so make sure your students clean up or you'll be expected to do it yourself!
h. Monitor your sections:
Get to know your students. Learn their names (use a seating chart if necessary). The faculty will count on you to provide information about students having trouble, students who are putting in extra effort, or have some special circumstances that should be taken into account in assigning grades. You are expected to be available at the end of the quarter to give input into final grades.
i. Grading:
Many of your responsibilities as a TA center on grading. In many biology courses, labs count for a large portion of the course grade, so be fair and conscientious. Labs should be promptly graded and returned so that students can improve before the next report is due. Lecture instructors will provide grading keys; be sure to check out your grading scheme with the instructor before grading all the papers; if the lecturer doesn't agree with the way you've graded, you'll be asked to go back and re-do it all, so check it out first. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification or judgment calls; we're all in this together!
Exams should be graded on the basis of the information available to the student (don't expect them to know points just brought up in your graduate seminar!). Be consistent and consider reasonable alternatives. Read several papers before deciding on a grading scheme so you get an idea of the sorts of answers and variations you'll run across. Write as many explanatory comments as you can within the scope of the class grading plan. Clarity helps students learn as well as decreases requests for re-grades. Keep comments calm, clear and professional. Keep your eye out for cheating and mark exams that seem unusual so that you can go back to check them after grading. Your class might also make steps to make cheating on regrades more difficult like slashing through empty space. Report grades into the course gradebook as soon as possible to help students self-monitor and avoid errors.
j. Professionalism:
• Confidentiality. Student grades are legally confidential and should not be discussed with other students.
This includes excellent grades as well as poor ones. Do not discuss students’ or your own personal lives and be careful about talking about students with other TAs where you might be overheard. You can certainly talk to students about their academic interests, career goals. This will let them know that you’re interested in them, without probing into personal issues.
• Appropriateness. Keep an appropriate distance from your students. You don’t need a lot, but is important to remember that you are their teacher, not their buddy. Don’t make social connections with your students during the quarter (this includes Facebook). Remember that students are sensitive to jokes and you won’t be able to know it, because they won’ tell you. You may not accept gifts or money for tutoring. Check with us if confusing situations arise. The bottom line: Be careful you don’t give the impression of liking some students better than others. Otherwise, students won’t believe that you are objective when grading.
• Your Personal Safety. Use the same standards for your personal safety as you would in other areas of your life. We want and need to know about any problems that you are confronted with in the lab and if there is a student you feel the least bit uncomfortable with. For any situation that feels awkward, it is always acceptable to have another Biology staff or faculty in the room for a conversation with a student. You can find backup through your instructor, coordinator, any office staff in HCK or JHN, or any other person who works in the same vicinity.
k. All the time:
We are all trying to make our courses the best possible learning environments that they can be. If you have suggestions on how to improve a lab or a particular procedure, by all means pass them on; they'll be appreciated. Likewise, if you see problems that need correcting, speak up about that too. Course coordinators and faculty are the best receivers of this information and have the best chance to make changes in future terms. Complain where and when it will do some good!
If matters should come up that you'd rather not discuss directly with either the lecturers or lab coordinators, feel free to come to the Faculty Coordinator for Biology Instruction (Ben Wiggins) or the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education (Horacio de la Iglesia). Your viewpoint is very important and many changes are made based on the experiences of TAs who have gone through a particular exercise with students.
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If you are more interested in teaching, theory and skills then there are opportunities within the department.
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The Biology Education Research Group is a weekly seminar/discussion that is open to all and is accessible even to novice teachers or those looking for a first exposure, primarily in education research but sometimes in teaching issues more directly.
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There are faculty within the department who are actively involved in education research, including (but not limited to) Mary Pat Wenderoth, Scott Freeman, Alison Crowe, Jennifer Doherty and several postdocs.
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There is a Center for Teaching and Learning with online information for TAs at http://www.washington.edu/teaching/just-for-tas/ .
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Coursera has a free course titled “Evidence-Based Teaching for STEM Courses”. This is a collection of videos, and a strong background is provided in the Week 1 Resources that might be interesting to you.
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Longer term, there are several training programs for later doctoral students interested in education like the Project for Interdisciplinary Pedagogy Fellowship and the STEP post-doc teaching programs.
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The Instructor of Record program is a way for a limited number of Biology graduate students to teach courses. A maximum of three graduate students per academic year can teach a course as an Instructor of Record. To make this happen, please inquire with Marissa about the IoR form and be in touch with Ben about possibilities after you have all of the needed signatures. Arrangements for courses are made in November of the previous academic year, so this is something you need to think about long-term (see IoR form for details).