The CTL held a TA Seminar for Faculty and an Orientation for TAs in February and April 2022, respectively.

At the CTL, we held the following TA-related events in February and April 2022.

1. TA Seminar for Faculty

The CTL holds an annual seminar for faculty members about the TA System. This year's seminar held in February 2022 reflected and reported on the new TA System, which had been in place for two years, and shared TAs’ frank comments.

[Time and Date] 13:00–⁠13:20, Monday, February 21 and Tuesday, February 22, 2022
[Language] English and Japanese (Presentations: English; Slides: Japanese and English; Q&A: English and Japanese)
[Mode] Online via Zoom
[Contents]

• Reflections on the new TA System (Prof. Alberg, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning)
• Current state of TA work and TAs’ frank comments (Prof. Alberg and two experienced TAs)
• Issues and solutions (Prof. Alberg and two experienced TAs)
• Q&A and exchange of views (facilitated by Prof. Alberg)

[Participants] 46 faculty members (Attendance at this seminar was mandatory for all faculty members, and those who were absent were required to watch a recording of the seminar.)

The new TA System took effect in April 2020, and several new clauses have since been incorporated into the TA Guidelines. In this seminar, we encouraged faculty to reacquaint themselves with the guidelines and presented some insights that we had gleaned from the latest TA Activity Reports submitted for the AY 2021 Spring and Autumn Terms.

• In around 90% of the courses, the course instructors and their TAs went over the syllabi and the expected TA duties before classes began.
• Over 80% of the TAs answered that they received instructions, training, and mentoring from their course instructors “to a moderate extent” or “to a great extent” or “to a very great extent” by email or in person after courses began.
• Tasks performed by TAs were categorized into those completed before class, during class, and after class, and were listed.
• TAs’ frank comments were shared — in the seminar, we asked two experienced TAs to read out the comments on behalf of their fellow TAs.
  • “I talked to the students who came to the classroom early and checked the extent of their understanding and whether they had any questions about the previous lecture. Then, I shared such information with the course instructor before class.”
  • “I found it interesting when different instructors taught the same course. Each instructor had a distinctive way of teaching and approaching the subjects. This experience enabled me to earn a deeper understanding of the specialized field.”
  • “I frequently communicated with students by email and developed positive relationships with them. As a result, they came to me for advice without hesitation during group work.”
  • “I think it’s great that students have the option to talk to and ask questions to TAs in cases where they may not be comfortable doing so with their professors (as TAs are closer in terms of position to the students).”
  • “Workload over the assigned points (1 point = 60 minutes per week)”
  • “My course and my specialized fields did not match, and it pained me that I could not answer students’ questions.”
  • “It was so much work to check the submitted assignments on Moodle for a large class.”
• Finally, we shared a message that the CTL has been communicating to TAs, which is a message that we hope faculty members will also keep in mind when working with TAs.
  • “Doing TA is also a learning opportunity for TAs!”
  • “Ultimately, in order for everything to go smoothly, it is key for TAs to communicate with the professors!”

From TA Activity Reports, we can see that many faculty members and TAs have worked collaboratively to manage their classes. Many TAs feel that their work has been meaningful and rewarding. On the other hand, we learned that some TAs have concerns or are experiencing problems. At the CTL, we will continue to hold seminars and other events to contribute to facilitating smoother and more active collaboration between faculty and TAs.

2. Orientation for TAs

We held an Orientation for TAs on Wednesday, April 6. Attendance was mandatory for newly hired TAs. Two experienced TAs explained the main tasks and responsibilities of TAs, gave advice, and set aside time for questions. It was our hope that the new TAs would have a chance to resolve their concerns and feel more confident before working as TAs for the first time. We also encouraged those who have TA experience to attend the orientation, and aimed to provide an opportunity for TAs to meet and talk with fellow TAs.

As in the previous year, we asked two experienced TAs (those who have more than three years of TA experience and are enrolled in the PhD program) to plan, create slides, and facilitate the orientation.

[Time and Date] 13:00-14:00, Wednesday, April 6, 2022
[Language] Japanese and English
[Mode] Online via Zoom
[Contents]

• Remarks and explanation of the TA System (Prof. Alberg, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning)
• Main tasks and responsibilities of TAs (two experienced TAs)
• Tips and advice (two experienced TAs)
• Breakout session (facilitated by four experienced TAs)
• Q&A (facilitated by two experienced TAs)

[Participants] Approximately 30 TAs

As of the AY 2022 Spring Term, the proportion of classes taught face-to-face will increase, and it is expected that there will be changes to TA work duties. The two experienced TAs explained the tasks that TAs performed in the AY 2021 Spring and Autumn Terms, and mentioned what sorts of work TAs will be more likely to undertake in the coming months (e.g., reserving, setting up, and operating classroom equipment, and supporting group discussions and labs/practica). They also shared insights gained from TA Activity Reports submitted for the AY 2021 Spring and Autumn Terms, and gave advice.

In addition, as in the previous year, they conveyed the message that TAs are not just assistants to professors — they are in fact learners. By giving concrete examples, they emphasized that when there are difficulties with the workload, the extent of work, communicating with students, etc., the key is to communicate effectively with course instructors.

In the latter half of the orientation, a breakout session was held to provide an opportunity for TAs to interact and exchange information with one another.

In the AY 2022 Autumn Term, we are planning to hold a workshop focusing on TA work duties in more detail and providing further opportunities for TAs to meet and talk with fellow TAs.