TA Teaching Camp Prepares Graduate Teaching Assistants for Classroom

University of Arkansas

Teaching assistants learned best practices for leading in the classroom during the January 2020 TA Teaching Camp.

For graduate and teaching assistants, stepping up to teach in a classroom for the first time can be very intimidating. You might know your subject matter but knowing how to teach it is a whole new thing. That's why the Graduate School and International Education partners with the Graduate and Professional Student Congress and the TIPS Center to offer Teaching Camp each semester for teaching assistants.

The Spring 2020 Teaching Camp last month included graduate students from a variety of academic programs determined to make the most of their teaching experience on campus.

"Our recent TA Training Camp was a great success," said Anthony Holdier, a graduate teaching assistant in philosophy and a member of GPSC Academic & Teaching Committee. "For the second time, we provided teaching and graduate assistants with an opportunity to further develop their skills in course preparation and management."

Holdier said the camps include discussions about academic integrity to syllabus creation to strategies for using Blackboard and more, providing an opportunity for graduate students from departments and disciplines across campus to work and learn together.  

In addition to the Teaching Camp, TIPS and the graduate school provide sessions during the semester for teaching assistants to focus on best teaching practices. The first Spring 2020 TIPS for TAs session is from 3-4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in GEAR 211 and focuses on Blackboard. The session will include discussion on creating content in Blackboard for quizzes, surveys, video and discussion boards.

For graduate students interested in continuing the conversation around teaching, the TIPS for TAs series will run every other Thursday throughout the semester. For more details and a list of upcoming topics, see grad.uark.edu/grad-events.