The College of Engineering is offering a two-day Teaching Assistant Professional Development Workshop open to all engineering graduate students who are preparing to be TAs or are interested in teaching development. The free workshop will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 11-12, in John A. White Engineering Hall room 337.  

Teaching assistants are critical touch points for undergraduate students and have a strong influence on the learning outcomes of the college's courses. Many TAs engage in in-class teaching and are responsible for grading, office hour problem solving and general interactions in person, via email and course management systems such as Blackboard. Of equal importance, many graduate students aspire to faculty positions but never receive formal teaching training.

The TA Professional Development Workshop has the dual goal of pedagogical training for TAs and professional development for graduate students. The workshop will include a full two-day agenda covering topics such as:

• Roles and responsibilities
• Hosting effective office hours
• Practicing use of technological tools (Blackboard, Zoom, interactive polls, etc.)
• Developing engineering specific and active learning strategies
• Creating and applying grading rubrics, syllabus development and course content
• Practicing teaching through demonstrations and peer feedback

TAs across all engineering disciplines in any year of study and in any degree program (undergraduate, master's and Ph.D.) are encouraged to attend. Breakfast, lunch and snacks with coffee will be provided. Students must sign up in advance by Aug. 1. Registration can be completed online at this link.

Questions can be directed to Sarah Hernandez (sarahvh@uark.edu) and Cameron Murray (cdmurray@uark.edu), associate professors in the Department of Civil Engineering.

This workshop is funded by the college's Biggadike Innovation Grant (BIG) program.