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In some departments, a course coordinator supervises a group of TAs who teach sections of the same course (or a related set of courses), but most TAs are assigned to work for a particular professor in one or more of that professor's courses. In either case, the kind of relationship you have with your supervisor will affect your performance as a TA.
If you are working as a discussion leader or grader, having a clear definition of your duties is critical. If you don't ask questions, the course professor will often assume that you know what you are supposed to do. Try to get your duties in writing to reduce the chances of misinterpretation. Ask for precise answers about:
In addition, regular meetings with the course professor are indispensable for handling problems and concerns as they come up during the semester. The professor can use some of the meeting time to explain common student difficulties with the upcoming content and can suggest specific ways TAs should teach it. If TAs will be responsible for helping develop exams, these meetings should also explore testing techniques preferred by the course professor and specific criteria used for grading test items. The course professor should help TAs develop a grading plan that standardizes criteria across sections to reduce grading variations. In some situations, TAs are allotted a small percentage of the final grade to reflect class participation in their discussion sections; criteria for this grade should also be worked out with the course professor.
With regular meetings, the supervisor can handle situations which arise between and among TAs in the course. For example, some TAs may give their sections higher grades to give their students an edge; some TAs may simply cancel class arbitrarily; some TAs will work harder than others, holding special review sessions, giving extra handouts, and tutoring students who are having difficulties. These issues must be handled quickly so they don't undermine TA morale or create inequities for the students.
If regular conferences are not scheduled by the professor in charge, you might suggest that such meetings be held, citing the reasons given above. Even if the course professor does not wish to meet, there is no reason the TAs themselves could not confer regularly to work out course problems and share teaching insights, as long as the professor is aware that the meetings are taking place.
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Last updated: January 30, 2001