正品蓝导航

 
 

Centre for Learning and Teaching

Teaching Assistant Professional Development Days

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Tuesday, September 9

Student Union Building (SUB)

Wednesday, September 10

Online via Microsoft Teams

The purpose of TA Days is to provide teaching assistants with strategies, information, and/or understanding to support them in their teaching activities during the year. These workshops and webinars are meant to provide both new and returning TAs with the opportunity to listen, learn and ask questions about teaching.

Participants in the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) can receive up to 5 professional development hours for attending TA Days. Note: This excludes the information session that outlines the CUTL and other programming available, which does not account towards the PD hours.

Timing and sessions may be updated.

听(PDF - opens in new window).


Tuesday, September 9

The in-person sessions will be held at the听Student Union Building听(6136 University Avenue) on 正品蓝导航鈥檚 Studley Campus in Halifax.

Student Union Building, 正品蓝导航 University

Notice: On-Site Photography

Please be advised that a photographer will be on site on听Tuesday, September 9. Photos taken may be used by the听Centre for Learning and Teaching听for purposes including advertising, promotion, marketing, administrative, or educational communications, in both print and electronic formats. 听If you prefer听not听to have your photo taken, kindly inform the photographer on site.

8:30鈥�9 a.m.

Registration

Location

Second floor lobby听

Complimentary refreshments will be available in room 224.

9鈥�9:30 a.m.

Welcome

Location

Council Chambers, 2nd floor

Presenters

Elder Ann: Land acknowledgment
Dr. Valerie Chappe welcomes students

9:30鈥�10:30 a.m.

Supporting your Teaching Development: Programs and Opportunities at 正品蓝导航

Location

Room 303

Type of Session

Information session

Presenter

Ezgi Ozyonum, Educational Developer (Student Development)

Description

In this information session, you will learn about different programs (e.g., Micro-teaching short course, the teaching dossier retreat, CNLT 5000 course, CUTL certificate program, etc.) available at CLT to help you develop and improve your teaching skills.

Intended Audience

New TAs

Engaging Students through Active Learning: Shared practices for Teaching Assistants

Location

Council Chamber (2nd floor)

Type of Session

Workshop

Presenter

Jessica Latimer (PhD Student, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

Description

As a TA, how do you break the ice in a tutorial or lab setting? How do you encourage students to engage in class activities? Most TAs experience silence after posing a question or inviting discussion, but how can we lay a foundation for student engagement? This session explores different active learning strategies to encourage students to participate in their learning and reflection. We鈥檒l look at practical approaches that not only foster student engagement but also help TAs diagnose areas of confusion and break down the 鈥榩auses鈥� into more productive moments of learning. In this workshop:

  • Participants will explore a couple mini active learning activities that you can incorporate before, during and after a tutorial/lab.
  • We will discuss how to explain the purpose of active learning to students in order to make participation less nerve-wracking and promote student engagement.
  • This session will be based on the workshop leader鈥檚 experience as a STEM TA (tutorial and lab), but activities will be transferrable to other disciplines and other teaching spaces.

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs

10:30鈥�10:45 a.m.

Break

Complimentary refreshments will be available in room 224.

10:45鈥�11:45 a.m.

Empowering Students with Effective Written Feedback

Location

Room 303

Type of Session

Workshop

Presenter

Janice MacDonald Eddington, Coordinator of Operations, Writing Advisor, Writing Centre

Description

Efficient feedback strategies TAs can use to help students improve the expression of their ideas, learn the conventions and expectations of their discipline, and empower them in their future academic work, while effectively managing the time devoted to commenting on each paper. This session will also include strategies for helping students with academic integrity concerns in their writing.

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs

Constructing Effective Rubrics

Location

Council Chambers, 2nd floor

Type of Session

Workshop

Presenter

Daniella Sieukaran, Senior Educational Developer (Program Development)

Description

Want to spend LESS time grading and providing feedback? Grading using rubrics has many benefits such as reducing grading time for instructors, and providing clear and consistent expectations to students. In this session, you will learn the purpose and principles underlying grading using rubrics and the different types of rubrics. You will also be introduced to the step-by-step process for constructing effective rubrics, including how to design the various components that make up a rubric and appropriate language to use in rubrics. 

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs

11:45鈥�1 p.m.

Lunch Break and Information Booths

Location

Room 224

Grab a slice of pizza and learn about the services and resources available to support your teaching assistant role. 

1鈥�2:30 p.m.

Creating Inclusive Classroom Climate: A TA鈥檚 Pedagogical Tools

Location

Room 303

Type of session

Workshop

Description

Inclusive teaching and classroom climate mostly focus on syllabus, reading list, course structure, etc.鈥攅lements usually handled by the course instructor. As a TA, you might not have control over these things, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you can鈥檛 make a difference. There are still plenty of ways to make your teaching more inclusive. In this 3-part session, you鈥檒l learn about ways and strategies to work across different settings you鈥檙e involved in鈥攚hether you're running a tutorial, lab, seminar, office hours, or even teaching online.

1鈥�1:30 p.m.

Intercultural Teaching Competency

Presenter

Shazia Nawaz Awan, Educational Developer (Internationalization and Intercultural Competency)

Description

This 30-minute section of the session introduces TAs to Intercultural Teaching Competency (ITC) model, a reflective tool that will draw TA鈥檚 focus to awareness of their own place in the cultural landscape of their classrooms and their ability to encourage reflection among students about creating a culturally responsive classroom environment. Through concrete strategies and competencies, the session is aimed to help TAs recognize ways they can model and practice intercultural competency.

1:30鈥�2 p.m.

Decolonizing Teaching Practice

Presenter

Rachelle McKay, Educational Developer (Indigenous Knowledges and Ways of Knowing)

Description

This 30-minute session introduces TAs to the principles of decolonizing pedagogy, focusing on how teaching methods can reinforce or challenge colonial power dynamics in the classroom. Through discussion and concrete examples, the session highlights ways that TAs can value diverse ways of knowing, communicating, and engaging.

2鈥�2:30 p.m.

Using 鈥淚ce Breakers鈥� in Meaningful Ways 

Presenter

Kate Thompson, Educational Developer (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) 

Description

鈥淚ce Breakers鈥� (introductory activities in the first or second day of class) are often thought of as light-hearted ways to introduce the students and instructor to one another. Through a learning activity, we鈥檒l experience several ice-breaker activities, the rationale for choosing which one to use, and to carefully consider factors that may exclude, not include students.

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs

 

Communicating with Confidence

Location

Council Chamber (2nd floor)

Type of Session

Workshop

Presenter

Ben Tait, Executive Director, Centre for Learning and Teaching

Description

Even for the most confident public speakers, interacting with students and faculty members as a T.A. can present many challenges. For those less comfortable speaking in group situations, or less experienced in handling sensitive conversations, it can be truly daunting. In this practical session, we'll explore techniques for communicating with clarity, authenticity and confidence.
Note: participants in this session will need to join in some practical exercises focused on communication skills. However, they will not be required to do anything individually in front of a group.

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs
 

2:30鈥�2:45 p.m.

Break

Complimentary refreshments will be available in room 224.

2:45鈥�3:45 p.m.

Supporting the Resilience of Grad TA鈥檚

Location

Room 303

Presenter

David Pilon, Director of Counselling & Psychological Services, Student Health and Wellness

Description

Being a Graduate Student TA is exciting, contributes to your own learning and teaching competencies, and can be a little daunting at times. This session will speak to the joys and the challenges of being a TA. We will share some strategies to maintain your own well-being. We will provide an overview of student mental health and how to recognize and respond to students in distress and will highlight campus resources to support student mental health and wellness.

Engaging with GenAI in Teaching and Learning

Location

Council Chamber (2nd floor)

Presenter

Kate Crane, Coordinator for the Faculty Certificate in Teaching and Learning

Description

This session will cover the main opportunities and challenges that GenAI presents in our teaching and learning. Facilitator and participants will also construct a list of relevant questions to bring to the instructor of the course to best understand the approach(es) being taken towards AI, ensuring that TAs can mark student work confidently.

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Wednesday, September 10

The following sessions will take place online via Microsoft Teams. Links to the sessions will be made available upon registration.听

9:30鈥�10:30 a.m.

Brightspace for TAs

Type of Session

Webinar

Presenter

Michelle McDonald, Instructional Support Technician and Trainer

Description

This workshop will introduce attendees to the Brightspace interface. We will look at system navigation, course homepages and the content tool. Each participant will have their own sandbox and will be able to add an announcement in the News widget and explore other widgets that can be added to the Homepage. Participants will also work inside the Content Tool to be able to add modules to the Table of Contents, add content and manage modules. Participants will be able to build a basic course at the end of this workshop.

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs
 

11 a.m.鈥�12 p.m.

Behind the Scenes: Shared Practices for Effective Teaching Assistants

Type of session

Shared practice session

Presenters

Arvin Vaziry (PhD Candidate in Mathematics)
James Kho (Postdoc in Biology)
Sigma Jahan (PhD Candidate in Computer science)

Description

Teaching assistantship can entail various roles and responsibilities, depending on the discipline. Some roles and responsibilities are common across different programs, while others are more discipline-specific. As TAs take on tasks such as coordinating labs, conducting office hours and tutorials, assisting students with assignments, and delivering lectures, their responsibilities become more complex. In this shared practice session, TAs from different programs, such as Mathematics, Biology and Computer Science, will discuss how their TAships are structured and what is expected of them in their departments. They will share their experiences, providing insights into their teaching routines, preparation for labs, tutorials, and lectures, and the challenges they face and how they overcome them. This session will also include tips and strategies to help you prepare for your own TA position. Regardless of your position or discipline, the insights shared in this session will be applicable across lots of different positions. By learning from experienced TAs, you'll gain valuable knowledge that can enhance your effectiveness and confidence in your role.

Intended Audience

New and/or experienced TAs
 

12鈥�1 p.m.

Lunch break

1鈥�2 p.m.

Managing Disruptive Behaviour in the Classroom

Type of Session

Workshop

Presenter

Jessica Chubb, Ombudsperson

Description

Facing challenging student behaviour? This workshop will give you the tools to help you identify disruptive vs dangerous behaviour, as well as prevent and respond to those types of behaviour. The workshop will also focus on biases and ways to prevent those biases from seeping into fairness. Overall, you鈥檒l learn strategies needed to foster a respectful, productive learning environment.

2:30鈥�3:30 p.m.

Thriving as an International TA: Your Guide to the Classroom

Type of session

Workshop

Presenter

Leila Mohammadi Valehzaghard (PhD Candidate, Mathematics and Statistics Department)

Description

This session explores the unique challenges and opportunities international TAs encounter in the North American classroom. We鈥檒l discuss cultural differences in teaching and learning, strategies for navigating the TA role, communication tips, and approaches to foster an inclusive, student-centered learning environment.