Looking Back: Lessons Learned From Ten Years Of Training Teaching Assistants

Over the past ten years, the teaching development program for engineering teaching assistants (TAs) at Cornell University has evolved from an optional lecture series run by faculty members to mandatory workshops facilitated by former engineering teaching assistants. Currently, 150200 TAs are certified each year in both a fall and spring program. This workshop series was initiated in 1987 when the numerous complaints about TAs received by the Engineering Office of Undergraduate Programs indicated a definite need for TA training. Additionally, a 1992 survey of Cornell’s College of Engineering undergraduates shows that at Cornell, TAs are an important source of undergraduate instruction . Since the program was founded, the number of complaints has become practically zero. The goals of our program have matured through the years to include not only training TAs for their specific duties, but also giving them time management skills, an understanding of University policies, and diversity awareness. Inherent in these goals is the value of teaching and the importance in uniting TAs in a teaching community. This paper gives a ten year retrospect of our program and will discuss the changes in feedback procedures, structure, program content, budget, and current initiatives as well as the lessons we have learned. Throughout the paper, participant evaluation comments that helped to shape the program will be highlighted (in italics). We hope to provide a basis for other universities to start or improve a TA development program.