Mathematics

What to expect as a GTA

What to expect as a GTA

Math Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) have a variety of teaching roles. All Math GTAs participate in the GTA Teaching Advising program, which aims to strike a balance between two primary goals:

  1. Provide pedagogical training and opportunities for GTAs to develop into highly effective instructors.
  2. Provide support and resources for graduate students to streamline their teaching workload, which must be balanced with their research, coursework, and personal commitments.

Math GTAs build numerous skills that are useful in their career, regardless of whether they pursue a career in industry or academia: communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, time management, and more!

Math GTAs are provided various levels of mentorship and support as they progress through the Teaching Advising program.

Stage 1

In Stage 1 of the GTA Teaching Advising Program, new GTAs build a core set of skills for teaching and managing common situations which arise while teaching a course. Most teaching assignments for Stage 1 GTAs consist of “co-teaching” with other instructors.
Each GTA is assigned a faculty teaching advisor who has a dual role: they serve as instructor of record for the class, and they also serve as a supervisor/mentor to support each Stage 1 GTA’s development as an instructor.

Stage 2

After one year, most GTAs progress to Stage 2 of the program and serve as the instructor of record in a course, under the supervision/mentorship of an assigned teaching advisor. This experience helps GTAs develop their teaching skills further in a more independent setting.

Stage 2 GTAs provide direct instruction to students, while the teaching advisor and GTA work closely together behind the scenes to make key course decisions jointly (e.g. course design/syllabus decisions). The teaching advisor also provides support via feedback and approval of key course components (e.g., written exams). A primary goal of Stage 2 is to provide GTAs with the opportunity and freedom to grow as instructors, while providing support to make the workload manageable.

Experienced

After one year in Stage 2, most GTAs progress to become Experienced GTAs and serve as the instructor of record in a coordinated course (under the supervision of a course coordinator).

Most Experienced GTAs provide direct instruction to students and have more freedom to make key course decisions (e.g., course design/syllabus decisions) since they no longer have a teaching advisor. Experienced GTAs complete most teaching tasks for their classes. The course coordinator’s role is to create/share sample course materials, review unit tests, often create the final exam, and provide additional support and assistance as needed.