I. Preparing a Course

Sharing Teaching

Working with TAs

The discussion sections, lab courses, and grading that often accompany large lecture courses are normally delegated to graduate student teaching assistants (see also "Specific TA Concerns"). If you are a faculty member preparing a TA-assisted course, you must clarify the role of TAs and graders; if you have more than one assistant, you need to ensure consistent standards within the course. You must make certain that enrollment in TAs' sections is reasonable: usually not more than 15-20 students per section. You must also decide how much of students' final grades depends on their work with the TA and how much on their work with you. The TA-taught section should weigh in the final grade proportionately to the amount of time students spend in the section and the amount of work they do there. To help your assistants develop professionally, your obligations are many.

• Make sure the department schedules the TAs for your course well in advance. Although TAs do not always need to know months ahead their precise section times (which may depend on last-minute enrollments), they need to know which course they will teach and with whom they will work. Whenever possible, graduate students should be given TA responsibilities in courses close to their academic specialties. To feel confident, TAs must be familiar with course material and with you as the professor in charge.
• Hold regular meetings (at least every two weeks) with all TAs to preview upcoming lectures (which TAs normally attend). Integrate TAs' work with yours, elicit their ideas, and keep tabs on how well students are grasping the material.
• If you have more than two or three sections, appoint a "head TA" to take care of most of the day-today administrative tasks such as overseeing changing enrollment figures early in the semester, establishing exam-writing committees, and organizing staff meetings. Head TAs normally receive compensation for this extra work with release time from normal teaching loads or additional salary.
• Aim for coherence throughout your sections without stifling TAs' imagination and enthusiasm. Consciously decide how much leeway to give TAs in their discussion sections. On the one hand, students in separate sections are in the same course and should receive the same information. On the other, intelligent, independent graduate students specializing in the discipline need some flexibility.
• Discuss with TAs sample assignments, and establish grading and commenting policies. Standardizing otherwise subjective grading reduces much undergraduate student anxiety and complaining. When you receive the first assignment from students, grade some papers together with TAs, perhaps simply by photocopying half a dozen papers, reading and grading them simultaneously, and comparing notes. Only by discussing specifics can you come to some consensus and be sure that your TAs are looking for the same sort of work you are.
• Sit in on each TA's section at least once and discuss the TA's teaching individually, but be aware of the stress factors involved. Nearly anyone becomes nervous when supervised; this is particularly true when it's teaching that's observed (a serious and personal matter for most instructors) and when faculty observe graduate students (their dependents in many ways). To reduce the strain, take notes not of your impressions but simply of what happens during class; with these you can help the TA see what works best and improve where necessary. Most importantly, explain the exact observation procedure to your TAs and seek their suggestions. The Teaching Resource Center can videotape teaching for self-analysis, if you would like to offer TAs this option (see "Analyzing and Improving Your Teaching").
• Encourage TAs to observe each other's classes, and give them guidelines. You will find some ideas in the consultations section of "Analyzing and Improving Your Teaching."
• Support your TAs in their decisions and grading whenever possible. TAs are diligent professionals who normally follow clear grading guidelines when provided. Students, however, may think they can play you and your TA off one another. Require students to see their respective TAs and then the head TA before bringing questions or complaints to you. Only in grave circumstances should you alter TAs' comments on a paper or overrule their final grades, and then only after consulting with the TA. At times, however, you may need to ask a TA to explain the reasoning behind a questionable grade or offer a denied make-up exam that a student deserves. You are the final judge in such cases; consult with your departmental chair in unusual circumstances.
• All in all, consider yourself a mentor to your TAs. Thoughtfully decide what they can learn from you about the scholarship of research and teaching in your profession. Allow each to teach about twenty minutes of your lecture course, if possible. Respond to their ideas about the course; ask for their reactions to a draft syllabus before you finalize it. By involving TAs in creating and directing a course, you provide practical 5 experience they will need later as faculty members and can gain in no other way.

The thing I have enjoyed most about teaching a US History survey is a sense of being part of the team. By opening up to what [my TAs] have to say and by building readings around what they suggest, I keep the course new to me. —Edward Ayers, History

Working with Graders

Unlike TAs, graders don't teach a class; moreover, because students rarely see or know their graders personally, they are more likely to protest grades assigned by graders than those assigned by professors or TAs. Yet graders have an immense responsibility toward your students. To help your graders develop their teaching skills and to reduce complaints and standardize course grading, integrate your graders into your course as much as you reasonably can:

• Decide whether graders need to attend your lectures. In most cases, you should have graders attend at least some of the classes so that they can see your perspective.
• Make sure your students know who their graders are and how to reach them. Students who can discuss how their work was graded are more likely to have positive feelings about the course.
• If your graders are not native speakers of English, make sure they can communicate effectively with students who seek their help.
• Get involved in assessing each assignment:
  • Review with graders your assignments and expectations before students submit their work.
  • Review the first submitted assignment with graders before they begin grading. Grade a few papers as a group and compare your reactions and grades. Recommend that graders comment and correct in pencil so that the differences between their changes and yours (perhaps necessary at first) will not be obvious to students.
  • Clarify how the grading will be divided between you and your graders and who will assign the final grade.
• Support your graders and their grading decisions as you would your TAs (see above).

Teaching as a Team

Teaching a course or parts of a course with a colleague can benefit both instructors and students. By watching each other in the classroom and analyzing course progress, instructors learn teaching techniques, gain new perspectives on their disciplines, improve their methods of interacting with students, and experience a renewed sense of collegiality. Students have the benefits of two experts, the opportunity to learn from different teaching styles and, in many cases, the excitement of an interdisciplinary approach. To team teach successfully, work in tandem as much as possible:

• Design the syllabus together.
• Decide who will teach which topics.
• If one colleague teaches only a few classes (is, in fact, really an invited lecturer), decide how you will inform students that they are equally responsible for material presented by each instructor.
• Decide how you will settle differences of opinion. If you disagree about a student's grade on the final exam, for instance, do you negotiate a resolution or does one of you have the final say?
• Score independently but consult about final grades on any common assignments.
• Consult with the department chair to ascertain how the course load will count for each of you. One solution has proved successful for two professors teaching one three-hour course on a regular basis: each year, in an alternating pattern, the course counts as a three-hour course for one instructor and an overload for the other. On the other hand, suppose a three-hour course is divided into two lectures and discussion sections each week. Then instructors who equally team teach two lectures and two discussion sections per week can each be said to teach the equivalent of a three-hour course.

You will need to divide some responsibilities in advance (and preferably in writing to avoid future confusion). The following questions should help:

• Who orders the books?
• Who coordinates TAs, if any?
• Who guarantees that handouts or new web documents are prepared?
• Whom should students see for a conference or complaint?
• Which class meetings should both instructors attend? To benefit from team teaching, instructors should participate in as many of the colleague's classes as possible.
• Who submits the final grade sheet?