Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Regardless of discipline or format, good tutorials are often a product of deliberate and reflective planning—especially if they are to engage students and enhance course content. This workshop will provide strategies and tips for effective and efficient tutorial design. It will guide participants through crucial stages of tutorial planning, including determining the teaching context (e.g., type of tutorial, overall course goals); identifying and adapting tutorial learning outcomes; […]

Effective communities are both aspirational and practical. In particular, learning communities provide a space and a structure for people to align around a shared goal. They connect people, organizations, and systems that are eager to learn and work across boundaries, all the while holding members accountable to a common agenda, metrics, and outcomes. These communities […]

Each OnlineMicroteaching session will involve 5 graduate student participants and 2 TATPfacilitators. Participants will take turns acting as instructors by takingtheir students (i.e., other participants and TATP facilitators) through a 10(ten) minute lesson over Zoom. Following their lesson and a brief reflection, eachinstructor will provide a brief, verbal self-assessment, stating what theythought worked well in […]

While many courses may use written assessments and activities as part of their curriculum, writing development and skill building is seldom emphasized. Students are often graded on their ability to communicate and apply course concepts through written assignments and activities. However, writing development and skill building are not often part of the curriculum. As a […]

The global pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on many facets of the university, including the mental and physical wellness of students and teachers, and the design and delivery of courses themselves. As a result, teaching assistants have the difficult task of performing their duties and supporting students at a time when illness-related absences are […]

Academic integrity is often explained to undergraduate students as a potentially punitive and disciplinary policy, without necessarily explaining the University’s expectations for citation, acknowledgement, and paraphrasing. This frequently becomes an issue of student-teacher intercultural communication and creates concerns around accessibility, because cultural practices around citation vary. This workshop, “Promoting Academic Integrity in Intercultural Classrooms,” will […]

Active learning has proved many benefits, from increased information retention, to deeper learning, however actually implementing it in your teaching can be challenging. In this workshop you will get the chance to practice your active learning skills by planning and delivering a micro-lesson while being supported by TATP GEDs. This workshop focuses on providing you […]

Wondering about the accommodation process, and accessibility services supports at U of T? In this webinar, we will provide an introduction to Accessibility Services and the accommodation process at the University of Toronto. Join us for a conversation about roles and responsibilities of students, Accessibility Advisors, TAs and course instructors as well as services offered […]

Each OnlineMicroteaching session will involve 5 graduate student participants and 2 TATPfacilitators. Participants will take turns acting as instructors by takingtheir students (i.e., other participants and TATP facilitators) through a 10(ten) minute lesson over Zoom. Following their lesson and a brief reflection, eachinstructor will provide a brief, verbal self-assessment, stating what theythought worked well in […]

Discussion forums are a frequent feature in both online and in-person courses. They provide an excellent setting for active learning that is both collaborative and individual, yet their execution often falls short of truly promoting student to student interaction or student engagement with course content and can become a seemingly needless burden on TAs and […]

Each in-personMicroteaching session will involve 5 graduate student participants and 2 TATPfacilitators. Participants will take turns acting as instructors by takingtheir students (i.e., other participants and TATP facilitators) through a 10(ten) minute lesson over in a live classroom environment. Following theirlesson and a brief reflection, each instructor will provide a brief, verbalself-assessment, stating what they […]

While tenure-track professorships may be the ultimate career goal for a large portion of graduate students, an increasingly precarious and competitive academic job market means that many individuals will pursue a range of work opportunities. Job seekers interested in teaching and learning careers will begin their search in academic, corporate, and non-profit environments with important […]

The teaching dossier is a comprehensive record of teaching activities and accomplishments that is now required in applications for permanent positions at the University of Toronto and at an increasing number of institutions across North America. In this session, we will review the elements of a successful teaching dossier and discuss how to use it […]

Each OnlineMicroteaching session will involve 5 graduate student participants and 2 TATPfacilitators. Participants will take turns acting as instructors by takingtheir students (i.e., other participants and TATP facilitators) through a 10(ten) minute lesson over Zoom. Following their lesson and a brief reflection, eachinstructor will provide a brief, verbal self-assessment, stating what theythought worked well in […]

Learning is meant to be transformative. When acquiring new knowledge, especially when it contradicts prior assumptions, students may experience dissonance, discomfort, and confusion. These experiences may be a catalyst for change and a deepening engagement with the material. Yet, a lack of understanding of discomfort on the part of the teacher “might have unintentional consequences […]