A Guide to Teaching Assistants

Teaching Learning Centre (TLC)

Centre for Continuing Education
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai 600 036, India
A Guide to Teaching Assistants
Compiled and edited by

Dr. Pramod Mehta, Dr. Deepa Venkitesh,

Dr. Rajeev Sukumaran and Dr Ajit Kumar Kolar

Teaching Learning Centre (TLC)

Center for Continuing Education
Indian Institute of Technology Madras

(May 2014)
Contents

Foreword

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Functions of TAs 5

3.0 Roles and Responsibilities of TAs 7

4.0 Planning, Preparation and Execution- General Guidelines 11

5.0 Difficult Situations 13

6.0 Feedback 14

Bibliography 15

Annexure A: Guidelines on conducting laboratory sessions 16

Annexure B: TA as a Facilitator 21

Annexure C: What TA Should Know and Do 24

 FOREWORD

The Teaching Learning Centre (TLC) of IIT Madras was established in Aug 2011 with
the main goal of facilitating the enhancement of the Teaching Learning Process (TLP) in
the Institute by enabling the teaching fraternity to adopt research-based teaching
pedagogy and gradually move towards a learner-centric paradigm from the existing
teacher-centric one. In this context several pedagogy programs have been organized
where about one hundred and forty of our faculty have voluntarily participated and honed
their teaching skills, so far.

In this context, it was realized that the young and energetic Teaching and Research
Assistants of the Institute who are an important and integral part of the TLP also need to
be enabled with the latest pedagogical practices to enhance their effectiveness in
discharging their duties as TAs and RAs in various ways. An additional rationale for
TA/RA training was the expectation that many of these are potential teachers contributing
their expertise in Institutes of Higher Technical Education in India and abroad in course
of time.

Accordingly several TA Training Programs (TATP), extending to three full days, were
organized with active cooperation and participation of experts from WIPRO 10 X
Mission team, comprising of Dr. Rajendra Joshi, Dr. Sujatha Jagannath, Dr. Vatsal Singh
and Dr. Rajshri Jobanputra. These were extremely well received by our TA/RA
community. Practical considerations limited the number of volunteer
TA/RA participants in the workshop to about 30, while the actual number who needs
training was very large.

A model of scaling up the effort to involve large numbers posed huge logistic difficulties.
Once again a practically implementable model was devised wherein small groups of TAs
were engaged by the TLC Core Team, with the participation of interested faculty from
various departments, in 3 to 4 hour interactive sessions. In these Teaching Assistant
Orientation (TAO) programs, only basic information regarding TA-ship could be given to
the participants; a full-fledged training similar to TATP is not possible. The present

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paradigm has thus two components: TAO programs at the beginning of each semester for
large number of TAs officially nominated by specific departments, and TATP for small
group of voluntary TAs from all departments.

A major discovery in this TLC journey to empower our TAs/RAs was the boundless
enthusiasm of our TAs to learn. We also realized the complete absence of useful and
authentic information in a consolidated form, which the TAs can refer to for guidance,
specifically in the context of IITM culture. Prof. Pramod Mehta who had earlier initiated
the idea of TA Training, also took the lead in compiling the first draft of a TA Training
Manual with the help of available literature and his own ―teaching learning‖ experience.
Over a period of time Dr. Deepa Venkitesh of the TLC Core Team took this effort
forward. Dr. Rajeev Sukumaran, Senior Project Consultant, TLC, also contributed his
expertise. Dr. Joshi and Dr. Sujatha of WIPRO 10 X Mission and some TAs of the
Electrical Engineering Department have also contributed through their suggestions and
clarifications. Finally the TLC Core Team helped in honing the format and content with
its useful suggestions. The result of these cooperative and participative efforts over the
last couple of years is this present Version 1 of the ―A Guide to Teaching Assistants‖
being released by Prof. Pramod Mehta on the occasion of the three day TATP being
conducted by WIPRO 10 X Mission in cooperation with TLC Core Team.

It is my sincere wish that this TA Guide Book would be of great value to the TAs/RAs in
enhancing their effectiveness as TAs and also helping them in their future career as
teachers. I am sure that the Guide Book will be continuously up-dated and up-graded
with the active involvement of the TAs themselves, our TLC Core Team and our faculty
at large. It will be worth all our efforts when TAs in all Institutes of Higher Technical
Education recognizes this book as an essential reading.

Ajit Kumar Kolar

Chairman
Centre for Continuing Education
IIT Madras
15 May 2014

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1.0 Introduction
As per IIT statutes, the scholars admitted to Ph. D and M. S programs under regular
scheme (full time) are eligible for the Half-time Teaching/Research Assistantship
(HTTA/HTRA) for which they should work for 8 hours per week in the Departments to
earn this assistantship. The renewal of assistantship every semester will be contingent on
enrolment, satisfactory progress in research work and good performance during the
preceding semester in the discharge of responsibility as teaching/research assistant.
Similar statutes are followed for TAs enrolled in the M. Tech Programs.

In the IIT system of higher education, the Teaching Assistant’s (TAs) form an essential
link between the teaching faculty members and the student learners for effective
facilitation of knowledge transfer. In this process the TAs have to play the dual role of
being a student learner, as well as being a facilitator. In particular, TAs have a prime role
to play as facilitators to enhance the learning performance of their student learners. For
this to happen effectively, the TAs need to be familiar with Teaching Learning Processes
(TLP) in addition to their domain knowledge.

At IITM, the Teaching Learning Centre (TLC) of the Centre for Continuing Education
(CCE) organized its first Teaching Assistant Training Program (TATP) during July 25-
27, 2011 with the active participation of experts from the WIPRO Mission 10X. Since
then these training programs are being conducted periodically and are designed and
conducted towards building professional expertise in the TAs.

To excel in the role as a Teaching Assistant, in addition to a sound technical knowledge

of the subject, the TAs need the following key characteristics: interactive and effective
communication skills, good interpersonal rapport, fair knowledge of learner psychology,
effective time utilization routines, prompt response techniques and self-confidence. These
skills are required throughout one’s life and they can be enhanced through proper
awareness and training.

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The teaching and research culture in the institute is nurtured by the TA/RAs and to
promote this further, the TA training programs incorporate elements to address the four
most vital quadrants of the academic profession namely, Communication, Teaching-
Learning, Research and Interpersonal Relations.

This guidebook acts as a quick reference for TAs to enhance their understanding of their
roles, and to build confidence in their approach to TA-ship.

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4
2.0 Functions of TAs
At the beginning of a semester, each TA is assigned to a course/lab and is expected to
work with a faculty, as decided by the Department. The faculty with whom the TA is
working is referred to as ―mentor faculty‖. The Teaching Assistantship provides a unique
opportunity to learn and practice the different functional and operational roles involved in
an academic profession by way of assisting the mentor faculty. As a result of this learning
experience, TAs acquire hands-on practical exposure in the planning and implementation
of a course/lab, marking and grading of the learning and a sound research mindset.

Even though there may be slight differences in the roles and responsibilities of TAs
across different departments, the overall expectations from TAs remain the same. The
TAs of IITM are usually involved in one or more of the following assignments:
 Laboratory experiments – design, preparation, demonstration
 Laboratory equipment – identification, installation, supervision, maintenance
 Course tutorials – identification of content, design, conducting
 Learning Measurement – question setting, solving, invigilating, evaluating,
grading
 Student Attendance & Participation – monitoring, recording, analysis
 Mentoring students – identifying learning difficulty, counseling
 Maintaining common departmental facilities like:
o Office database, websites – department, course
o Library – stock, maintenance
o Computing facility – stock, maintenance, up gradations
o Stores – stock register entry, maintenance
TAs perform most of their tasks through the following four-step process:
1. Acquire/improve their own knowledge
2. Facilitate learning in student-learners
3. Assess the student’s learning
4. Report the student learning to the mentor faculty

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A Research Assistant who is not associated with any academic course/lab could have
responsibilities related to the upkeep and maintenance of a specific research lab or an
instrument.

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6
3.0 Roles and Responsibilities of TAs
The roles and responsibilities are primarily classified into general and department-
specific. In this guidebook the general responsibilities would be highlighted, however
TAs are advised to look into department specific responsibilities (copies available in
respective department) to obtain clarity. The three most general activities the TAs
perform are shown in the chart below.

Tutorials Laboratory Exam Related

Teaching Setting up Preparing

short topics Experiments Solutions

Explaining/
Creating
Assignments Demonstrating Invigilation
Experiment

Solving Verifying
Assignments Experiments Grading
Papers

Correcting &
Grading
Grading
Assignments
Reports

3.1 Conduct of Tutorial Sessions

Questions for the tutorial sessions are prepared and shared well in advance by the mentor
faculty typically through the course management software (Moodle) for the TAs to
access. In some cases, the TAs also participate in the construct of the tutorials. TAs
should solve the tutorials themselves as a homework activity well before the tutorial
session. Any clarifications regarding solutions should be discussed with the mentor
faculty.

Typically a day or two before the conduct of the actual Tutorial session for the students,
the mentor faculty holds a ―discussion session‖ with the TAs to review their

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understanding of these questions and the corresponding solutions. Some TAs would also
be asked at random to solve these questions in such sessions. Though time consuming,
this process helps TAs to understand the subject better and helps them to enhance their
self-confidence to assist the student learners better.

For conducting tutorial sessions, it is suggested that every TA associates with and assists
a group of ~ 10 student learners; it is recommended that the TAs sit with their small
student group and attend to their difficulties. The mentor faculty could also be present in
the tutorial sessions to ensure smooth conduct of the sessions and also to clarify any
doubts. After the tutorial session, the TAs also may make the solution manual for each
tutorial available to the students through Moodle.

It is also recommended that the TAs maintain a written log on the learning progression
along with his or her observations for each student. It then becomes very easy to identify
―difficult learners‖, ―poor performers‖ and/or ―careless‖ students for remedial measures.
These logs should be shared with the mentor faculty at regular intervals during the
semester and appropriate corrective action should be taken.

3.2 Conduct of Laboratory Sessions

The purpose of the various laboratory classes is to inculcate the element of practice and
promote experiential learning. Based on the subject, type, and nature of the different
laboratory courses, there are appropriate experimental set-ups designed and constructed
for experiential learning.

In any given laboratory setting, the TAs should discuss with their mentor faculty, in
advance, and obtain specific guidelines and clarity regarding their role with reference to
the respective labs.

In general, every lab course requires the involvement of TAs in three phases (i) Pre-lab
preparations (ii) In-lab activities (iii) Post-experiment analysis and reporting. The
respective tasks in these phases are specific to the lab, TAs need to be thorough with all

8
the three phases to assist student learners better. Grading policies should be obtained
from the faculty mentor and should be shared with the students as well, before the lab
sessions.

Some of the best practices for conducting a laboratory course are as follows:
(a) Obtain clarity and guidance on the objectives and learning outcomes of the
experiment.
(b) All TAs involved in a particular laboratory class should actually perform the
experiments (in full) in a ―practice session‖, several days in advance of actual
conduct of the lab. During the practice session, the TAs should record detailed notes
on the experimental set-up, appropriate settings and specifications of the instruments
used, in addition to the experimental observations. TAs should also make a note of
any errors, deviations, abnormalities, faults, failure probabilities, and they should be
reported to the mentor faculty for rectification and correction.
(c) On completion of their own practice sessions, TAs need to conduct a group-
discussion along with their mentor faculty towards the in-depth understanding of the
various aspects concerning the experiments performed. This ensures depth and
clarity in the role of TAs during the actual conduct of the lab.
(d) In case lab manuals are not readily available or needs updating, the TAs are required
to prepare the write-up for lab sessions in consultation with the mentor faculty – the
lab manuals typically include – objective/s of the experiment, apparatus used, the
necessary principles, experimental procedure, expected results, the general do’s and
don’ts. The TAs should also ensure that the lab manual reaches the students well in
advance before the lab session.
(e) TAs should discuss and understand their responsibilities during the conduct of the
lab with the faculty mentor and laboratory staff. TAs could encourage the students to
think and experiment beyond what is written in the lab manual.
(f) TAs should also discuss and understand the expectations regarding post-lab analysis
and reporting, with the faculty mentor.
Note: Annexure A provides a good reference material for conducting laboratory
sessions.

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3.3 Examination Related Activities
TAs also assist the mentor faculty in the examination related activities of a specific
course. There are generally three types of activities in which TAs are of significant
assistance:
(i) Invigilation during the exam (ii) Preparation of solutions for the question paper
(iii) Evaluation of the answer sheets
(i) Invigilation: TAs are expected to be available at the examination venue at least 15
minutes in advance. The mentor faculty would announce specific instructions for
invigilation work for different examination schedules; TAs are expected to follow them
in an un-biased manner.
(ii) Preparation of solutions: The questions for the examination are generally prepared by
the mentor faculty and kept in confidence until the examination date. The question papers
are typically available for the TAs only during/after the conduct of examination. In cases
where the TAs are involved in the evaluation of answer sheets, they are expected to find
and write the solutions to these questions. The solution should be written neatly and in
step-wise fashion along with respective diagrams, calculations. They need to hold
discussion with their faculty mentor for understanding the weightage for each part of the
answer, correctness, alternate solutions for each part of the answer and the marking
strategy for different sections. With this discussion the TAs would have the strategy for
evaluating the answer sheets of the students so as to enable a bias-free evaluation.
(iii) Answer Paper Evaluation: TAs would mark the answer scripts of the students based
on the guidelines stipulated and discussed with the mentor faculty. After evaluation,
totaling of marks, identification of grade, recording them in a prescribed format are also
to be performed in some cases.
3.4 Other Roles
TAs are involved in some other roles such as:
 Mentor ―slow learners‖, conduct study groups
 Assist students to conduct mock-interviews for placements
 Maintain and upkeep department webpage, other department database
The desirable qualities of a TA as a facilitator are mentioned in Annexure B.

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4.0 Planning, Preparation and Execution - General Guidelines
Planning is an essential part of any teaching learning activity. It is important to prepare
the content to be delivered, referring to multiple sources of information. One could think
about the possible tools, examples, anecdotes, demonstrations and simulations that could
be used to convey the idea in an effective manner.

It is advisable to communicate the following to the learners -

 An introduction about one-self
 Overall idea of the subject/topic
 Learning Objectives and Outcomes

4.1 Learning objectives provide a measure of the knowledge conveyed and help identify
how much the student will be able to understand the subject by addressing:
 What is it? ; Why is it? ; How is it?
From the student’s point of view, defining the learning objectives is useful to obtain
a clear view of the goal and they provide the framework for measuring success. From the
teacher’s point of view, the learning objectives help in the design and preparation of the
class and ensures focus.

Learning objectives should be

 Specific  Time bound
 Measurable  Focused
 Attainable  Learner-focused
 Realistic  Targeting the expected learning outcome

Learning objectives can be written using the action verbs like define, explain, correlate,
judge, apply. A good reference on the Bloom’s taxonomy that is used for writing the
learning objectives can be found in [1] in Bibliography.

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4.2 Presentation Skills
Any effective communication depends on visual and verbal contents. The voice should be
loud, clear, well-paced and modulated. The body language and the tone constitute a major
fraction of the overall impact; visual learners learn more from the gestures and body
movement than from the spoken language. The important parts of oral communication
include structure, delivery and content. In a good presentation, the contents are
responsible for the details but the message emerges from the structure of the presentation.
The important factors impacting overall communication are interpersonal relationship,
self-perception, time management and personality.

To be an effective TA, it is desirable to have the

 ability to communicate the learning objectives clearly
 ability to understand personal limitations and address poorly motivated students
 ability to say "I do not know. I will find out and get back" when in difficult situation
 self-confidence to address the class the second time, if offered a chance
 self-confidence to address the class, by volunteering
 familiarity with the policies followed by the department and the institute on
academic dishonesty like plagiarism, cheating.

Some important qualities that help improve the personality of TAs are:
 Crispness and clarity in communication  Adaptability to diverse group of students
 Pro-activeness and team-work  Integrity

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5.0 Difficult Situations
Some of the commonly experienced difficult situations by TAs and their possible causes
are:
 Students not taking TAs seriously - lack of authority, confidence and competence
 Inability to respond effectively – lack of preparation
 Inability to resolve deviations from the ―model‖ answer for awarding credits
while grading tutorials/assignments/quiz papers - lack of subject knowledge and
confidence
 Inability to trouble shoot – insufficient motivation, practice or training

Some suggestions for responding to challenging scenarios:

 Understand the dynamics of the challenging scenario.
 Know about the essential verbal and non-verbal cues for handling a
challenging scenario.
 Need to follow rules, develop inter-personal relationship and remain
transparent and sincere.
 Share the experience, discuss the issue, draw ideas from others and solve the
problem.
Some tips on what the TAs should know and do, based on learning and intelligence
theories are given in Annexure C.
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6.0 Feedback
The important feedback processes involved in TAs work are:
 Students to TA
 Mentor faculty to TA
 TA to the faculty/department

Getting and giving feedback is required to be

 action specific, clear and concise
 constructive, task-centred
 sincere and forward-looking
 non-judgmental

While giving feedback one must:

 Grasp the nature and significance of giving the task-centred feedback
 Identify guidelines for giving effective feedback
 Reflect how the feedback can be effectively used as a motivational tool in future

6.1 Ways to offer feedback:

Medal or mission:
 View performance without blame or disapproval. Set about improving this by giving
a Medal: For what has been done well or
a Mission: For what needs to be improved.

 Praise sandwich:
Praise for what has been done well
Constructive feed-forward for what needs to be improved
Praise again for overall effort.

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Bibliography

1. David R. Krathwohl, ―A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy: An Overview‖, Theory

into Practice, 2002, 41, pp 212-218.
2. http://www.csus.edu/HHS/faculty/Faculty%20Resources%20Docs/25-
Whaton1stDay.pdf
3. Weimar, M. (2013) Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice.
2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 9781118119280
4. http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/central/altudl/FILES/Multiple_Intellegences_Learning_St
yles.pdf
5. Susan E. Cooperstein and Elizabeth Kocevar-Weidinger, ―Beyond active learning
: a constructivist approach to learning‖ Emerald Reference Services Review, 32,
(2004) pp. 141-148.
6. Paul. H. Kvam, ―The effect of active learning methods on student retention in
Engineering Statistics‖, The Americal Statistician, 2000, 54, pp 136-140.
7. Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson, ―Seven Principles For Good Practice
inUndergraduateEducation‖
http://www.lonestar.edu/multimedia/SevenPrinciples.pdf)
8. http://depts.washington.edu/gs630/Spring/Boyer.pdf

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15
 Annexure A
Guidelines on conducting laboratory sessions
(http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/dev/gta_handbook/strategies/lab.shtml)

Laboratory situations involve active and experiential learning. Labs are offered in
conjunction or after the theory courses so that students may acquire technical skills and
apply concepts and theories presented in lecture. This hands-on experience encourages
them to develop a spirit of inquiry and allows them to be practicing engineers. The TA is
responsible to help students develop appreciation of the scientific principles taught
through live experiments.
TAs role: Review experiments beforehand, ask and answer questions to and from the
students, and evaluate the laboratory work of the students.
TAs responsibilities: Know safety procedures; prepare for lab experiments or
assignments; learn how to guide students' thinking and respond with questions without
giving away the answers.
Effective TA-ship involves the following features:
Preparing yourself to teach laboratory sessions: The most important thing you can do
to ensure that your lab runs smoothly is to be well-prepared. Preparation, prior to the start
of the semester, should include becoming acquainted with the lab so time is not lost
looking for necessary equipment or materials, and, if applicable, knowing the location of
the first aid kit, and procedures for getting emergency assistance
1. Conduct basic weekly planning for the lab session.
Know exactly what the students are supposed to learn and why they have to learn it. This
preparation may come in handy when the students start to wonder why they're doing what
they're doing.
2. Perform the entire experiment in advance
Take time to view lab assignment from a student's perspective. Look for ambiguities and
poorly designed procedures that may give the students trouble, and think about whether
they will understand the exercise.

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The best way to troubleshoot a lab is to do a trial run. By doing so, familiarity with some
of the stumbling blocks the students may confront is obtained, and the subtler points of
the process demonstrated are realized.

3. Read and study the theory on which the experiment is based.

The understanding of the theoretical aspect of the lab should be useful in handling most
questions from the student. It is advised to research the relevance of the experiment, both
the technique being taught and the applications of the theory being demonstrated.
4. Decide how to introduce the lab most effectively.
Will students need demonstration of the procedures that they'll be following?
Is a handout with written instructions in order?
Will a 15-minute lecture about the theory and intent of the lab suffice?

The initial introduction to the lab or the day's first activity can set the tone and motivation
for the rest of the lab.

Preparing Students for the Lab:

1. Follow Safety Procedures
TAs are directly responsible for the safety of the students while in the lab, and also lab-
equipments. TAs should demonstrate to students the proper techniques for decanting and
mixing liquids, handling glassware, organizing a work area, and using burners and other
equipment—all of the precautionary measures must be performed almost reflexively;
while students, however, don't have the TAs experience and will, therefore, appreciate
his/her concern and advice.
2. Encourage students to read the assignment and review lecture notes before coming to
lab.
Reading the assignment will give students a starting point for the lab and they will arrive
ready to begin. Students who have reviewed lecture notes and the lab manual will have
some understanding of the experiment's importance.
3. Prepare a brief oral presentation to orient students to the lab.

17
This brief presentation could include all the information needed to understand and
complete the experiment and lab report. When the presentation/experiment hand-out is
planned, ensure that the students understand the same.
Devise some means to ensure that students are familiar with the lab before they come to
class.
Grades on lab reports are incentive enough. Students should be asked to submit a
statement of purposes and procedures or an explanation of why and how the experiment
is relevant to the course (in the form of a lab report).

Supervising the Experiment

1. Review the lab's purposes and procedures.
At the beginning of the lab, the TAs might deliver a brief but inspiring lecture on how the
experiment relates to current developments in the discipline, or might discuss the
students' statements of objectives. Ask for questions, clarify any ambiguities in the lab
manual, and demonstrate special procedures now rather than interrupting the experiment
later.
2. Make contact with each student during the lab period.
Try to talk with each student at least once during the experiment. Technical and
procedural matters can be handled quickly with a few words of advice or a very brief
demonstration. The primary role of a TA, however, is to help students master the steps of
scientific inquiry: recognizing and stating a problem, formulating hypothesis, collecting
data, testing hypothesis, and drawing conclusions.
3. Devise strategies to help students solve problems.
Helping students master each step is not an easy task. TAs can tell students, for eg, to
"hold the stopper between your index and middle fingers while you're pouring," but
telling them to "think better" or "remember what the professor said about that yesterday"
will not be very effective. There are a variety of ways to help students solve problems for
themselves. Perhaps a scaled down version of the techniques described earlier, tailored to
the student and the experiment, would work. Or, perhaps the opposite approach would
work where TAs make themselves available to ask rather than answer questions.
4. Refrain from giving outright answers or advice.

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If the students ask, "Why can't we get this right?" it is better to try asking them a series
of questions that will lead them to discover the reasons for themselves rather than simply
explaining why the experiment failed. Of course sometimes the reason will be relatively
simple ("You used hydrochloric instead of nitric acid"), but just as often the reason will
be more substantial — a matter of timing, sequence, proportion, or interpretation. Perhaps
the student had the necessary data but has overlooked an important step in analyzing the
results or is unable to synthesize a solution. It's very tempting to help students by saying,
"Aha, I see where you went wrong," but unless the TAs resist the temptation, they are
likely to falter at the same stage in the next experiment. Students may become frustrated
if they can't get a straight answer out of the TAs, but they will also learn more.

Use relevant teaching strategies

1. Guide students to information, rather than just giving it to them.
When teaching in a laboratory, it is easy to become a solitary figure at the front of the lab,
doing nothing unless people approach with questions. A better strategy is to walk around
the lab and talk with students, acting as their guide to the information rather than just
answering their questions. Ask them about obscure points from the subject so the TAs
will know if they understand what they are doing. This way, the TAs can also help
students prepare for their examinations. When offering information, be wary of talking
over the heads of some of the students, especially if the information is pivotal to the basic
understanding. It is perhaps better to emphasize the concepts and gradually introduce the
terminology that students should use to discuss concepts.
2. Encourage students to help each other learn.
Have students work together, either formally or informally. In this way they can help
each other learn the material, share equipment and good preparations, and answer each
other's questions. When students are working in groups, check on the progress of each
individual within the group, encouraging everyone to participate and making it
everyone's responsibility to help other group members understand the material.
3. Stay organized.
Good teachers stay organized and help their students to be organized, too. It is important
to know where equipment and reference material are located, to make careful note of any

19
missing or damaged supplies and equipment and take care of it right away rather than
waiting until the next lab. Checking on how students organize their data collection,
written work and drawings helps keep them on track.
4. Give students periodic reminders.
It is also useful to remind students how much time remains, what needs to be
accomplished, and to allow for clean-up time. Safety rules should be established and
make sure the students follow all the safety rules and guidelines.

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 Annexure B
TA as a Facilitator
TAs play the roles as an extension of the mentor faculty and as individual facilitators. To
become an effective and a good facilitator the following aspects should be paid attention
to
 Good subject knowledge  Effective communication
 Dedication/involvement  Inter-personal skills
 Ability to respond to changes  Empathy
 Ability to motivate the students  Patience

A facilitator must
 Identify the roles and responsibilities.
 Discover the key elements required for facilitating groups.
 Understand the facilitation process for guiding a group to a successful conclusion.

Facilitator Attributes
 Intrapersonal skills: Commitment, self-awareness (understanding self)
 Interpersonal skills: Flexibility, patience, empathy.
 Professional skills: Technical know-how, work ethics.

Facilitating process
 Planning: Know the goals and communicate to the group.
 Guiding: Seek input from everyone and encourage everyone to participate.
 Managing: Help groups to focus its energies on a task and periodically summarize to
validate and clarify group consensus on issues.
 Achieving objectives: Find win/win solution and ensure arriving at a successful
conclusion.
Communication skills required for an effective facilitator
 Active listening  Recognizing progress  Summarizing
Observing
 Inclusion  Walking the talk  Focusing attention and pacing

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The following factors help a great deal in improving communication and self-confidence.
 Gestures  Smile   Voice modulation
 Vocabulary  Eye contact  Seriousness of purpose

An effective presentation typically includes the following:

 Purpose  Opening  Relevance  Focused content  Closure

Understanding the learners

 Identifying diversity among their learners and their learning
 Multiple intelligence as a pathway.

As a learning facilitator, you can

 Empathize with the new generation  Be motivated to learn new (digital) skills.
 Create digital content  Harness technology for effective learning
 Be relevant to the younger generation.

Learning skills
People have multiple intelligence levels and the multiple capabilities of learners are
suggested under Bloom’s Taxonomy as:
 Higher order of thinking: Creating, Evaluating, Analysing
 Lower order of thinking: Applying, Understanding, Remembering

Diversity in learners include:

 Tech savvy
 Attention
 Motivation
 Expectation
 Approach

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  Confidence
 Experience or exposure to various areas
 Socio-economic background
 Intelligence quotient (IQ), Spiritual quotient, emotional quotient.

Considering the above diversities, a facilitator should

 structure the teaching / class room activities to suit the profile of his/her learners
 provide opportunities to learners to demonstrate their learning through methods that
match with their personal intelligence profile.

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 Annexure C

What TAs should Know and Do

Contents of a Class
 Teacher
 Learner
 Content
 Context
The teacher:
 Need to change
 Understand the learner
For Teacher:
 Empathise
 Learn new digital skill
 Make digital content
 Be relevant to new generation
Skills required:
 Construct and manage a class
 Communicate
 Use technology
 Reflect on practice and improve on it
Models of 21st century learner:
 Collaborator
 Free Agent
 Wise Analyser
 Creative Synthesizer
Understand the learners:
 Diversity in learners
 Impact on teaching
Intelligence theory:

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  Individual is born with certain intelligence
 This can’t change

Howards Gardener’s Intelligence theory:

Intelligence is psychobiological potential to process data so as to solve problems or for
products that are valued in at least one cultural context.

Theory of Multiple Intelligences:

 Different kinds of intelligence present in different amounts that can be improved
upon
 They are: Existential, Linguist, Logical and Maths, Spatial, Bodily, Interpersonal,
Intrapersonal, Naturalist

Implications of Theory of Multiple Intelligences:

 Structure activities to suit profile of learners
 Provide opportunities to learners
 Provide opportunities to learners to demonstrate learning through methods that
match with their profile
 Strengthen areas that appear at lower end of the intelligence profile

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