The purpose of TA Days is to provide teaching assistants with strategies, information, and/or understanding to support them in their teaching activities during the year. These workshops and webinars are meant to provide both new and returning TAs with the opportunity to listen, learn and ask questions about teaching.
Participants in the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) can receive up to 5 professional development hours for attending TA Days. Note: This excludes the information session that outlines the CUTL and other programming available, which does not account towards the PD hours.
Timing and sessions may be updated.
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Tuesday, September 9
The in-person sessions will be held at the听Student Union Building听(6136 University Avenue) on 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Studley Campus in Halifax.
Notice: On-Site Photography
Please be advised that a photographer will be on site on听Tuesday, September 9. Photos taken may be used by the听Centre for Learning and Teaching听for purposes including advertising, promotion, marketing, administrative, or educational communications, in both print and electronic formats. 听If you prefer听not听to have your photo taken, kindly inform the photographer on site.
Coming to Dal for just one day?听
For short-term parking on the Studley campus, you must download the HotSpot App on your smartphone. Learn how on this webpage听. Watch a video here听. 听If there are no parking spots in the designated parking lots, you can find metered street parking along LeMarchant Street.听 Link to Campus Maps.
8:30鈥�9 a.m.
Registration
Location
Second floor lobby听
Complimentary refreshments will be available in room 224.
9鈥�9:30 a.m.
Welcome
Location
Council Chambers, 2nd floor
Presenters
Elder Ann: Land acknowledgment
Dr. Valerie Chappe welcomes students
9:30鈥�10:30 a.m.
Supporting your Teaching Development: Programs and Opportunities at 麻豆传媒
In this information session, you will learn about different programs (e.g., Micro-teaching short course, the teaching dossier retreat, CNLT 5000 course, CUTL certificate program, etc.) available at CLT to help you develop and improve your teaching skills.
Intended Audience
New TAs
Engaging Students through Active Learning: Shared practices for Teaching Assistants
Location
Council Chamber (2nd floor)
Type of Session
Workshop
Presenter
Jessica Latimer (PhD Student, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Description
As a TA, how do you break the ice in a tutorial or lab setting? How do you encourage students to engage in class activities? Most TAs experience silence after posing a question or inviting discussion, but how can we lay a foundation for student engagement? This session explores different active learning strategies to encourage students to participate in their learning and reflection. We鈥檒l look at practical approaches that not only foster student engagement but also help TAs diagnose areas of confusion and break down the 鈥榩auses鈥� into more productive moments of learning. In this workshop:
Participants will explore a couple mini active learning activities that you can incorporate before, during and after a tutorial/lab.
We will discuss how to explain the purpose of active learning to students in order to make participation less nerve-wracking and promote student engagement.
This session will be based on the workshop leader鈥檚 experience as a STEM TA (tutorial and lab), but activities will be transferrable to other disciplines and other teaching spaces.
Intended Audience
New and/or experienced TAs
10:30鈥�10:45 a.m.
Break
Complimentary refreshments will be available in room 224.
10:45鈥�11:45 a.m.
Empowering Students with Effective Written Feedback
Location
Room 303
Type of Session
Workshop
Presenter
Janice MacDonald Eddington, Coordinator of Operations, Writing Advisor, Writing Centre
Description
Efficient feedback strategies TAs can use tohelp students improve the expression of their ideas, learn the conventions and expectations of their discipline, and empower them in their future academic work, while effectively managing the time devoted to commenting on each paper. This session will also include strategies for helping students with academic integrity concerns in their writing.
Want to spend LESS time grading and providing feedback? Grading using rubrics has many benefits such as reducing grading time for instructors, and providing clear and consistent expectations to students. In this session, you will learn the purpose and principles underlying grading using rubrics and the different types of rubrics. You will also be introduced to the step-by-step process for constructing effective rubrics, including how to design the various components that make up a rubric and appropriate language to use in rubrics.
Intended Audience
New and/or experienced TAs
11:45鈥�1 p.m.
Lunch Break and Information Booths
Location
Room 224
Grab a slice of pizza and learn about the services and resources available to support your teaching assistant role.
1鈥�2:30 p.m.
Creating Inclusive Classroom Climate: A TA鈥檚 Pedagogical Tools
Location
Room 303
Type of session
Workshop
Description
Inclusive teaching and classroom climate mostly focus on syllabus, reading list, course structure, etc.鈥攅lements usually handled by the course instructor. As a TA, you might not have control over these things, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you can鈥檛 make a difference. There are still plenty of ways to make your teaching more inclusive. In this 3-part session, you鈥檒l learn about ways and strategies to work across different settings you鈥檙e involved in鈥攚hether you're running a tutorial, lab, seminar, office hours, or even teaching online.
1鈥�1:30 p.m.
Intercultural Teaching Competency
Presenter
Shazia Nawaz Awan, Educational Developer (Internationalization and Intercultural Competency)
Description
This 30-minute section of the session introduces TAs to Intercultural Teaching Competency (ITC) model, a reflective tool that will draw TA鈥檚 focus to awareness of their own place in the cultural landscape of their classrooms and their ability to encourage reflection among students about creating a culturally responsive classroom environment. Through concrete strategies and competencies, the session is aimed to help TAs recognize ways they can model and practice intercultural competency.
1:30鈥�2 p.m.
Decolonizing Teaching Practice
Presenter
Rachelle McKay, Educational Developer (Indigenous Knowledges and Ways of Knowing)
Description
This 30-minute session introduces TAs to the principles of decolonizing pedagogy, focusing on how teaching methods can reinforce or challenge colonial power dynamics in the classroom. Through discussion and concrete examples, the session highlights ways that TAs can value diverse ways of knowing, communicating, and engaging.
2鈥�2:30 p.m.
Using 鈥淚ce Breakers鈥� in Meaningful Ways
Presenter
Kate Thompson, Educational Developer (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning)
Description
鈥淚ce Breakers鈥� (introductory activities in the first or second day of class) are often thought of as light-hearted ways to introduce the students and instructor to one another. Through a learning activity, we鈥檒l experience several ice-breaker activities, the rationale for choosing which one to use, and to carefully consider factors that may exclude, not include students.
Intended Audience
New and/or experienced TAs
Communicating with Confidence
Location
Council Chamber (2nd floor)
Type of Session
Workshop
Presenter
Ben Tait, Executive Director, Centre for Learning and Teaching
Description
Even for the most confident public speakers, interacting with students and faculty members as a T.A. can present many challenges. For those less comfortable speaking in group situations, or less experienced in handling sensitive conversations, it can be truly daunting. In this practical session, we'll explore techniques for communicating with clarity, authenticity and confidence.
Note: participants in this session will need to join in some practical exercises focused on communication skills. However, they will not be required to do anything individually in front of a group.
Intended Audience
New and/or experienced TAs
2:30鈥�2:45 p.m.
Break
Complimentary refreshments will be available in room 224.
2:45鈥�3:45 p.m.
Supporting the Resilience of Grad TA鈥檚
Location
Room 303
Presenter
David Pilon, Director of Counselling & Psychological Services, Student Health and Wellness
Description
Being a Graduate Student TA is exciting, contributes to your own learning and teaching competencies, and can be a little daunting at times. This session will speak to the joys and the challenges of being a TA. We will share some strategies to maintain your own well-being. We will provide an overview of student mental health and how to recognize and respond to students in distress and will highlight campus resources to support student mental health and wellness.
Engaging with GenAI in Teaching and Learning
Location
Council Chamber (2nd floor)
Presenter
Kate Crane, Coordinator for the Faculty Certificate in Teaching and Learning
Description
This session will cover the main opportunities and challenges that GenAI presents in our teaching and learning. Facilitator and participants will also construct a list of relevant questions to bring to the instructor of the course to best understand the approach(es) being taken towards AI, ensuring that TAs can mark student work confidently.
听
Wednesday, September 10
The following sessions will take place online via Microsoft Teams. Links to the sessions will be made available upon registration.听
9:30鈥�10:30 a.m.
Brightspace for TAs
Type of Session
Webinar
Presenter
Michelle McDonald, Instructional Support Technician and Trainer
Description
This workshop will introduce attendees to the Brightspace interface. We will look at system navigation, course homepages and the content tool. Each participant will have their own sandbox and will be able to add an announcement in the News widget and explore other widgets that can be added to the Homepage. Participants will also work inside the Content Tool to be able to add modules to the Table of Contents, add content and manage modules. Participants will be able to build a basic course at the end of this workshop.
Intended Audience
New and/or experienced TAs
11 a.m.鈥�12 p.m.
Behind the Scenes: Shared Practices for Effective Teaching Assistants
Type of session
Shared practice session
Presenters
Arvin Vaziry (PhD Candidate in Mathematics)
James Kho (Postdoc in Biology)
Sigma Jahan (PhD Candidate in Computer science)
Description
Teaching assistantship can entail various roles and responsibilities, depending on the discipline. Some roles and responsibilities are common across different programs, while others are more discipline-specific. As TAs take on tasks such as coordinating labs, conducting office hours and tutorials, assisting students with assignments, and delivering lectures, their responsibilities become more complex. In this shared practice session, TAs from different programs, such as Mathematics, Biology and Computer Science, will discuss how their TAships are structured and what is expected of them in their departments. They will share their experiences, providing insights into their teaching routines, preparation for labs, tutorials, and lectures, and the challenges they face and how they overcome them. This session will also include tips and strategies to help you prepare for your own TA position. Regardless of your position or discipline, the insights shared in this session will be applicable across lots of different positions. By learning from experienced TAs, you'll gain valuable knowledge that can enhance your effectiveness and confidence in your role.
Intended Audience
New and/or experienced TAs
12鈥�1 p.m.
Lunch break
1鈥�2 p.m.
Managing Disruptive Behaviour in the Classroom
Type of Session
Workshop
Presenter
Jessica Chubb, Ombudsperson
Description
Facing challenging student behaviour? This workshop will give you the tools to help you identify disruptive vs dangerous behaviour, as well as prevent and respond to those types of behaviour. The workshop will also focus on biases and ways to prevent those biases from seeping into fairness. Overall, you鈥檒l learn strategies needed to foster a respectful, productive learning environment.
2:30鈥�3:30 p.m.
Thriving as an International TA: Your Guide to the Classroom
Type of session
Workshop
Presenter
Leila Mohammadi Valehzaghard (PhD Candidate, Mathematics and Statistics Department)
Description
This session explores the unique challenges and opportunities international TAs encounter in the North American classroom. We鈥檒l discuss cultural differences in teaching and learning, strategies for navigating the TA role, communication tips, and approaches to foster an inclusive, student-centered learning environment.
