The Role of Teaching Assistants

Session outline The Workshop includes four elements: (1)Roles and Responsibilities of Staff (2)Establishing a Professional ‘Distance’ with Students (3) Line Management (4) Teaching Teams

Key resources TA Job description Module Leader Job description

1 - Roles and responsibilities of staff

Module Leaders Roles and responsibilities - 1 Module Delivery To ensure that the Module Specifications and delivery are consistent with the objectives and procedures of the Programme, University regulations, the UK academic standards and quality assurance practices in learning and teaching; To coordinate, monitor and approve the work of all staff and TA's contributing to the module in terms of delivery, assessment, feedback and moderation, providing such advice and support to the staff as may be necessary;

Module Leaders Roles and responsibilities - 2 Line management To oversee that new staff receive an induction to the module to ensure that they understand the learning, teaching, attendance policy and assessment strategy including marking practice;

Module Leaders Roles and responsibilities - 3 Module Administration To provide students in a timely manner with module documentation (e.g. module specs, weekly outline, reading list, assessment strategy, marking criteria) either electronically or in paper format, in order to enable them to understand what is expected of them and what they can expect of the module; To update and actively maintain the E-learning page for the module to meet at least the minimum requirements specified by the University; To provide information to the relevant administrative offices by the given deadlines to facilitate timetabling, and to ensure that the list of registered students is as accurate as possible prior to the start of teaching to ensure that the teaching process begins promptly; To be responsible for maintaining a module file that should be updated on a regular basis to ensure that standards are being implemented correctly in relation to marking, double marking, appropriateness of assessments and quality of feedback given to students etc.; To be available to deal with student issues and complaints in a timely manner;

Module Leaders Roles and responsibilities - 4 Module Assessment To be solely responsible for the printing of examination papers in sufficient quantities and secure submission to the Exam Office; To ensure that all assessment procedures are carried out in line with university regulations and that assessment marks are accurately entered to the University database by the required deadlines and results are calculated using the appropriate weightings; To attend internal moderation boards as relevant, to ensure that appropriate moderation procedures are in place for all elements of assessments; To address any issues raised by external validation reviews and respond to external examiners' feedback in a timely manner; To complete a Module Leader assessment report to be presented to the Module Exam Board (MEB); To respond to the issues raised in the student Module evaluation; To attend meetings of the Module Exam Board as required; To liaise as necessary with the Head of Department and notify him/her of any issues which may affect the delivery or assessment of the module.

Teaching Assistants Roles and responsibilities - 1 Line management & attendance Report to assigned line manager (HoD) Attend regularly and punctually

Teaching Assistants Roles and responsibilities - 2 Module Administration Aid module leaders in module management Teach and supervise students on a regularly monitored basis during tutorials and, where appropriate, practical sessions Prepare, under supervision, teaching materials, e.g. for practical sessions (lab manuals, power- point presentations) and different types of academic materials (Xeroxing and distributing) Aid in e-learning management and maintenance

Teaching Assistants Roles and responsibilities - 3 Student attendance and support Monitor student attendance, especially in Preparatory Year modules Offer academic help during office hours and be available to answer students’ questions Encourage student involvement in activities, both academic and extra- curricular

Teaching Assistants Roles and responsibilities - 4 Module Assessment Assist in collecting assignments and other assessment submissions Assist in marking, using model answers and official departmental marking criteria, ONLY where an assignment component is NO MORE than 10% of a Module total (usually class tests and quizzes), with marking checked by module examiner/s Help in administrative work such as invigilation of examination of tests and recording of exam marks, but NOT in preparation of exam papers

Teaching Assistants Roles and responsibilities - 5 Other Assist in research activities Act as substitute lecturers on the rare occasions required

2 – Establishing a professional ‘distance’ with students

Establishing a professional ‘distance’ with students - 1 For all staff Students are here to LEARN and to be GUIDED - they are not your ‘friends’ Ensure that each student is clear that there are other students who also need attention

Establishing a professional ‘distance’ with students - 2 Use of appointments Only see students at an agreed and appointed time This MUST be done through Do NOT allow students to enter your office with NO appointment If you allow this then you are UNDERMINING your colleagues Do NOT give your phone number to ANY student Do NOT accept ANY student’s phone number Do NOT allow any student more than 15 minutes per appointment Arrange for another appointment another day if required Do NOT accept ‘excuses’ for a student from ANOTHER student

Establishing a professional ‘distance’ with students - 3 Appropriate relationships Do NOT tolerate rude or abusive students – report to the HoD Do NOT deal with ANY student who is NOT part of your classes Do NOT discuss ANY other member of staff with ANY student Be POLITE to students but firm

Establishing a professional ‘distance’ with students - 4 Use of Regulations and University systems Show sympathy but always quote REGULATIONS Always refer students to the Programme and University Handbooks If you cannot give an answer request students to come back when you have the answer Where possible refer students to the Class Representatives to air their concerns Discuss these with the Class Representatives – and ask the latter to inform the students

3 – Line managers

Line managers Some staff appear to be confused regarding who their line manager actually is. There is no need for any confusion because: In every Department there is ONE manager – the Head of Department The HoD may assign another member of staff to whom you should report as required In Economics this is the Programme Director ML’s are NOT line managers

4 - Teaching teams

Teaching teams General principles Every ML and TA constitute a Teaching Team – you work together as a team to deliver a module to students. This should never be a ‘master – slave’ relationship! It MUST be a Professional relationship And this MUST be GOVERNED by each adhering to their OWN responsibilities

Communicating with students You should always present yourselves as The Teaching Team to students. For example: Economic Development (ECON O4I02) Teaching team: Professor John Adams & Ms. Reham Rizk The above appears on EVERY lecture slide, every assignment and every communication with students for this module as a CONSTANT header.

Management of the teaching team In very large modules where there are several lecturers working ONLY the Module Leader is responsible for the module In such cases the ML MUST ensure that all members of the Teaching Team are given a teaching plan, understand the assignments, given a tutorial programme and always included in discussions of module delivery PRIOR to and during delivery Where there are serious opinion differences this should first be discussed with the Programme Director