Teaching Is A Skill, And The Only Way To Acquire A Skill Is To Practice It
Although coordination and supervision of TAs are important topics in themselves, attention must also be paid to the training of teaching assistants. Training programs for teaching assistants exist in only a few departments, and even where training is available, graduate students often work several semesters for individual faculty members before they receive any formal teaching preparation. For many TAs, the only opportunity to learn basic teaching skills is with the course professors for whom they grade or lead discussions. We believe that faculty have a responsibility to prepare TAs for their teaching duties, not only to ensure high quality classroom instruction, but also to prepare them for teaching careers when they finish their degrees. Increasingly, college search committees are