Graduate Teaching Assistants

Support and Development Opportunities for Graduate Teaching Assistants

• Welcome
• Orientation: Blackboard Training Module and GTA Orientation Day 
• Graduate Teaching Certificate 
  • Program Goals 
  • Requirements for 2022-2023 
  • Program Registration 

Welcome!

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), you play a vital role in teaching and learning at Trent! But, like many graduate students, you may be coming into your role as a teaching assistant without any formal training or teaching experience. You may be wondering how to translate the skills you have gained as a student and a professional to university instruction. The Centre for Teaching and Learning offers guidance and resources to help all GTAs develop teaching skills and expand their pedagogical knowledge. Our programming includes online materials and synchronous orientation activities to help you get comfortable with your roles and responsibilities. For those who wish to delve further into higher education pedagogy, the CTL offers a Graduate Teaching Certificate program.  

Graduate Teaching Assistant Orientation: Blackboard Module and Synchronous Session 

The Centre for Teaching and Learning welcomes graduate students to their teaching roles with asynchronous and synchronous training opportunities designed to ease the transition to becoming a GTA. The orientation training comprises two parts: 

Part I: “Graduate Teaching Assistant Training” Blackboard Site Module 

This Blackboard site module introduces GTAs to their roles and responsibilities and provides a foundational understanding of key principles of instruction, assessment, and professionalism. The module will be available for enrollment by August 22nd and should be completed before attending the synchronous orientation sessions. It is estimated that completing the module will take 2 hours. 

Part II: Teaching Assistant Orientation Day 

Join the CTL in person or on Zoom for an engaging half-day of interactive workshops focused on common challenges GTAs face as well as strategies for success. Workshops will include: 

• Understanding the Art and Science of Teaching 
• Indigenizing the Academy 
• Assessment and How to Give Constructive Feedback  
• The Life and Times of a Trent GTA: A Panel Discussion with Experienced GTAs 

For Fall 2023, GTAs may choose to attend ONE of the following orientation sessions: 

A) In-Person GTA Orientation: TBD. 

B) Online (Synchronous) GTA Orientation via Zoom: TBD.

WINTER 2024 Session 

Online (Synchronous) GTA Orientation via Zoom: TBD.

Graduate Teaching Certificate 

The Graduate Teaching Certificate (GTC) was designed for GTAs who want to further their understanding and practice of university teaching and learning. The development of the GTC program was informed by the Framework for Teaching Assistance Competency Development, created by the Teaching Assistant Graduate Student Advancement (TAGSA) group of the Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) (Korpan, Le-May Sheffield, & Verwoord, 2015). This framework has identified competencies that articulate what being a capable TA looks like in terms of skills, performance, and responsibilities. 

Reference: Korpan, C., Le-May Sheffield, S., & Verwoord, R. (2015). Teaching assistant competencies in Canada: Building a framework for practice together. CELT, 7, 219-230. 

Requirements for the 2022-2023 Academic Year 

*Please note - this program is being reviewed. This information will be updated with new requirements in Summer 2023*

Participants in the Graduate Teaching Certificate (GTC) are required to fulfill the following components. Detailed guidance on completing these requirements will be provided to those who register: 

1. GTA Orientation programming Parts I and II, including both the “Graduate Teaching Assistant Training” Blackboard Site Module and Graduate Teaching Assistant Orientation Synchronous Session (in person or on Zoom) (6 hours). 
2. Independent Study: Engage with six asynchronous Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Online Modules and complete related activities (10-12 hours). 
3. Capstone Project: This experiential education project guides you through the steps of creating an artifact of high impact practical work, such as delivering a lecture or creating a teaching portfolio, and writing a two-page page reflection (5-10 hours). Learn more about the Capstone Project component. 

Program Registration 

In order to register for the Graduate Teaching Certificate, you must complete the following steps: 

1. Register through our online form. Registration is currently paused.
2. Blackboard Access 
   • Once your registration has been confirmed by the Administrative Coordinator you will be given access to the Blackboard course where you will find additional information including how to access the asynchronous learning modules and detailed instructions for the Capstone Project.
   • All work is submitted by GTAs through Blackboard. 

If you participated in the certificate program before and have partially completed some of the requirements, please send an email to teaching@trentu.ca to learn more information about how to transfer any previously earned credits. 

If you have ideas for a workshop, event, presentation, panel discussion or other events, please feel free to email us!