Johnson School
Cornell University

Teaching Assistant (TA) Guidelines

Teaching Assistants play a critical role in our education process. The following material is provided to help assure that all participants to the process fully understand their roles.

Motivations for TA Use

1. Enhance learning by providing students with more opportunities to receive help and clarification of material.

2. Enhance learning by providing speedier feedback on material submitted for evaluation (particularly quizzes and exams).

3. Support faculty by collecting and interpreting student experiences and concerns during the course.

4. Support faculty by testing examinations for clarity and length before the examination is administered.

5. Support faculty in course development by helping to write cases, collect current updates to material, etc.

6. Give TAs the opportunity to master material in greater depth and to develop presentation skills.

The TA Contract

The TA enters into an agreement with the faculty member and his/her classmates that involves a mutual set of rights and responsibilities, which includes, but is not limited to:

I. The TA should:

1. Maintain all information regarding student performance in strictest confidence.

• An individual's performance should never be discussed with anyone other than the faculty member.
  
  
• All written evaluations/grades must be returned to the student in a confidential manner (e.g. sealed envelope, stapled document).
  
  
• TAs should not grade/evaluate material in front of other students.
  
  
• TAs should never discuss a student's performance (either good or bad performance) in front of others.

2. Fully understand the responsibilities of TAing (which may vary from course to course).

3. Assure by review, reading, attending class and/or questioning the faculty member that the understanding of course material is sufficient to fulfill his/her responsibilities.

4. Serve as an information conduit between students and faculty as appropriate.

5. Assure that information about assignments and examinations is shared consistently with all students in accordance with faculty directives.

II. The faculty member should:

1. Clearly communicate expectations about the TA's role to the TA and the students enrolled in the class. Expectations to be communicated to the TA include:

• time commitment.
  
  
• class attendance.
  
  
• administrative duties (copying, scheduling, etc.).
  
  
• teaching duties (review).
  

2. Provide explicit guidance to assure that review sessions are effective and that evaluations and grading are fair and consistent.

3. Provide explicit feedback to the TA regarding performance.

III. The student should:

1. Appreciate the cost/benefit trade off that leads to the Johnson School actively using student TAs to enhance the learning environment.

2. Expect professional behavior and confidential support from the TAs.

3. Provide helpful feedback to TAs and faculty on the effectiveness of TA activity.

4. Respect and honor the commitment and effort that TAs bring to their task.

Background and Discussion

This document is part of our commitment to continuous improvement. It arose in part because conversations with students and faculty revealed a diversity of practice across courses and faculty, a lack of communication about the reasons for this diversity and discomfort with some existing practices. The following details are included to provide additional context or raise points for discussion between faculty and TAs.

I. Confidentiality: Students have reported numerous instances where a student believed that a TA used information inappropriately or did not keep sensitive information confidential. Specific examples of questionable practice include:

A. A TA who knew a student had difficulty in a quantitative course approached the student with unsolicited advice regarding the need for a tutor in a subsequent quantitative course.

Message: TAs should respect each student's right to privacy, the right to self-assess needs and the freedom to request advice.

B. A TA had graded material at home and when visited by a student in the class allowed/encouraged the student to look through the pile to learn how it went.

Message: No student should have preferential access to performance information. No student should be positioned to learn of performance levels of classmates.

C. TAs selectively advised students about expectations regarding an examination or homework assignment. In one case, TAs gave conflicting information about expectations. In another, one set of students received pre-warning about exam focus unavailable to others.

Messages:
1. TAs and faculty should discuss what information should be shared and how.

2. Unless expectations have been shared with students in class by the faculty member they should not be delivered selectively by TAs to individual students.

II. Grading: Students are sensitive to the role played by TAs in evaluating work that affects grades. In addition to confidentiality, there are concerns about the process of the assessment.

A. TAs should not know whose work they are assessing. This suggests number coding and/or names on only the front or back of the work.

B. Students have expressed different levels of discomfort with TA involvement in grading depending on the perceived objectivity/subjectivity of material, the extent of faculty involvement in the assessment and development of the grading key and the mechanism for grading.

1. In general, TA involvement is viewed as more acceptable for quantitative courses such as statistics and accounting than for more qualitative courses such as marketing and organizational behavior.

2. For more objective assignments/courses a best practice involves faculty presence while first exams are assessed so the key can be refined and partial credit established. It is desirable for one TA to grade all of a given problem for consistency. It is also desirable for TAs to report to students that good practices were followed and faculty were available to help evaluate difficult/questionable responses.

3. For more subjective courses, a best practice involves TAs marking and highlighting to guide faculty review and grading of the assignment. Alternatively, a process of multiple TA graders with enhanced faculty review of disagreements or similar processes is deemed attractive.

4. The key is that faculty need to clearly structure and guide the process and students need to understand that the final grade has faculty assessment behind it. How the process is conducted affects how the TAs feel about it and how they describe it to the students.

III. Return of Graded Material: We are required by law to maintain confidentiality of student grades. When material is returned to student mailboxes, grades should be recorded inside or the front page should be folded and stapled to conceal the grade or an envelope should be used.

Last Modified: October 7, 2003