Teaching Assistant (TA)

Teaching Assistant Training and Support

The Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning (HBCTL) supports graduate students (Master’s and PhD candidates) and Post-doctoral Associates (postdocs) at all stages of their teaching trajectory, from getting started at NYUAD as a teaching assistant, to designing courses, and preparing a teaching statement for the academic job market. Teaching Assistant (TA)  duties can vary broadly but can include: leading discussion groups and problem solving sessions, consulting with students in office hours, teaching labs, or giving lectures. The HBCTL websites offers resources for planning and improving in all of these areas. For questions on how you can become a Teaching Assistant please contact the Graduate and Post-Doctoral Programs Office (GPPO) at nyuad.graduateoffice@nyu.edu.

Teaching Assistant Training

TAs offer educational assistance by scaffolding learning support for NYUAD students. Understanding the unique context of NYU Abu Dhabi students is integral to effective teaching in this interdisciplinary curriculum. To help prepare TAs to offer classroom engagements that are meaningful and useful to students, a workshop series has been developed.

Workshop Series

This workshop series is required for all new NYUAD graduate and postdoc TAs, and is designed to introduce TAs to effective teaching strategies and a variety of resources that support TAs and students at NYUAD. Participants will be provided with resources to further their pedagogical training and to refine their teaching skills.

Workshop Series Learning Objectives

  • At the end of this workshop series, participants will be able to:
  • Articulate different teaching strategies for small group discussions, recitations, and labs
  • Identify key characteristics of an assessment rubric
  • Provide actionable feedback
  • Implement relevant aspects of trauma-aware pedagogy
  • Understand NYUAD’s Distressed Student Protocol
  • Recognize varying power dynamics within the classroom and how they impact learning

Designing Lesson Plans

A key function of a TA is to structure learning environments that support undergraduate education at NYU Abu Dhabi. This section addresses how to produce lesson plans that facilitate student learning. Preparing a lesson plan will help build your confidence, and offer structure to students from diverse backgrounds with differing academic expectations. Lesson planning can help you prepare for teaching, keep your delivery organized, and ensure that your students meet their learning goals.
While lesson plans vary across disciplines and classes, they should all include information about what the objectives are for the session, what teaching strategies you will use, the order in which you will cover the topics, and how you will assess whether the students have learned what you wanted them to learn. Regardless of whether or not your lessons might be lab exercises, discussions or problem solving exercises, below are some steps that you can take to help you plan.