About the Academy:
The Educational Development Academy for Teaching Assistant Consultants is a program designed in partnership between UCLA’s Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (CEILS) and the Office of Instructional Development’s TA Training Program. It is designed for graduate students who will serve as the Teaching Assistant Consultant (TAC) for their respective departments. This 2-day experiences offered over the summer provides TACs with the pedagogical knowledge, instructional methodologies, observational and feedback strategies, and awareness of campus resources needed to effectively train new TAs – since the TACs will teach their deparment’s TAs in the 495 courses.
In addition to shifting focus from teaching in your discipline to teaching other TAs to teach in their disciplines, emphasis will be placed on inclusive and student-centered teaching strategies, learning theory, backward course design, active and collaborative learning pedagogies, and equitable assessment and grading practices.
Justification:
Teaching assistants (TAs) take a 495 series seminar and receive course credit to prepare them to teach in their disciplines. These 495 courses are led (or co-led) by Teaching Assistant Consultants (TACs), advanced graduate students with extensive teaching experience in the discipline. However, teaching other teachers to teach in their disciplines is a skill set all in itself which requires additional training. This academy provides TACs with cross-disciplinary pedagogical training necessary to lead the 495 in their departments. It also also provides a professional development opportunity for TACs to deepen their knowledge of pedagogy and to improve their own teaching practices. TACs will receive course credit for their training, similar to the course credit TAs receive for their pedagogical training in the 495 courses.