Fall 2023 TA Workshops - Full List

How well are your teaching strategies working? How can you get useful, real-time feedback on your teaching? How will you respond when students have widely different perceptions of your teaching? In this workshop, you will evaluate different ways of reflecting on your teaching that help you grow as a TA.

Students learn better when they are actively participating in the learning process rather than passively listening. In this workshop, you will differentiate between active learning and passive listening, identify elements that foster active learning, and apply a variety of instructional methods.

Creating lessons is essential, but how can we ensure those lessons are engaging for our students? In this workshop, you will use learning objective taxonomies and a lesson planning framework to design active, student-centered classes.

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement can be a challenge, and is required for most teaching positions and awards. At the same time, examining and articulating your teaching philosophy can help you to become a more effective instructor. As a participant in this workshop, you will work through a series of exercises to help you reflect on your teaching, and by workshop end you will have a draft outline of your teaching philosophy statement.

Numbers can be intimidating, working with numbers even harder. Across a wide variety of STEM courses, students experience math anxiety when learning and practicing with quantitative concepts. This workshop will explore how students experience math anxiety and several strategies for trying to mitigate the anxiety in our courses.

Come learn about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and about how TAs can recognize, critique, and minimize barriers to learning for their students. In this workshop, you will learn about the differences in human learning and the many ways we, as educators, can customize and adjust our teaching in response, to maximize learning for all students.

Come learn about the diversity of UCSB's undergraduate students and how to support them from a perspective of inclusivity. In this workshop, you will explore communication and classroom strategies that promote community, and reflect on how your life experiences affect your interactions with undergraduates.

Creating a compelling Diversity Statement can be daunting, but it is increasingly important for most job applications and grants. Exploring and expressing your commitment to DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) can not only bolster your professional portfolio but also deepen your personal understanding of these essential values. In this workshop, participants will engage in guided activities to reflect on their commitment to DEIA, and to begin drafting their Diversity Statement.

The session will provide tips on writing the CCUT teaching portfolio, including how to structure the portfolio, documenting student ratings, options for requirement 3, tone of narration, and more. Participants need to have completed at least two of the CCUT requirements.

Creating lessons is essential, but how can we ensure those lessons are engaging for our students? In this workshop, you will use learning objective taxonomies and a lesson planning framework to design active, student-centered classes.

Creating a compelling Diversity Statement can be daunting, but it is increasingly important for most job applications and grants. Exploring and expressing your commitment to DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) can not only bolster your professional portfolio but also deepen your personal understanding of these essential values. In this workshop, participants will engage in guided activities to reflect on their commitment to DEIA, and to begin drafting their Diversity Statement.

TAs are responsible for creating, implementing, and evaluating assessments. But what makes a good assessment? How can we use assessment to support learning? And what are some reasonable ways to grade student work? In this workshop, you will use principles from evidence-centered design to make assessments more focused and impactful, and help you with practical grading strategies.

Educational technology tools change quickly, and UCSB licenses new tools for teaching and learning every year. This workshop demos a variety of apps and add-ons that streamline communication and collaboration in and out of the classroom.

How well are your teaching strategies working? How can you get useful, real-time feedback on your teaching? How will you respond when students have widely different perceptions of your teaching? In this workshop, you will evaluate different ways of reflecting on your teaching that help you grow as a TA.

UCSB's Certificate in College and University Teaching (CCUT) program is designed for doctoral students who wish to demonstrate superior competence and experience in preparation for teaching at the university or college level. Official CCUT Certificates are issued by the Office of the Registrar and are noted on the student's transcript. Come to learn about the new updates to the program, and how to earn the Certificate. Please note that the CCUT Certificate can only be awarded in conjunction with a PhD or MFA degree.

TAs are responsible for creating, implementing, and evaluating assessments. But what makes a good assessment? How can we use assessment to support learning? And what are some reasonable ways to grade student work? In this workshop, you will use principles from evidence-centered design to make assessments more focused and impactful, and help you with practical grading strategies.

If you're currently working on academic job applications, or applying for jobs outside of academia, come to our Pop-in Space to share experiences, questions, concerns, and work in progress with other grad students, and to get help from teaching, international, and career peers from Instructional Development and Graduate Division.

Much of a TA's role during section is to formulate generative questions, structure activities that check student understanding, and give effective feedback. In this workshop, you will explore several classroom-based assessment and questioning techniques that are based on the principles of giving effective feedback.

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement can be a challenge, and is required for most teaching positions and awards. At the same time, examining and articulating your teaching philosophy can help you to become a more effective instructor. As a participant in this workshop, you will work through a series of exercises to help you reflect on your teaching, and by workshop end you will have a draft outline of your teaching philosophy statement.

Over the last few years, faculty from UCSB's English for Multilingual Students (EMS) Program have interviewed international students, faculty, and TAs to identify students' experiences with reading and writing across the curriculum. In this workshop you will engage in practical activities for developing students' academic reading and writing skills in various academic disciplines.

Much of a TA's role during section is to formulate generative questions, structure activities that check student understanding, and give effective feedback. In this workshop, you will explore several classroom-based assessment and questioning techniques that are based on the principles of giving effective feedback.

Come learn about the diversity of UCSB's undergraduate students and how to support them from a perspective of inclusivity. In this workshop, you will explore communication and classroom strategies that promote community, and reflect on how your life experiences affect your interactions with undergraduates.