Spring 2024 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.

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.

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.
This workshop counts to obtain the Certificate in Inclusive Teaching (CIT).

Do you find yourself waiting until the day before grades are due to start grading? You’re not alone! Come to our “Let’s Get Grading!” event to find a space where all TAs can battle grading-induced anxiety with community and with coffee, tea, and snacks. Peers from the Graduate Student Resource Center and the TA Development Program will share tips and feedback about equitable grading, how to grade effectively as a first time TA or as an International TA, and how to navigate grading anxiety.

A big misconception is that to maximize equitability in the classroom, instructors and TAs should maximize flexibility (no deadlines, no attendance policy, etc.) but high-structure course design increases equitability for students (per Inclusive Teaching by Hogan and Sathy). Although TAs don’t have complete control over the design of a course, we can discuss how TAs can increase the structure of a class through section design and activities, grading practices, etc., to increase equity in the classroom.

In this workshop, you will learn about this college student population and how to support neurodivergent students inside and outside of your classroom. You will gain an understanding of neurodivergent students’ unique learning needs, and how to adapt teaching strategies to remove barriers to learning. This session offers practical strategies for fostering an inclusive classroom that respects and accommodates neurodiversity, enhancing the educational experience for all students.

Promoting Student Self-efficacy for Academic Success with Destiny Hoerberg
Do you know how to foster and promote positive and helpful beliefs in your students? Promoting self-efficacy is an important part of building a welcoming and inclusive environment in the classroom and beyond. Join us in exploring easy-to-use research-based strategies for promoting each of the major sources of self-efficacy. From setting goals to providing opportunities and feedback, this workshop will encourage you to go beyond generating correct responses to empower students to take an active role in their academic journey.

Are you struggling to increase student engagement in your classes? In this workshop you will learn strategies to enhance participation through Nectir, where students can comfortably interact beyond traditional classroom settings and office hours. This session will equip you with the skills to use Nectir as a dynamic tool for fostering equitable and accessible student engagement.

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.

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.
This workshop counts to obtain the Certificate in Inclusive Teaching (CIT).

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.

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.

Reading and Writing Skills with Andreea Corona and Amy Joy Lashmet (EMS Program)
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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