Fall Intensive Helps Teaching Assistants Start a Successful Semester

By Katherine Friedrich

New and experienced TAs at the University of Colorado-Boulder learn key teaching techniques every year at the Fall Intensive sponsored by the Graduate Teacher Program and the Colorado Preparing Future Faculty Network.

This year's intensive, which took place on Aug. 20-22 – the week before classes start at UC-Boulder – was structured around four central themes: teaching methods, diversity, professional development, and assessment and evaluation.

"The initial goal is to help graduate students who are going to teach the next week be prepared to step into the classroom," explained GTP director Laura Border. The intensive also offers higher-level workshops for continuing students.

Students are very responsive to the topics discussed during the intensive – especially the more challenging ones. "What I really liked about it was the kind of energy you could feel," said Hallie Meredith, the GTP's Lead Coordinator for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Social Sciences. She said some sessions were full of students talking excitedly about teaching and learning; "Everyone was engaged from start to finish."

"We try to build in timely topics," Border observed. “What they always say is: 'Dr. Border, I thought this was going to be very boring, but it wasn’t…. I will be coming back to workshops.'"

Both Border and GTP assistant director P.J. Bennett emphasized that the practical, active nature of the workshops are part of what makes the yearly intensive a success. Bennett said the intensive provides "graduate students – and some undergrads – with practical tools and skills they can take into the classroom immediately."

These skills include lesson planning, course design, using problem solving and active learning methods, managing conflicts, working with students from underrepresented groups, and overcoming fear in the classroom.