TA Blog Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Teaching and Learning Services

Archives: TA Blog

Friday, February 2, 2018

Blog: Facilitating Intrinsic Motivation for Disengaged Students — Knowing Our Audience and Challenging Our Students

By: Michelle MacQueen, Department of Music There are strong links between motivation, autonomy, and competence (Ryan & Deci 2000a, 2000b). However, a motivated, autonomous, and competent learning experience cannot occur if students do not feel engaged in the learning materials. Motivation for students can be divided into two categories: (1)... More

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Blog: Supporting Students with ADHD and Performance Anxiety

By: Lucas Jerusalimiec As teaching assistants (TAs), many of us have experience in assisting students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These students are often highly engaged in tutorials and demonstrate intelligence during class discussions. Those who are in the upper years of their undergraduate degrees are most likely aware... More

Monday, March 6, 2017

Blog: “Hey, you guys!”: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom

By: Anita Grace As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the engagement from all the participants. Everything seemed to have gone so well. But when I reviewed the index cards that I had used to gather feedback, two responses... More

Friday, February 10, 2017

Blog: Learning at Play: Integrating Live Action Role-Playing into the Classroom

By: Noah Schwartz Children learn through play. As we grow into adulthood and are socialized through the school system, however, play becomes a smaller and smaller part of our educational training regime. In recent years, scholarship has continued to demonstrate that traditional styles of teaching, which emphasize lecturing and see students as... More

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Blog: The Choice is Theirs: Offering Students Choice as an Inclusive Teaching Practice

By: Jeff Carette Inclusive education refers to a method of teaching that advocates equal opportunity learning for all students, regardless of background or learning disabilities. Through the application of inclusive practices, we can avoid the kind of “ability labeling” that has been shown to stifle a learner’s capacity to achieve... More

Friday, December 23, 2016

Winter 2017 TA Training Offerings

The EDC's TA Training offerings for the Winter 2017 term are now fully viewable and open for registration! Our new Events page provides a complete overview of all our workshops and sessions, but you can view the list of regular workshops here (all in 422 DT) and the full program for our TA Training Day... More

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Blog: Reassessing Assessment

By: Melissa Pullara After years of being students ourselves, many Teaching Assistants (TAs) have likely become well-acquainted with the fact that not all students learn the same way. Many of us, too, have likely been subject to various forms of categorization: my grade ten Careers class, for instance, required us to take an aptitude... More

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Blog: Metacognition in the Classroom: Engaging the Mind, Engaging the Student

By: Naba Ahsan It’s common to see instructors at the front of the lecture hall, repeatedly asking students to limit laptop usage to note taking (instead of Facebook) or disallowing cell phone usage—I’ve even come across a syllabus or two explicitly asking students to reserve sleeping for outside the classroom. Apparently, the word... More

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Blog: Teaching Narratives of the Sea in the Classroom: Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy and the Shipwreck

By: Michelle K. Barron Preparing lessons on shipwreck excavations and underwater cultural heritage discoveries can be a daunting task, primarily because of the numerous intersections of disciplines. Each area of study—be it maritime archaeology, oceanic anthropology, diasporic and migration literature, international law of the sea, or heritage... More

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Blog: Learning to Read Before You Can Discuss: Critical Reading in First-Year and Peer-Led Tutorials

By: Victoria Bisnauth Critical reading and thinking are skills that students applying to university, especially to programs in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and public affairs, are often told they will develop over the course of their post-secondary education and that are easily transferable and highly regarded in the job market. While... More

Monday, March 21, 2016

Blog: Using Google Hangout and Skype to Promote Online Learning

By: Robyn Pepin More and more students are obtaining post-secondary education using different online platforms (Harish, 2013). In addition to Moodle and Big Blue Button platforms already used on some university campuses, learning can also be facilitated by instructors and teaching assistants through platforms such as Google Hangout and Skype.... More