To help the students in his lab feel comfortable, Daryll made a point to check in with students each week before diving into the material. He then took things step by step to ease their learning process.
Though he had experience in grading for other classes, this was his first time running his own lab. Drawing on his background as a Graduate Educational Developer, he used feedback as a learning tool, identifying common themes to address with the entire class, while providing individualized feedback shaped by the personal connections he built through his check-ins.
For new TAs, Daryll advises thinking outside the box to find strategies that work for both them and their students.
TA/GA Awards Program is to recognize, promote, and reward the contributions that teaching and graduate assistants (TA/GAs) make to enhance the quality of undergraduate student learning experiences at Toronto Metropolitan University.
It is administered by the Centre for Learning and Teaching Excellence at Toronto Metropolitan University.
To learn more about the TA-GA Awards, please visit here.