Graduate Student Support
Teaching assistants (TAs) play a key role in Discussion Sessions, Problem Sessions and Labs to support students’ learning. TAs often have the responsibility to bridge the gap between understanding the abstract concepts learned in the lectures and the application of the concepts targeted by the courses. In order to do this well, TAs have to maintain collegial relationships with the faculty and the students, demonstrate mastery of the content, be comfortable with a variety of applications, be effective teachers, and serve as role models. We help TAs to deal with the challenges in this process so that they can build and sustain a supportive teaching and learning environment in their classes.
KOLT offers an extensive TA Development program every semester to (1) prepare TAs for their role in supporting teaching and learning at Koc University and (2) to help TAs for their future careers as academicians. KOLT collaborates with different departments and designs training programs that addresses the needs of those departments. We also provide individualized TA support by means of one-on-one consultation sessions to improve their teaching practices. Moreover, TAs can benefit from our conversation, reading and writing circles to develop their language skills and our shared resources including recommended videos and tipsheets for effective teaching and learning.