The following responsibilities can help ensure a productive and well-functioning collaboration.
Responsibilities of the teacher responsible
The teacher responsible is always responsible for:
- Holding a start-of-semester meeting with the TA to establish expectations for the collaboration – including meeting frequency, the schedule for distributing assignments to the TA and students, and whether solution guides or other supporting materials will be provided.
- Holding regular follow-up meetings with the TA to discuss how the teaching is progressing – both for the TA and the students.
- Being available to the TA for questions and support.
- Ensuring that TA groups function effectively.
- Approving the assignments distributed by the TA and for ensuring their academic quality.
- Following up to ensure the TA is able to manage the assignments correctly.
- Ensuring that assignments and other feedback are handled in a timely manner and according to what was agreed and informing the TA promptly in case of delays or changes.
- Ensuring the TA gains access to the itslearning platform – either personally or by requesting this from the study secretary or PhD administrator.
Responsibilities of the TA
The teaching assistant is expected to:
- Be well-prepared for all teaching sessions and actively support student learning.
- Use itslearning for all communication with students. Materials or information must not be shared via social media.
- Participate in start-up and follow-up meetings with the teacher responsible.
- Handle submitted assignments and provide feedback in a timely manner, in accordance with what was agreed, and notify the teacher responsible promptly in case of delays or necessary changes.
- Communicate relevant observations or concerns regarding student participation or progress to the teacher responsible.
- Stay informed about changes to course content, examination formats, or schedules via itslearning or direct communication with the teacher responsible.
- Register working hours in Smartreg. It is your responsibility to continuously register your activities in the system.
You might consider
It may be beneficial for the teaching assistant to attend some of the course instructor’s lectures as part of their preparation.
Allocation of TAs
Lars Rohwedder (Computer Science, Data Science, AI) and Kristian Debrabant (Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics-Economics) are responsible for identifying and assigning qualified PhD students to teaching assistant roles.
A link to a form will be sent to all, where you are asked to indicate, for each course, whether teaching it would be ‘perfect’, ‘OK’, or ‘only if necessary’ for you.
You are encouraged to discuss your preferences with your supervisor.
Preferences will be accommodated where possible, but placement cannot be guaranteed.
To give an indication of how many hours you can be expected per semester you need to teach an average of 24 exercise sessions per semester to meet your 840-hour work obligation (840 hours / 5 semesters / 3.5 = 48 hours of exercise teaching per semester, i.e. 24 exercise sessions).
Read more about working hours and knowledge dissemination.
Please note
The head of department holds the overall responsibility for the management and distribution of work at the department. If you experience that a teacher responsible is not fulfilling his or her obligations, you are welcome to contact the Head of Department.