Orientation to being a TA or tutor

Orientation to being a TA or tutor

Mission

The mission of the CS Undergraduate Tutor Program is to provide quality instruction and a supportive learning environment to undergraduate students typically enrolled in lower division CS courses. The training component of the program aims to better prepare undergraduate tutors and graduate TAs who work with undergraduate tutors in teaching roles. While some distinctions between these roles exist, TAs and tutors share many responsibilties to work as a cohesive teaching team.

Expectations and things to know

Being a tutor is all about leading by example. Here are some guidelines on how you might set a good example:

• Be reliable: One of your primary jobs is to assist students during “closed” and “open” labs. Show up to labs prepared and on time. Don’t miss your hours unless you have a real emergency. If you have to miss your hours, you must make alternate arrangements and get your instructor’s approval. Just announcing it on Piazza is not enough. Students need consistency and should be able to rely on you being there to help them.We use a Slack channel to coordinate lab hours. This is typically coordinated by a faculty member, or one of the TAs/tutors. Be responsive to the messages that they send you on the channel. If you are one of the last people leaving the Phelps labs, you must lock the labs and make a post on our Slack channel.

• Be empathetic: The mission of our program is to support the learning of diverse students. As a tutor you will likely assist students who have never programmed before or are really struggling with a problem that you might find easy to solve. Be empathetic! Our message to our students should be clear: We are here to support the learning of all students in our classes.

• Be proactive: If you notice something in course that needs attention, let the TAs and instructor know! Think of a solution and offer it to your instructor.