Supporting Students as a Teaching Assistant

by Brooke Wickman

Academic adjustments have been made throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to accommodate students pursuing higher education. Accommodations were made from the course level through the university level to ease academic stresses in an unprecedented year. A focus of the fall Graduate Teaching Community (GTC) meetings was supporting students during the difficulties of a virtual quarter. 

The GTC participants who were teaching assistants (TAs) had varying degrees of authority to control course operations this quarter. Some participants had nearly full control to implement supportive strategies, but several had minimal control in making changes to positively impact students. Regardless of the TA’s role in a course, TAs are well positioned between students and instructors. 

When TAs don’t have course autonomy to ensure maximum flexibility and compassionate course logistics, they may still have influence to ease the stresses students face academically. TAs can communicate their course concerns with instructors depending on their comfort level with the instructor. If instructors are open to incorporating TA ideas into their course, this is a straightforward way for a TA to ensure students are supported. Despite well-intentioned student advocacy, not all instructors are open to discussing course modifications or hearing TA recommendations. Even if TAs are delicate with their proposals, some instructors will not be open to TA suggestions. But even without teamwork between the TA and instructor, TAs can still find ways to support students. 

Students may provide cues when they are struggling to succeed in a course. TAs can use their role at the interface of students and instructors to monitor students and report concerns to instructors. When TAs or readers grade student work, they can monitor late submission trends, changes in work quality, and comments students make within their submitted work or in online communications such as discussion boards or emails. With limited face to face time in a virtual learning environment, TAs should be mindful of signals that may indicate a student is not able to perform at their full potential. 

As much as TAs should feel compelled to tune into their students’ needs and advocate for them as necessary, boundaries of compassion are important. TAs are not expected to provide counseling, tackle food insecurity, or release students from their family care responsibilities, but they can check in with students and direct them toward resources and professionals best suited to meet student needs. Ideally, TAs will be able to work with instructors to reduce student course-induced stress and maximize academic growth.  

Demands on TAs were high before 2020, and this year has only added to the stresses and responsibilities of TAs. This year’s events have affected everyone, so it may feel like too much for TAs to provide extra support to students when they need support themselves. If this year has taught us anything, let it be the impact that compassion and empathy have in supporting those on both the giving and receiving ends.