In this post, we will answer all your questions about being a teaching assistant. What does TA mean? What are the requirements? How to apply for such a position? How much workload you can expect in a week? What will be your responsibilities and how much will you get paid for this job? If you want answers to all these questions and more then keep on reading.
As promised in our previous post named "4 categories of student jobs", we are here with the detailed version of one of that category, i.e., Teaching Assistant. Our last blog post received a lot of love from you guys, thank you for that! We hope that our simple infographic will help you all to easily visualize the steps to procure a student visa for the Netherlands. Alright, now let's dive into the questions!
Question 1: What is a teaching assistant?
A teaching assistant or a TA is also known as a student assistant. A TA is an individual who assists his/her professor with their routine instructional responsibilities. These responsibilities include sometimes teaching classes, managing students in the practical sessions, grading papers and assignments, and doing basic administrative chores related to the course.
Question 2: Is there some criteria to be a teaching assistant?
Yes. There are several requirements that you need to fulfil to be eligible for this role. But the requirements vary for every university. Let us first tell you those conditions which are common everywhere:
First condition: You have to be enrolled in a full-time bachelors or masters programme.
Second condition: You need to have decent communication skills. This is because a huge part of your responsibility includes effective engagement with students. You need to help them at every step of the way. Thus, you need to able to communicate clearly.
Third condition: You must possess basic skills related to the course. For example, if you are applying for a course named "Data Analysis and Visualization" then you must know how to code in R and Python. You cannot be a TA for an economics course if you are an engineering student!
Fourth condition: You should not be attending that course as a student for which you will be TA. So for example, if you want to be a TA for "Data Analysis and Visualization" then you should not be enrolled in that course as a student.
That was the list for conditions which are common to every university. Now here comes a small list for conditions which are not same everywhere:
Fist uncommon condition: You have to undergo some kind of training. If you want to be a TA at Utrecht University then first you will have to enrol into a training course. This is because being a TA is not an easy job. It demands a lot of patience, good communication skills and critical thinking. So the Utrecht University first trains you for this role before you proceed with the application.
Second uncommon condition: Your grades! If you want to be a TA at Vrije university then your overall grade should be 8 or more than that.
Question 3: How to apply for the role of a teaching assistant?
Every university has a dedicated portal for this where they list all the future openings. You can visit this portal and apply for the positions where you can fit yourself. You will be asked to upload your resume, your grades and a short motivation letter. The assigned professor will then go through your profile and will reach out to you to schedule an interview for the job.
Question 4: When can I apply for the role of a teaching assistant?
The university on-boards TA before the course even starts. So for first-years and international students, this is an issue. You cannot be a TA right when you start your programme. You can only apply for those courses which will be taught in the future semesters.
We know what you are thinking right now, "Why can't I apply before starting my course? Why can't I apply just after receiving my university acceptance letter?" Well, you can't because you will need a student ID and login credentials. These credentials take a long time get generated and usually, these are generated just before the start of your programme. You cannot access any internal university portals if you do not have your student ID and login credentials.
Question 5: Is language a barrier for an international student?
Well, the answer is yes and no! At any Dutch university, the are some courses which are taught in Dutch. So please ensure that you are applying only for those courses which are taught in English. As a master's student, you also have an option to become a TA for a suitable bachelor's course taught in English. There you will face some difficulties. Knowing the Dutch language is not a mandate here but the student in those courses are younger and not much open to speaking English. Some course work will also be in Dutch. So you will have to heavily rely on Google Translate to get through the course.
Question 6: Do I need a work permit to be a teaching assistant?
As an international student, yes you will need a work permit for this job. But don't worry, since this is a job within your university, the work permit is not a barrier. The professors will select you because they want to. They will not reject you because the university will have to file a work permit for you. Also, in these cases, a work permit is easy to procure so it is definitely not an issue.
But take a note here: Applying and receiving a permit takes time. This is another reason why international students cannot get a TA job as soon as they land here.
Question 7:How much do you get paid for being a teaching assistant?
The salary depends on your level of education. It is different for masters and bachelors students and needless to say, students enrolled in a masters programme get paid more. At Utrecht University, the salary is 422euros per month if you are in a bachelors programme. The salary increases to 452euros per month if you are in a bachelors programme and your credits are more than 120. For masters student, the salary is 492 euros per month.
This can be considered a standard rate for a TA but this might slightly differ for every university. For example, Harshil is a teaching assistant at Utrecht Medical Centre and they pay her 20-22euros per hour.
Question 8: What are the main responsibilities of a teaching assistant?
Here is a list of all the tasks that are expected to be performed by a TA:
Assist the professors to create some material for the lecture. Of course, you are not expected to prepare everything for a lecture but a part of it. For example, if the professor decides to explain a concept using a case study then it will be your responsibility to find and present that case study. The professor might also ask you to prepare documents that can help students understand the lecture better
You will be in charge of all the practical sessions. You will have to be present all the time and try to help the students as much as possible. In the upcoming question, we will share some tips on how to be a good TA!
You will be conducting various QnA sessions to help students clear their doubts.
You will be assisting your professors in conducting the examination. Yes! Finally, you get to sit on the other end of the table. On the day of the examination, you will be present the whole time in the room and you should be ready to help a student if any crisis happens.
You will be grading the assignments and exams. But for this task, you will not be on your own. You will be doing this along with your professor and other TAs. To grade anything, i.e., either an assignment or an exam, the professor will give you a guideline which you should follow to provide a fair assessment. The guideline will include pointers like: Give the student full marks if the answer contains certain statements. Give the student half marks if the answer at least mentions some important details and so on.
Question 9: Can I be a TA for more than one course?
The answer is no! You cannot be a TA for more than one course in the same semester. You can, however, apply for another TA position once your current course completes.
Question 10: How can I be a good TA?
Please understand that being a teaching assistant is not an easy job. Also, being a TA comes with a huge responsibility of helping students get through the course with as much knowledge as possible. So here are some tips on how you can be an amazing TA:
Tip 1: Be patient. The students will give you a hard time with all their doubts and queries. Do not get annoyed. Do not provide an answer which lacks complete information. You are responsible for their learnings!
Tip 2: Always be prepared for the practical sessions. Be the first one to arrive in the room where the session is going to commence. Solve all the questions beforehand, in this way you will better understand a question when a student asks it.
Tip 3: Be professional during practical sessions but also maintain a friendly stature. If you will be too strict or if you act in a condescending way, the students will not approach you and in the end, will give you a bad review. But if you are too friendly, the student will not take you seriously and will again refrain from approaching you. Thus, you will once again get a bad review. So learn to draw the line between strict and friendly.
Tip 4: While conducting a practical session, you will be bombarded will loads of questions from students. Of course, it is your duty to help the students but it is also your duty to help them gain knowledge. So don't spoonfeed them rather guide them towards the solution. Give them hints and let them work to get the correct answer.
Tip 5: Be fair while grading assignments or exams. You could get a submission by your friend or from a student with whom you had a heated argument recently! Do not grade those submissions. You can ask some other TA to do this. But if you have no other option then keep your personal feelings aside and be fair.
Tip 6: While giving any grade high or low, always write feedback. If the grade is low then the student should know what he/she did wrong. If the grade is high then the student should know what he/she did right.
Tip 7: Please know that every student will learn at their own pace. So be understanding. Let everyone finish at their speed and be present to help a student if he/she needs you.
Tip 8: Check your emails regularly and develop your email writing skills. It will never happen that every student will finish their work in the one practical session that you conducted. You will receive a lot of emails from students where they will ask for your help. So be as clear in your communication as possible. Elaborate your answers as much as possible.
Tip 9: Accept the fact that you don't know everything. There will come a time when you will be asked a question to which you do not know the answer. It is okay to say that you will get back to the student once you have consulted the professor.
We really hope that these tips will help you in being the best teaching assistant. Let us know if we missed any question or if you have any future blog requests. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!