STLHE 2016 SAPES

An emerging trend in graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training in Canada is the development of graduate student peer networks – such as “Lead TA Programs” – that enhance the teaching practices of GTAs at a disciplinary level. In this session, we will share the preliminary findings of a mixed method study we conducted to evaluate the impact of a Lead TA program during its pilot implementation stage at a large Ontario university.


This first purpose of this session is to share strategies on how to support graduate students for roles in educational leadership. To this end, two Lead TAs will offer their experiences of the program as case studies in order to shed insight on the factors that resulted in both their success and challenges. The second purpose of this session is to collaboratively brainstorm potential solutions to the attendant challenges of empowering graduate students as change agents within departmental teaching cultures through a group discussion. Participants will leave the session with concrete examples of innovative discipline-specific TA training activities that could be implemented at their own institutions.