Hi Wendy, I was a bit shocked to read in your message that you no longer have a writing centre at SFU. Could you share a bit of the politics or the rationale that led to its abolition? Thanks, Jo-Anne Andre University of Calgary Wendy Strachan wrote: > Dear colleagues, > > In trying to implement Writing-Intensive courses at SFU across the > disciplines at both the lower and upper division, we are also figuring out > how to prepare the TAs who are working with faculty in large first year > courses. We've instituted a reduction in tutorial size to 15 with each TA > having a maximum of 3 sections in a course, but the question of preparation > continues to be a challenge. Hiring practices governed by the union prevent > our seeking out TAs who are a bit along in their course work and have some > experience of teaching, so most are entering graduate students who are > assigned TA-ships as a source of funding. > While we can't do much about that at the moment, we can require that they > have some pre-W-course training to help them handle the instruction and > responding to writing for which they are largely responsible. Since we no > longer have a writing centre to which students can go for individual help, > the TAs are not operating in a one-on-one tutoring context - they are > working with groups on writing in content courses. > > We' re wondering how others of you work with TAs and do this training: > When? how much time? in what contexts? how many TAs at a time, in a > workshop setting? do you have programs or courses within or outside > departments? are these credit or non-credit? required or voluntary? are > tehy designed for overall teaching training or focusing on writing? with > what results? > I'm looking at US institutions as well since there is a long-established > tradition there of preparing TAs who work in the first year composition > courses but I'm hoping there is a bank of Canadian models to draw on. And I > know this is the place to go to find out! > > Many thanks for any ideas and information, > > Wendy > > Wendy Strachan PhD. > Director, Centre for Writing-Intensive Learning > Simon Fraser University > Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 > Office: AQ 6205 > Tel: 604-291-3122 > Fax: 604-268-6915 > email: [log in to unmask] > http://www.sfu.ca/cwil > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to > [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties, > write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] > > For the list archives and information about the organization, > its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to > http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/ > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] For the list archives and information about the organization, its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-