Graduate Teaching assistants in the Faculty of Computer Science

Graduate Teaching assistants in the Faculty of Computer Science perform the following duties.
1. Tutorials.
2. Tutorial Preparation.
3. Lecture Attendance.
4. Office hours.
5. Grading of assignments.
6. Meetings.
7. Invigilation of tests.
8. Lecturing (occasional).
9. Assistance in compilation of problem sets.
10. Compilation of solutions to problem sets and exams.
11. Laboratory supervision, training on use of software packages.

Instructors agree with TAs on the specific mix of duties and the approximate hours per duty in the beginning of the term. Hours of duty should add up to a total equal to the hours assigned to the teaching assistant (TA pay is $14/hour).

Teaching assistants need not be assigned duties in all categories.

Instructor/TA agreement (under discussion)

Graduate teaching assistants are paid by the hour. Instructors and their TAs will agree in writing on the duties associated with the position, and the number of hours each duty is expected to consume.

For tutorials, lecturing and laboratory supervision, preparation time should be included, as appropriate.
The time to grade assignments should be estimated on the basis of the number of student papers to mark.
Compilation of solutions to problem sets will follow marking and it will point out the main mistakes students made.

Deadline: The agreement, in the form of a list of duties and the associated hours, signed by both the instructor and the TA, will be due at the graduate office in the third week of classes.

Instructor/TA agreement on Duties (Excel template) htm xls

Dr. Grundke's Marking Guidelines

To:  Graduate students marking courses for Dr. Grundke

Please observe the following guidelines for marking in any of my courses:

1. Find the web page for the relevant course. Typically the URL will be http://www.cs.dal.ca/~grundke/XXXX where XXXX is the course number (eg. 4191, 3121, etc.), else look for links on my home page at URL www.cs.dal.ca/~grundke/. Look for the Course Information page, which gives general course guidelines for the students. Read these for background information on the course.
2. Follow any assignment marking guidelines that may be given in the Course Information page.
3. For each assignment, make up a marking scheme that seems fair to you, using the following general suggestions:
   • For programming exercises, put roughly equal value on syntax, semantics and style.
   • For pencil and paper exercises, give some points for using a reasonable method and some points for getting right numerical answers, if applicable. In algebraic exercises, students must define any variables, state their assumptions, and state their reasoning. Just slapping down a bit of algebra or a numeric answer should not get them many points, even if the final answer happens to be correct.
4. Next to each question write the grade as a fraction: 6/8 means that you awarded 6 points out of a maximum of 8.
5. Add comments to each student's answer to indicate why marks were lost. Students should always be able to see clearly how the grade could have been improved.
6. Try to grade as consistently as you can. It is important to have a justifiable marking scheme (point 3 above), but it is even more important to give consistent marks from one student to the next. If necessary, keep a record of marking decisions as you proceed (half value for this kind of approach, etc.).
7. Total the grades according to your marking scheme, and round the total to the nearest INTEGER out of 30. Indicate this total as a fractional form (e.g. 25/30) on the assignment and also on the grade entry form (below).
8. Enter the grades at http://www.cs.dal.ca/~grundke/cgi-bin/nca/gradeEntry.cgi. (See me for a password when you do this for the first time!)
9. Grades for missing assignments should be entered as "M", not as 0.
10. Please alphabetize the assignments by student surname or username, if they are not sorted already. (I suggest an insertion sort into the "finished" pile as you grade the assignments.) This makes it much easier to hand the assignments back in class.
11. Except for the case of team assignments, be on the lookout for copying. Although I encourage students to learn from one another and discuss ideas about their assignments, I expect each student to submit individual work. For instance, two or more files of source code differing only in the naming of some variables rarely come spontaneously from several minds at once! If you suspect an unacceptable degree of collaboration, please mark the assignments as usual and then refer them to me for possible action.
12. On the timing of all this: Please pick up the assignments from me the day that they are due from students. Please return the marked assignments before the tutorial period in the following week.
13. You are invited to teach a part of the tutorial in which the assignments are returned. You can review the correct answers and/or discuss typical problems you found in the assignments you marked. On most days you may take as little or as much time as you like. I will be on hand to help you out if you wish. This is intended to provide you with some public speaking and teaching experience in a fairly non-threatening situation.
14. Finally, if you have any questions about the marking, please come to my office or send me a note at Ernst.Grundke@dal.ca.