* CS 302 Fall 2002 meets Wed 1:10-2:00 in SPR 2339, Prof. Frank Vahid. 
  Course web page is http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~vahid/courses/302_f02/ --
  most handouts will be available from the web page. Catalog description:

  Seminar, one to four hours. Prerequisite(s): enrollment limited to teaching 
  assistants and associates in Computer Science. Supervised teaching in upper-
  and lower-division Computer Science courses. Required each quarter of all 
  Computer Science teaching assistants and associates.  The course is intended 
  to aid in the learning of effective teaching methods such as the handling of 
  Computer Science discussion sections, preparation and grading of 
  examinations, and student relations. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit(NC). 
* TAs ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT in our educational mission. You have extensive 
  interaction with the students. A highly motivated, excited, cheerful TA can 
  motivate students to *want* to learn the material (many students identify 
  more closely with TAs since they are typically closer in age). We want to 
  ensure you have a successful and rewarding experience as a TA.

* REVIEW OF GRADUATE MANUAL section on TA duties (pages 18-19)
  (see http://www.graddiv.ucr.edu/StudAfftoc.html):
  - Attend all meetings of the class, as required by the department or faculty
    NOTE: this includes special meetings called for by the instructor --
    instructors should inform me (vahid@cs.ucr.edu) if TAs do not attend.
    This also includes lecture sections of the course.

  - Consult with professor as to grading policies, course content, 
    procedures and procturing
    NOTE: seek out the professor!

  - Attend meetings of classes, sections, and labs for which responsible.
    NOTE: This is obvious.

  - Prepare for class, sections and labs for which responsible.
    NOTE: be sure to prepare thoroughly. You may need to catch up on
    some material -- do that early in the quarter.

  - Assign written work, read and grade written work thoroughly and rapidly
    NOTE: notice that grading is a central part of your duties.

  - Hold office hours (one hour per week per section/lab).

  - Report grades accurately and on time

  - Maintain a professional attitude toward all students.
    NOTE: please take your TA duties seriously -- you are professionals,
    and very important to our undergraduate education!
    
  - Notify instructor of any workload issues
    NOTE: a 50% TA should work an *average* of 20 hours per week. Some
    weeks may be more, some less. Instructors ideally should work closely
    with TAs to ensure a reasonably balanced quarter for the TAs, 
    considering their TA duties as well as their own courseload.

* MENTORING -- TAing can be scary for a new TA. Let's help each other.  We 
  will team up such that our experienced TAs will visit the lab sections of 
  our newer TAs, and vice-versa, mostly during the beginning of the quarter, 
  but perhaps further into the quarter. Prof. Vahid can also visit a few of 
  your lab sections. You can also invite your course's instructor to visit. 
  And of course your fellow TAs for a course should be helping out too. 
  
* RUNNING A LAB SECTION
  - See accompanying information on running a lab section