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TA Training Materials Produced by ECE Writing Center/Professional Communications Project at the University of South Carolina
Engineering teaching assistants often serve as role models for undergraduates as they learn the written and spoken vocabularies of engineering. In many institutions, engineering TAs also grade papers, comment on students' lab reports, and assist with lab instruction. Through the Gateway-funded Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Writing Center Project, Engineering TAs at the University of South Carolina (USC) College of Engineering receive special instruction in learning to respond to student writing and oral communications.

Workshops and consultation for teaching assistants and new instructors are critical elements in the USC program because many new instructors express concern about responding to student communications in ways that help the students improve. At the beginning of each semester, the ECE Writing Center/ Professional Communications Center staff conduct half-day programs on creating effective writing assignments, evaluating oral presentations, and writing comments on students' papers. The workshops use a hands-on approach and give teaching assistants an opportunity to evaluate student communications and discuss their grading strategies with other TAs. The Center staff also provide follow-up consultation for TAs who want help in developing assignments.

TA training materials used in the workshops and program information are available to other Gateway institutions. A 64-page manual, "Teaching Writing in Engineering: The TA's Guide," includes sections on writing and development of cognitive skills, teaching technical writing and reporting, assigning and grading papers, and teaching and conferencing methods. The manual, written by engineering graduate students and writing center staff, covers topics addressed in the TA workshops. In addition, the manual includes a model lab report, handouts on report writing, and tips on oral presentations. The guide will soon be published on the web. Copies are available from the ECE Writing Center at the address shown below.

Another publication available from the project, Proceedings of the Workshop on Engineering Writing and Professional Communications Centers, June 23-25, 1997, also contains materials on TA training. At this Gateway-funded workshop, speakers and participants from several Gateway institutions

discussed the relationship between TA training and the assessment of students' communications abilities.

Information about the ECE training program for TAs is also available from other sources. An overview of the project was presented by project director Elisabeth M. Alford at the 1997 Frontiers in Education Conference. Entitled "Training TAs to Help Students Learn Engineering Discourse," the paper appears in session S4F.2 of the FIE '97 Proceedings. Another report describes ECE's use of the Gateway telecommunications capability for inter-institutional TA training activities. This document, "Using Genre Analysis to Teach Writing in Engineering: Report of a Pilot Video Teleconference for Engineering Teaching Assistants and Writing Center Consultants," is available through ERIC and is cited in Resources in Education, Sept. 1997 (ED 406 944).

The ECE Writing Center project, funded by Gateway and created by USC's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1995, has grown into the nucleus of a Professional Communications Project serving the entire College of Engineering. As it develops into a college-wide service, the initial project is well on the way toward achieving Gateway's goals for institutionalization of activities. The new Professional Communications Center will continue to emphasize training and consultation for engineering TAs. The Center's programs help teaching assistants and undergraduates learn to consult with other writers and to write collaboratively, skills which are valuable both in college and in the workplace.¨

For further information, write or e-mail:
Elisabeth M. Alford, Director
Professional Communications Center
College of Engineering
University of South Carolina
(803) 777-5604
[email protected]

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