Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Prepare or proctor examinations.
• Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary notes, or course Web sites.
• Demonstrate use of laboratory equipment and enforce laboratory rules.
• Provide assistance to faculty members or staff with laboratory or field research.
• Inform students of the procedures for completing and submitting class work, such as lab reports.
• Copy and distribute classroom materials.
• Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary notes, or course Web sites.
• Teach undergraduate-level courses.
• Inform students of the procedures for completing and submitting class work, such as lab reports.
• Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections.
• Complete laboratory projects prior to assigning them to students so that any needed modifications can be made.
• Arrange for supervisors to conduct teaching observations and provide feedback about teaching performance.
• Order or obtain materials needed for classes.
• Notify instructors of errors or problems with assignments.
• Attend lectures given by the supervising instructor.
• Schedule and maintain regular office hours to meet with students.
• Meet with supervisors to discuss students' grades or to complete required grade-related paperwork.
• Complete laboratory projects prior to assigning them to students so that any needed modifications can be made.
• Provide instructors with assistance in the use of audiovisual equipment.
• Teach undergraduate-level courses.
• Prepare or proctor examinations.
• Return assignments to students in accordance with established deadlines.
• Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers, and record grades.
• Tutor or mentor students who need additional instruction.
• Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections.
• Assist faculty members or staff with student conferences.
• Demonstrate use of laboratory equipment and enforce laboratory rules.
• Complete laboratory projects prior to assigning them to students so that any needed modifications can be made.

Skills

• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

Abilities

• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

Knowledge

• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Education

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

48080/yr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

2,180

Yearly Projected Openings

300

Personality

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

• Optimism
• Empathy
• Social Orientation
• Cooperation
• Intellectual Curiosity
• Integrity

Tools

• Compact disk players or recorders
• Desktop computers
• Digital camcorders or video cameras
• Digital cameras
• Digital video disk players or recorders
• Epidiascopes
• High capacity removable media drives
• Inkjet printers
• Laser fax machine
• Laser printers
• Liquid crystal display projector
• MP3 players or recorders
• Microphone stand
• Microphones
• Multimedia projectors
• Notebook computers
• Overhead projectors
• Photocopiers
• Portable data input terminals
• Projection screens or displays
• Scanners
• Scientific calculator
• Slide projectors
• Special purpose telephones
• Tablet computers
• Teleconference equipment
• Televisions
• Touch screen monitors
• Videoconferencing systems
• Web cameras

Technology

• Analytical or scientific software
• Calendar and scheduling software
• Computer based training software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Electronic mail software
• Graphics or photo imaging software
• Information retrieval or search software
• Internet browser software
• Office suite software
• Optical character reader OCR or scanning software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software