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Graduate Teaching Assistants

Also called: Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Teaching Assistant (TA), Graduate Assistant, Instructor

What they do:
Assist faculty or other instructional staff in postsecondary institutions by performing teaching or teaching-related duties, such as teaching lower level courses, developing teaching materials, preparing and giving examinations, and grading examinations or papers. Graduate teaching assistants must be enrolled in a graduate school program. Graduate assistants who primarily perform non-teaching duties, such as research, should be reported in the occupational category related to the work performed.
On the job, you would:
  • Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections.
  • Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers and record grades.
  • Return assignments to students in accordance with established deadlines.

Knowledge

Education and Training
  • teaching and course design
Arts and Humanities
  • English language
Engineering and Technology
  • computers and electronics
Business
  • customer service

Skills

Basic Skills
  • reading work related information
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Abilities

Verbal
  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • notice when problems happen

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
helping people, teaching, and talking.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Integrity
  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Leadership
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence

Technology

Examples of the technology used in this career will be available soon.

Education

Education: (rated 5 of 5)
master's degree or
bachelor's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Average Outlook
New job opportunities are likely in the future.
Salary
$31,230
per year, on average
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about graduate teaching assistants.