Professional Development for International Teaching Assistants and International Graduate Students

The Professional Development for International Teaching Assistants and International Graduate Students Program is offered each term, with a total of eight sections with 10-15 graduate students per section. The program is specifically designed for international graduate students to:

• Develop skills to communicate effectively with students and professors.
• Practice, give and receive feedback on presentations and instructional practices.
• Gain a deeper understanding of Canadian academic culture, Canadian society and systems.
• Share experiences with other international graduate students and build a network of academic colleagues.

Of the almost 5600 international students enrolled at UBC in the last year, 1849 are international graduate students. New to Canada and UBC, they instantly step into the roles of students, colleague, teaching assistant, researcher and sojourner. Their ability to adjust to the Canadian social and academic world, and to develop effective teaching and communication skills, has a profound impact on hundreds of UBC students and researchers.

The ITA program continued to be developed with close input and consultation from Gary Poole and Desiree Mou at the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth (TAG), and complements the TAG Instructional Skills Workshops and the SHINE initiative.

Helena Hensley, Centre for Intercultural Communication, UBC Continuing Studies
Judith Plessis, Centre for Intercultural Communication, UBC Continuing Studies