Professor Lecturer Emeritus University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
To make this work I have nothing but undergraduate teaching assistants and no one can earn a teaching assistant position without first taking my anatomy course and ranking in the top five percent of the class. The teaching assistant staff consists of two positions: Mentor Teaching Assistant – Paid position – I have twelve of these teaching assistants on staff. -teach 3 two-hour labs each week one of which they are in charge of administering -train two of the apprentice teaching assistants -trusted individuals who become my right hand in the lab portion of the course -All mentor teaching assistants begin as apprentice teaching assistants -If there is an opening in the mentor teaching assistant position, it is filled with an outstanding apprentice teaching assistant Apprentice Teaching Assistant – Volunteer position – I have twenty-four of these teaching assistants. -teach 1 two-hour lab each week -expected to spend three hours on the weekend with their mentor practicing for the lab -Apprentice teaching assistants can earn course credit for their experience All teaching assistants must attend a meeting and advanced anatomy course every Friday where they learn more anatomy, learn teaching and demonstration skills with the cadavers, and prepare for the coming week of labs. The meeting and class runs from 2:00 to 5:30 pm every Friday and all teaching assistants must attend. The trick to generating interest is providing a quality experience that expands their knowledge, allows them to be front line teachers, and is fun and rewarding. I have been doing this for thirty-three years now and I routinely have 90 to 100 applicants each semester for the apprentice teaching assistant position. The program does not just happen, it must be constantly nourished and it requires significant effort and time on my end to continually train and maintain a quality staff, but the mentor teaching assistants become a big help in the process.
