Center for Excellence in TeachingIntroduction
The CET TA Training Curriculum is a comprehensive set of lessons providing the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary for new TAs to succeed in their roles.
The curriculum is designed to be delivered in two parts: one 3-hour, pre-semester orientation followed by a semester-long, 2-unit course. The course design is designed in a flipped format; TAs are expected to review online content before attending the in-person session. Lesson plans are provided for both the orientation and the course, with provisions for adaptation by the academic unit providing the training. If a structure other than the intended orientation and course are needed, the curriculum can be adapted to meet the required structure.
Academic units are invited to download and edit the CET TA Training Curriculum materials freely, to meet their local needs.
For access to the CET TA Training Curriculum materials, please contact Bob Sweeney (rsweeney@usc.edu)
TA Training Curriculum
There are two ways to access the TA Training Curriculum. The curriculum may be downloaded directly from this page or the curriculum can be copied directly into an existing Blackboard course or organization.
Download directly
Pre-semester training session
- Facilitator guide for pre-semester training session including lesson plan
- PowerPoint template for the pre-semester training session
Semester-long TA Training course
- Facilitator guide for semester-long course (includes lesson plans)
- Syllabus template
- Flipped content resources
Sign up through Blackboard
The CET TA Training Curriculum is available through Blackboard for those wishing to copy content directly over into their own Blackboard organization or existing TA Training course.
- For those who teach an existing, for-credit TA Training course and would like to import CET content into it, please email blackboard@usc.edu with the following request “I request to copy content from the CET TA Training Curriculum over to my existing course.” Please include the course-id (it will look similar to this: YEAR_XXX_###_####).
- For faculty or staff who do not teach an existing, for-credit TA Training course, please request a Blackboard organization for “TA Training” with the “CET TA Training Curriculum” content copied over here https://blackboardhelp.usc.edu/blackboard-organizations/blackboard-organizationsrequest_bb_org/ Note that this option is not available to students.
Update notifications
When the TA Training Curriculum is updated, we will notify all users who have provided their contact information using the link below. If you plan on using any components of this curriculum, we strongly recommend signing up for update notifications.