In this special TA edition of the What a Great Teaching Idea profile series, Charles Lehnen, PhD candidate and teaching assistant in Integrative & Evolutionary Biology at USC Dornsife, shares how he builds genuine community in his sections and courses, along with the strategies he relies on to keep students engaged and participating. His approach centers on creating a space where students feel safe thinking out loud, even when that means getting things wrong.
Charles is the recipient of the 2025-26 University Outstanding TA Award.
Scroll down for the full interview, plus resources at CET for teaching assistants.
Read more about this approach in Charles’s own words:
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If you would like to learn more strategies for student engagement and building a strong class community as a TA, check out CET’s Teaching Assistant Toolkit.
If you are interested in more comprehensive training on course design and instruction, please join CET for the Future Faculty Teaching Institute, which is held for 12 weeks in both Fall and Spring semesters.
Center for Excellence in Teaching
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