The NUS Department of Psychology organized the inaugural NUS Psychology Teaching Assistant Symposium (PTAS) 2014 on 25 February 2014, with the aim of sharing best practices and ideas to empower both Full-time and Graduate Student Teaching Assistants (TAs) on how best to teach psychology students.

Advised by A/P Melvin Yap (Psychology Graduate Studies Director), Dr. Stephen Lim (Symposium Chair) – along with his Team that comprised of two Full-time Teaching Assistants Mr. Lee Li Neng (Symposium Co-chair) and Ms. Sarah Wong (Symposium Secretariat) – devised a half-a-day programme that developed TAs’ pedagogical and presentation skills, and discussed such topics as how TAs might effectively relate with their module lecturers and students as well as balance coursework with research and teaching.

The PTAS 2014 received very positive feedback from attendees, who thought that it was “personally relevant” and “highly engaging”. They liked the fact that the Symposium promoted “exchanges of problems [sic] and ideas between panel members and attendees, created “[a] chance to connect with other TAs”, “didn’t merely impart teaching skills but also reminded [them] to reflect and leverage [on their] strengths”, contained “inspiring testimonials from the facilitators”, and provided “a refreshing reminder [that they too] can potentially impact and inspire students”. A participant “[felt] recharged to continue to teach passionately”. Many yearned for full-day Symposiums in future runs.

If Departments would like to discuss ideas on running teaching assistant/instructor workshops, please feel free to contact Dr. Stephen Lim (psylimwh@nus.edu.sg) directly.