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Contact UsTeaching Assistant (TA)
Interested in supporting students in a Biology course you鈥檝e taken previously? Being a teaching assistant is a great opportunity to work alongside faculty members, build supportive relationships with students in the classroom, and further solidify your own knowledge in a course!
鈥榃hen one teaches, two learn.鈥櫬� ~ Robert Heinlein
Teaching Assistant FAQs
Many 海角社区 Biology faculty members utilize the support of teaching assistants (TAs) in their classes. Biology teaching assistants, under the direct supervision of an instructor, participate in classroom/laboratory activities to support student learning in a Biology course; specific duties may vary between courses.
To learn more about what teaching assistant opportunities may be available in the Biology department, students are encouraged to reach out to and to initiate a conversation with聽faculty members聽with whom they have taken classes to determine what opportunities (if any) exist for students to serve as teaching assistants in their classes.聽 Students will only be considered for a TA position once they have successfully completed the course for which they hope to provide support.
If a Biology faculty member invites you to join their course as a TA, students may earn upper division Biology credits by registering for BIO 3990 – Teaching Assistant in Biology.
Once a student has identified a faculty member who has either invited or agreed to have the student serve as a teaching assistant for their course, they should discuss whether signing up for BIO 3990 is appropriate.聽 If the student will earn credit for serving as a TA, the faculty mentor will then inform the Biology program coordinator, who will provide an override so the student can register for BIO 3990.
Students with a catalog year prior to 2026-27 can register for up to 2 credits of BIO 3990 in a single semester, with a maximum of 4 credits total of independent study/internship/TA/undergraduate research (or any combination of these) applied toward a major or minor in Biology.
Beginning with the 2026-27 catalog year, students can take up to 4 credits of BIO 3990 in a single semester with a maximum of 6 credits total of independent study/internship/TA/undergraduate research (or any combination of these) applied toward a major or minor in Biology.
Students should be aware that the number of credits is typically based on the time commitment associated with the teaching assistantship. For example, 1 credit will require a minimum of 45 hours over the course of the semester. For 2 credits, students will need to complete a minimum of 90 hours over the course of the semester, etc.