What is a 'teaching assistant' or 'TA'?

What is a 'teaching assistant' or 'TA'?

A teaching assistant also known as a TA or perhaps even a graduate assistant, is often times a student themselves. They are working on a graduate degree, a Masters degree, or doctoral degree. And while they are taking classes and earning their degree, they have aquired a certain level of skill, enough to be able to assist the professor, usually a in a large lecture course. What will happen is, a student will attend a lecture course, and hear the lecture from the full professor. And then on another date will meet with the teaching assistant who is assigned to that professor, who actually works with a group of students from the larger lecture course in a smaller classroom. The teaching assistant helps students with their writing. Helps them in small group discussions to better understand the material. And really becomes a sort of mentor for the student, to be able to learn more about the course.