The essays linked below were all written by recipients of the Teaching Effectiveness Award (TEA), a very competitive award given each year by the Graduate Council’s Faculty Advisory Committee for GSI Affairs. Each essay identifies a problem the GSI encountered in teaching, explains the GSI’s strategy and rationale in devising a solution, and assesses the effectiveness of the solution.

For more about the TEA and other GSI award programs, please visit our Awards page.

There are several ways you can search or browse this group of over 200 essays:

In addition, both the TEA essays and pages in the Teaching Guide can be accessed by topic using the tag cloud.

TEA Essays Addressing Frequently Asked Questions

My students’ academic backgrounds and/or levels of ability for this specific course differ widely. What can I do to include everyone and help everyone succeed?

Many of my students don’t feel like they can relate to the course content. Are there ways to bridge the gap?

A few students often dominate class discussion, and I rarely hear from some of the others. How can we balance out people’s participation?

Is there a trick to asking good questions or giving good answers that help students learn?

Many of my students are having trouble with conceptual material. How can I make it more accessible to them?

Can you show me examples of good active learning techniques?

How can group work help students learn?

What are some good ways to utilize different modes of learning, such as appealing to different senses and ways of processing information?

Some of my students are so concerned about memorizing facts or making calculations that they don’t focus on the really important concepts in the course. How can this be changed?

I am planning to teach a summer course. How can my students learn in six weeks all the content that normally takes a whole semester?