Teaching Assistantships

Teaching Assistantships for courses intended for non-technical majors -- PHYS 15, 16 and 17 -- are 25% appointments. As a TA for PHYS 15, 16, or 17, you will spend 10 hours per week, averaged over the quarter, on the following TA responsibilities:

1. Meet regularly with the instructor on a schedule decided with the instructor.
2. Lead a weekly 50- or 80-minute discussion section
   • These discussion sections should facilitate active learning.  To engage students, the TAs and/or instructor select problems that are well-suited for group problem-solving. (The optimal number is 3 students per group.)  After a very brief introduction by the TA to the physics introduced that week, students work on problems in groups, while the TA asks the students questions, answers their questions, and helps them develop a deeper understanding of the material.  TAs are encouraged to minimize the amount of time they are "lecturing at the board" or "holding the markers".
   • Discussion section time is usually determined on the first day of class based on TA and student availability.  Discussion sections should not be scheduled during the dinner hour (5 to 7 pm).  However, sections can be held at registrar-approved time slots that end around 5:30 pm or start around 6:30 pm.  Like lectures, discussion sections must start at specific start times; check with Elva once a scheduling window has been identified.
   • Discussion sections should not be scheduled the day before the problem set is due.  Office hours -- not discussion section -- are appropriate for dealing with problem-set-related questions.
3. Hold office hours (2 hours per week) -- students are polled to identify a time that works for those students who are likely to come to office hours -- please avoid lunch and dinner hours.
4. Grade problem sets.  Grades must be entered on Canvas and graded problem sets must be returned to students at least two days before the next problem set is due.  Canvas is used to send out announcements to the entire class about common mistakes on the problem set that has just been graded.
5. Write solutions to problem sets -- if there are multiple TAs for a class, the TAs take turns writing solutions.
6. Assist with miscellaneous tasks, which may include
   • Submitting possible questions for the exam -- you are not responsible for writing the exam since that is the instructor's responsibility.
   • Proof-reading the exam; taking the exam to assess clarity and the length of the exam; writing up solutions.
   • Leading review sessions before the exams.
   • Administering the exam; printing and scanning the exams, etc.
   • Grading the exam; entering grades on Canvas for courses that do not use Gradescope; returning paper exams to students or releasing exams on Gradescope; generating statistics for the exam

All classes in the PHYS 20 and 40 series are offered in active learning format. These classes meet in either a two lecture and one discussion section a week format, or a three lectures a week with no discussion section format. In both cases, TAs are expected to attend the lectures and will be assigned tables of students to rotate among and help when they are working on problems during lecture. 50% TAs will be assigned to either 2 lecture times and 2 discussion sections, or 4 lecture times a week.

PHYS 41E will meet on a 3 lecture and 1 discussion section a week format. 50% TAs will be assigned to 3 lecture times and 2 discussion section times, and will correspondingly have fewer GSH hours than TAs for the other 20/40 series courses.

Generally applicable Information:

The PHYS 20 series is an algebra-based introductory physics sequence composed of three courses:

• PHYS 21:  Mechanics and fluids; taught Autumn quarter.
• PHYS 23:  Electricity, magnetism, optics; taught Winter quarter.
• PHYS 25:  Modern physics (special relativity, algebra-based quantum physics, cosmology); taught Spring quarter.

The PHYS 40 series is a calculus-based introductory sequence composed of four courses:

• PHYS 45:  Heat and light; taught Autumn quarter.
• PHYS 41:  Mechanics; taught Autumn and Winter quarter.
• PHYS 41E: Mechanics for students with no prior physics experience; taught Autumn and Winter quarter.
• PHYS 43:  Electricity and magnetism; taught Winter and Spring quarter.

Responsibilities of PHYS 20 and PHYS 40 series lecture/discussion TAs:

Lecture TAs are responsible for helping out during actively taught lectures. Each TA will be assigned a set of tables and will be responsible for helping the students at those tables when they work on worksheet problems during lecture. Instead of showing students how to do the problem, TAs engage students in their own learning by asking them Socratic questions and demonstrating techniques that the students can use to be convinced that they are (or are not) on the right track.

For classes with discussion sections, TAs play the same role for a smaller group of students. After a brief introduction to the material, students work in groups of three (or four) on pre-developed worksheets where they solve problems related to the material being covered in lecture. Much of the curriculum developed for these classes follows the philosophy of Physics Education Research, which promotes active learning.  The worksheets are developed beforehand by the Physics Education Specialist in conjunction with the course instructor.

In addition to lecture and sections, TAs attend mandatory weekly TA meetings for their course.  At these meetings, TAs go through the worksheets in small groups, identify areas that may confuse students, and discuss strategies to help students.  

PHYS 20 and PHYS 40 series lecture/discussion TAs have a 50% appointment with the following duties:

• Attend mandatory weekly TA meeting and complete additional preparation for discussion section as needed.
• Either
  • Attend four 80-minute lectures a week (PHYS 41); or,
  • Attend two 80-minute lectures a week and lead two 80-minute discussion sections a week (PHYS 20 series, 43, and 45); or,
  • Attend three 80-minute lectures a week and lead two 80-minute discussion sections a week (PHYS 41E).
• Write solutions to problem sets according to a schedule assigned by the Head TA.
• Grade weekly problem sets (PS) based on the schedule for the class
• Lead review sessions before exams.
• Proctor midterm and final exams. Midterms are held on Tuesday evenings on dates that will be sent to you in your TA offer email.
• Attend grading sessions for midterm and final exams, usually scheduled for the Wednesday afternoon the day after the exam.
• Staff Group Study Hall (GSH) for 3 hours each week (2 hours for 41E) to assist students with homework (HW) problems and in understanding concepts.
  • GSH hours are generally held on M, T, Th, and F afternoons and evenings.
  • The Head TA organizes the scheduling of GSH hours.
• Help with miscellaneous tasks determined by the Head TA

For a 50% appointment, TAs should plan to spend 20 hours per week averaged over the quarter.

Each introductory Physics course has an associated lab course where the concepts covered in the lecture course are reinforced via practical lab experiments. In addition, students learn the basics of how to run experiments and collect data in physics. 

Lab TAs are an equal part of the teaching team for each introductory class. Instead of going to all the lectures and teaching discussion sections, they teach lab sections. However, they still grade homework exams, and run GSH hours for the main lecture class.

• The PHYS 20 series is an algebra-based introductory physics sequence that has three lab courses that students usually take while taking the associated lecture course:
  • PHYS 22:  Lab for mechanics, fluids, and heat; taught Autumn quarter.
  • PHYS 24:  Lab for electricity, magnetism, optics; taught Winter quarter.
  • PHYS 26:  Lab for modern physics (special relativity, algebra-based quantum physics, cosmology); taught Spring quarter.
• The PHYS 40 series is a calculus-based introductory sequence that also has three lab courses that students usually take while taking the associated lecture course:
  • PHYS 46:  Lab for heat and light; taught Autumn quarter.
  • PHYS 42:  Lab for mechanics; taught Autumn and Winter quarter.
  • PHYS 44:  Lab for electricity and magnetism; taught Winter and Spring quarter.
• The introductory physics labs are Satisfactory/No Credit and have their own syllabi.  Students sign up for lab sections independently of the lecture components.  Like the discussion sections, the labs are interactive and student-driven.  After a brief introduction to the material and equipment, students work in groups of two on the lab.  Instead of passively waiting for students to call him/her, the TA is actively checking in with students to make sure they understand concepts.  This is often done by asking students a question that is an extension of the lab activity that they may have just completed.  If students appear confused, the TAs usually engage students in their own learning by asking them Socratic questions and demonstrating techniques that they can use to be convinced that they are (or are not) on the right track.  Much of the curriculum developed for these classes follows the philosophy of Physics Education Research, which promotes active learning.   
• In addition to leading lab sections, TAs attend mandatory weekly TA meetings for their class.  At these meetings, TAs go through the pre-lab and the lab themselves; identify areas that may confuse students and discuss strategies to help students; check out the equipment and familiarize themselves with troubleshooting techniques.  

PHYS 20 and PHYS 40 series lab section TAs have a 50% appointment with the following duties:

• Attend mandatory weekly TA meeting and complete additional preparation for lab section as needed.
• Lead two lab sections each week.
• Attend one lecture each week. Lab TAs will be ‘floating’ TAs during active learning lectures, where they answer questions from students at tables the lecture TAs cannot cover.
• Grade weekly labs by the next TA meeting.
• Grade weekly problem sets for the lecture class.
• Help with test-running and proof-reading midterm and final exams, and in administering the exams. Midterms are held on Tuesday evenings at dates that will be sent to you in your TA offer email.
• Attend grading sessions for midterm and final exams. Grading is generally on Wednesday afternoons the day after the exam.
• Run Group Study Hall (GSH) for 3 hours each week to assist students with homework problems and in understanding concepts.
• Help with miscellaneous tasks determined by the Head TA.

For a 50% appointment, TAs should plan to spend an average of 20 hours per week over the quarter

A Head Teaching Assistant (HTA) is assigned to each of the large introductory courses -- i.e., the PHYS 20 and PHYS 40 series courses. The HTA position requires strong organizational, administrative, and interpersonal skills, as well as very good physics acumen. The HTA works with the instructor and the Physics Education Specialist to ensure that the course runs smoothly to maximize the learning opportunities for the students.  If you are interested in furthering your teaching portfolio, this provides you with an excellent opportunity to be actively involved in running a course: helping with problem selection for problem sets and exams, guiding TAs on best teaching practices at the TA meetings, and interacting with students in the course.  The HTA position is a 50% assignment with a salary supplement.  This page contains detailed information on HTA responsibilities and is specific to the HTA position.

Duties and Responsibilities of a HTA

Before the beginning of the quarter:

• Meet with course instructor to go over syllabus. Establish dates for midterm exams and for all review sessions. Check that canonical homework due date is correct (Tuesdays for the PHYS 20 series and Fridays for the PHYS 40 series).
• Have the Course Administrator confirm that all bookstore materials are in stock; depending on the instructor's needs, these could include textbooks, access codes, clickers, workbooks. 
• Cross-check the TA assignments for sections, Study Hall, Q&A Hours that the Course Administrator has made and documented on the Google sheet.  Fix any conflicts that you notice -- these tend to be cases where a TA is assigned Study Hall during TA meeting or their own section, for instance.
• Confirm that the Course Administrator has
  • created three mailing lists for the class (xx = course #; qtr = fall or win or spr or sum; y = last number of the year)
    • phxx_qtr202y [at] lists.stanford.edu (phxx_qtr202y[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) (there is one list each for lab and discussion section TAs)
    • hta_phxx_qtr202y [at] lists.stanford.edu (hta_phxx_qtr202y[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) (this is a list where all students can reach out to the Head teaching team (Instructor, HTA, Physics Education Specialist) and mail in OAE letters, ask about conflicts, write about special circumstances.
    • made the HTA and Physics Education Specialist administrators and moderators of the lecture class mailing lists, and given the same roles to the HTA and the Lab Manager for the lab TA mailing lists.
    • made the TAs members of the relevant mailing lists
  • added TAs to the Canvas sites (only lab TAs are added to the lab class site; all TAs are added to the lecture site)
• Room reservations: Confirm with the Course Administrator that rooms have been reserved for in-person midterm exams if the midterm is given outside class time.
  • Reserve rooms for exam grading. Typical grading schedules are the following:
    • In-class exams are usually graded on the day they are given starting at 3:15 or 4:15 pm.
    • Tuesday evening exams are graded on Wednesday starting at 3:15 pm or 4:15 pm.
• Schedule the first organizational TA meeting at a time that is convenient for the instructor, TAs, HTA, and the Physics Education Specialist. Hold it no later than the Friday before the start of classes. If possible, include both lab and discussion section TAs in this first meeting.  It is often easier to schedule the meeting during the early part of finals week for the previous quarter.  At this meeting, the instructor for the course may want to communicate learning goals for the course, teaching strategies, etc. After this introduction, the HTA runs through organizational details, including the following:
  • If the assignment of TAs to sections, lecture attendance, and PTC hours is ready, share that information with the TAs and have them confirm that they can commit to those times for the entire quarter.
  • Communicate assignment of tasks such as writing up problem set or discussion section solutions to TAs.
  • Explain the procedure for writing and checking problem set solutions before they are posted for student use.
  • Announce the dates and times for the midterm grading sessions.
  • Let TAs know the tentative date and time for the final exam grading session (usually the day after the final exam, starting at 10 am).
• Answer student emails when the Course Administrator is out of the office; the most common email is some variant of, "I really need to get into section at xxx time since this is the only time that fits my schedule; those sections are full; can you please add me."  Please remind students of the following:
  • You (the HTA) cannot add or remove a student from a section.
  • There is a lot of movement during the first two weeks of the quarter as students finalize their schedules so they should monitor Axess closely for a spot to open up
  • If needed, they may have to adjust their schedules to accommodate a Physics discussion section.

Beginning/First Week of Quarter:

• Monitor enrollment in individual sections and let the course staff know if sections are getting too full.
• If requested by the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning (VPTL) or Athletic Academic Resource Center (AARC), please add their Peer Tutors as "GUESTS" to the Canvas site.
• Set up Gradescope  accounts for the course.
• On the Canvas Assignment tab for each class, confirm that the Course Administrator has created assignments for discussion attendance by week, problem sets, or lab scores and mute assignments by going into the Grades tab.  Unmute scores to release them to students.

During Quarter:

• With the instructor, run the weekly course meetings for discussion section TAs.
• Attend weekly lab TA meetings to discuss organizational issues. Check in with TAs after they have completed the lab. If changes to the written lab instructions are necessary (e.g., for clarity or accuracy), edit the report and let the Lab Manager know about the changes.  Upload the lab to Canvas and make it available to students very soon after the lab meeting ends, and no later than 6 pm on the day of the meeting.
• Meet each week with the instructor to go over course-level planning for the week (problem sets, solutions, exam preview, etc.).
• Attend at least one lecture a week to maintain consistency in learning goals, notation, etc., and to check that the TAs are being deployed effectively.
• Hold two GSH hours weekly.  These could be some combination of weekly reviews of course content, one-on-one assistance, or answering administrative questions.
• Carefully review TA-written problem set solutions and rubrics before they are made available to other TAs and students.
• Select exam review session problems;  these could be selected from exams given in earlier years, problems submitted by the TAs, or other sources. Check TA solutions to these  problems. Guide TAs on how to run an effective review session.
• Hold post-exam sessions, where students can ask problem-related or regrade-related questions.  These sessions are typically an hour long and held on a week night shortly after exams are returned and before the regrade deadline.  These sessions have reduced the number of formal regrade requests that the HTA (you) have to grade. 
• Handle problems that cannot be resolved by section TAs.
• Check that scores (section attendance for discussion TAs; lab scores for lab TAs) are entered in Canvas in a timely manner and are visible to students.
• Check that TAs are consistently returning graded work to students before the next assignment is due.
• Work with instructor to organize posting of course materials, solutions, etc.

Before Exams:

• About two weeks before the exam, send an announcement to the entire class reminding them about the upcoming exam's time and date; also remind students with documented disabilities to email a current letter from OAE to you ASAP.
• Check with the Course Administrator about reserving rooms for review sessions.
• Confirm the room reservation for the grading session.
• Assign TAs to photocopy, help with administration, and scanning of exams.

Near End of Quarter:

• Send (multiple) emails reminding students about the time and location of the final exam.
• Confirm room reservation for OAE students and for grading.
• Upload scores from Gradescope, Canvas, etc. to a single worksheet; scale scores for each component according to the syllabus.
• Once total scores are calculated, assist instructor with entering final grades into Axess.

The PHYS 61, 71, 81 series is a three-course calculus-based introductory sequence for students who have already taken the 40 series or who have a  very strong preparation in physics (AP Physics C or similar calculus-based college Physics) and mathematics (AP Calculus BC or similar college-based calculus).  

• PHYS 61:  Mechanics and Special Relativity; taught Autumn quarter
• PHYS 71:  Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics; taught Winter quarter
• PHYS 81:  Electricity and Magnetism and Optics; taught Spring quarter

A TA appointment is PHYS 61 is a 50% appointment.   TAs for this course should expect to spend ~20 hours per week, averaged over the quarter, on the following TA responsibilities.

Weekly responsibilities:

• Attend and assist in facilitating activities in three 80-minute active-learning “lecture” sections each week (MWF at either 1:30pm or 3:00pm), including arriving at least 15 minutes early for setup and staying afterwards to respond to student questions.  This duty requires reviewing the prepared materials carefully in advance (the material can be subtle!).
• Facilitate two hours of “Group Study Hours” (GSH) per week. GSHs are an opportunity for students to work together with their classmates, with at least one TA and/or the instructor available to coach them and address  issues that come up, as the students work on developing a deeper understanding of concepts covered in class and apply them to the problems on their weekly problem sets. This duty requires carefully reviewing the typically multi-part problem set questions and solutions carefully in advance of GSHs, in order to guide the students by prompting them with helpful (rather than confusing) questions.
• Prepare for and attend one weekly planning meeting with the instructional team for the course.
• Grade one or two problems (on average 1.5 problems) on each weekly problem set (PS), on Gradescope, for all ~100 students in the class. Students in PHYS 61 are taught to use (and expected to apply) robust methodology and precise notation in problem solving, and to present clear and precise solutions. The TAs are expected to reinforce these high standards in their grading.
• Handle the “Reflections & Revisions” submitted by students through the Gradescope “Regrade” feature, on the same problems originally graded by the TA.

Quarterly responsibilities:

• Write each of ~four draft Learning Assessments (aka ‘exams’) and send the solutions to the instructor along with time-per-problem and feedback on clarity, length, and balance across topics.
• Check solutions for Learning Assessments.
• Lead review session before at least one Learning Assessments.
• Participate in tasks that are shared across TAs (typically one TA per task) – e.g., upload student PDFs into Gradescope when students have technical issues; help generate figures for Learning Assessment or problem sets; assist in generating final statistics at the end of the quarter.

The PHYS 61, 71, 81 series is a three-course calculus-based introductory sequence for students who have already taken the 40 series or who have a  very strong preparation in physics (AP Physics C or similar calculus-based college Physics) and mathematics (AP Calculus BC or similar college-based calculus).  

• PHYS 61:  Mechanics and Special Relativity; taught Autumn quarter
• PHYS 71:  Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics; taught Winter quarter
• PHYS 81:  Electricity and Magnetism and Optics; taught Spring quarter

TA appointment for the other courses is a 25% appointment.   TAs for these courses should expect to spend 10 hours per week, averaged over the quarter, on the following TA responsibilities:

• Attend and participate in two class sessions per week, with the possibility of leading one of those sessions.
  • Active learning class sessions are typically a combination of short lectures with interspersed active-learning exercises, conducted in small groups. The instructor and TAs facilitate the activities much like a traditional discussion section based on group problem solving, but with a more rapid turnaround between lectures and activities.
  • Some courses may involve a moderate level of participation in each session, while others may expect TAs to lead one session per week.
• Help in preparing, improving, or reviewing active learning exercises.
• Hold office hours. Instructors may recommend office hour times. Alternately, TAs poll students to identify a time that works for those students who are likely to come to office hours and that is consistent with problem set due dates. TAs may advertise their office hours as “homework sessions” to encourage students to attend and collaborate on the homework.
• Attend weekly planning meeting with the instructional team for the course.
• Grade problem sets (PS). All PS must be graded and "returned" to students at least two days before the next PS is due (individual instructors may request earlier returns). PS submitted on Gradescope must be completely graded and released on time. Grades for PS turned in on paper must be entered on Canvas and graded PS must be returned to students on time.  Canvas is used to send out announcements to the entire class about common mistakes on the PS that has just been graded.
• Write and/or check solutions to problem sets. If there are multiple TAs for a class, the TAs take turns writing solutions or jointly write solutions.
• Assist with miscellaneous, non-weekly tasks, which may include the following:
  • Submitting possible questions for the exam -- TAs are not responsible for writing the exam since that is the instructor's responsibility.
  • Proof-reading the exam; taking the exam to assess clarity and length of the exam; writing up or checking solutions.
  • Leading review sessions before exams.
  • Administering the exam; making sure there are "blue books" available, etc.
  • Grading the exam; entering grades on Canvas for courses that are not using Gradescope; returning physical exams to students or releasing exams on Gradescope.
  • Generating statistics for the exam.

The PHYS 61, 71, 81 series is a three-course calculus-based introductory sequence for students who have already taken the 40 series or who have a  very strong preparation in physics (AP Physics C or similar calculus-based college Physics) and mathematics (AP Calculus BC or similar college-based calculus).  

• PHYS 61:  Mechanics and Special Relativity; taught Autumn quarter
• PHYS 71:  Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics; taught Winter quarter
• PHYS 81:  Electricity and Magnetism and Optics; taught Spring quarter

In addition to the lecture, there are three lab courses that are associated with the lecture courses for PHYSICS 61, 71, 81:

• PHYS 61L:  Mechanics lab; this is a project-based lab that is taught in the Autumn quarter.
• PHYS 79L:  Data analysis and statistics lab; this lab focuses on error propagation and data analysis and is taught in the Winter quarter.
• PHYS 81L: Electronics and Modern Physics lab; this lab applies lab skills students learned in the two previous classes and is taught in the Spring quarter.

Lab Section TAs:

The introductory physics labs are pass/fail and have their own syllabi.  Students sign up for the lab course independently of the lecture course.  Like the discussion sections, the labs are interactive and student-driven.  After a brief introduction to the material and equipment, students work in groups of two on the lab. Rather than passively waiting for students to call on him/her, the TA is actively checking in with students to make sure they understand concepts.  This is often done by asking students a question that is an extension of the lab activity that they may have just completed.  If students appear confused, the TAs usually engage students in their own learning by asking them Socratic questions and demonstrating techniques that they can use to be convinced that they are (or are not) on the right track.  Much of the curriculum developed for these classes follows the philosophy of Physics Education Research, which promotes active learning.

Lab TAs attend mandatory weekly TA meetings at which the entire teaching staff discusses strategies for the upcoming week, identifies areas that may confuse students, and discusses strategies to help students.

PHYS 61L, 71L, 89L lab  TAs have a 25% appointment with the following duties:

• Attend mandatory weekly TA meeting.
• Complete additional preparation for lab section as needed -- this includes doing the lab yourself, testing equipment, and troubleshooting.
• Lead two two-hour lab section each week.
• Hold office hours as determined by the instructor to help students with their lab reports.
• Grade weekly lab reports and return them at the beginning of the following lab period.  If a student needs to re-do a lab or report, the student should receive feedback even earlier.
• Help with miscellaneous tasks.

TAs should plan to spend 10 hours per week averaged over the quarter.

Current (AY 2025-26) upper division undergraduate courses include:

• PHYS 110/210: Advanced Mechanics (Autumn)
• PHYS 111: Partial Differential Equations (Autumn)
• PHYS 112: Mathematical Methods (Spring)
• PHYS 113: Computational Physics (Spring)
• PHYS 120*/121: Intermediate Electricity and Magnetism I and II (Winter/Spring)
• PHYS 130*/131: Quantum Mechanics I and II (Spring/Autumn)
• PHYS 134/234: Advanced Topics in Quantum (Winter)
• PHYS 152/252: Introduction to Particle Physics I
• PHYS 166: Statistical Methods (Winter)
• PHYS 170*/171: Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and Statistical Mechanics I and II (Winter and Spring)
• PHYS 191*: Writing in Physics

The courses denoted by a star are required for the undergraduate physics major and so generally need more TAs.

Most of these courses are now taught in Active Learning format. This means that the students will be working on problems during lecture and TAs are expected to attend each lecture to help the students.

A TA appointment for these courses is a 25% appointment.   TAs for these courses should expect to spend 10 hours per week, averaged over the quarter, on the following TA responsibilities:

• Attend and participate in two class sessions per week, with the possibility of leading one of those sessions.
  • Active learning class sessions are typically a combination of short lectures with interspersed active-learning exercises, conducted in small groups. The instructor and TAs facilitate the activities much like a traditional discussion section based on group problem solving, but with a more rapid turnaround between lectures and activities.
  • Some courses may involve a moderate level of participation in each session, while others may expect TAs to lead one session per week.
• Help in preparing, improving, or reviewing active learning exercises.
• Hold office hours. Instructors may recommend office hour times. Alternately, TAs poll students to identify a time that works for those students who are likely to come to office hours and that is consistent with problem set due dates. TAs may advertise their office hours as “homework sessions” to encourage students to attend and collaborate on the homework.
• Attend weekly planning meeting with the instructional team for the course.
• Grade problem sets (PS). All PS must be graded and "returned" to students at least two days before the next PS is due (individual instructors may request earlier returns). PS submitted on Gradescope must be completely graded and released on time. Grades for PS turned in on paper must be entered on Canvas and graded PS must be returned to students on time. Canvas is used to send out announcements to the entire class about common mistakes on the PS that has just been graded.
• Write and/or check solutions to problem sets. If there are multiple TAs for a class, the TAs take turns writing solutions or jointly write solutions.
• Assist with miscellaneous, non-weekly tasks, which may include the following:
  • Submitting possible questions for the exam -- TAs are not responsible for writing the exam since that is the instructor's responsibility.
  • Proof-reading the exam; taking the exam to assess clarity and length of the exam; writing up or checking solutions.
  • Leading review sessions before exams.
  • Administering the exam; making sure there are "blue books" available, etc.
  • Grading the exam; entering grades on Canvas for courses that are not using Gradescope; returning physical exams to students or releasing exams on Gradescope.
  • Generating statistics for the exam

The following are the advanced lab courses:

• PHYS 104 – Electronics Lab. (Autumn)
• PHYS 106 – Lasers, optics, and atomic physics. (Winter)
• PHYS 108 -- Laboratory Project.  Current topic:  low temperature condensed matter physics. (Spring)

A teaching assistantship for these courses is a 25% appointment.   As a TA you will spend 10 hours per week averaged over the quarter on the TA responsibilities listed below.

PHYS 104: 7 or 8 weekly labs followed by a 2- to 3-week design project.

• Lead one section of up to eight students for two 2.5-hour sections per week.
• Grade up to eight weekly problem sets.
• Write problem set solutions (taking turns with other TAs) once or twice during the quarter.
• Perform the lab yourself prior to the lab section.
• Attend weekly course staff meeting (1 hour).
• During the final 3 weeks of the quarter, assist students in a final design project.  No problem sets are due during this time, so additional lab hours are scheduled as needed.
• Attend presentations on final projects, grade final design project reports and help grade final exams.

PHYS 106:  4 two-week labs.

• Lead one section of up to six students for two 2.5-hour sections per week.
• For your section you will grade four lab reports and review lab notebooks twice a week (lab notebooks reviewed for completion).
• Perform the lab yourself prior to the lab section.
• Attend weekly course staff meetings.

PHYS 108: Students design, build, instrument and execute one experiment in low temperature physics during the quarter.

• Lead one section of 4-5 students.
• Schedule and lead twice-weekly meetings (from 1 hour to 3 as needed) with one section.
• In those meetings work to guide students without actually doing the work for them, but making sure they don't get into trouble (or danger) -- i.e., the role of TA here is similar to that of a research advisor.
  • If the student's project is outside your field of study this might involve quite a bit of work learning the subject, but we try to ask students to work within a TA’s expertise. When we have more than one student group there is often a great deal of flexibility in which group you can work with, and we often decide that based on research interests.
• Be available via slack, discord, or email (as the class and you decides) to offer advice and assistance to groups. We ask that you have a response time of within a working day without prior notification, and do not expect this to be more than 2 hours of communication work a week.
• Be available during the last three weeks of the quarter for up to three cool-downs of your group's apparatus using LN2 and LHe.
• Review and provide feedback on presentations (twice a semester) and provide feedback on the final report.
• Participate in weekly staff meetings, and final grading meeting after the course has ended. 

TA duties for graduate courses depend on whether the course is or is not cross-listed as an undergraduate course.

A.  Graduate Courses that are cross-listed as both 100- and 200-level courses:

Some graduate courses are "mezzanine" courses; i.e., they are cross-listed as 100- and 200-level courses.  TAs assigned to these courses have the same responsibilities as TAs for the corresponding undergraduate courses.

1.  TAs assigned to PHYS 110/210 have the same responsibilities as TAs for undergraduate courses required in the Physics major:

2.  TAs assigned to the following mezzanine courses have the same responsibilities as TAs for elective courses for the Physics major:

• PHYS 134/234 -- Advanced Topics in Quantum Mechanics
• PHYS 152/252 -- Introduction to Particle Physics I
• PHYS 160/260 -- Introduction to Stellar and Galactic Astrophysics
• PHYS 161/261 -- Introduction to Extrastellar Astrophysics and Cosmology
• PHYS 172/APPPHYS 272 -- Solid State Physics

B.  Graduate Courses That Are Not Cross-Listed with a 100-level course:

TAs for graduate courses that are not cross-listed with an undergraduate course typically do not lead discussion sections, although they are welcome to. 

Teaching Assistantships for these courses are 25% appointments.   As a TA you will spend 10 hours per week, averaged over the quarter, on the TA responsibilities listed below.

• Hold office hours (2 hours per week) -- students are polled to identify a time that works for those students who are likely to come to office hours.
• Grade problem sets.  Grades must be entered on Canvas and graded problem sets must be returned to students at least two days before the next problem set is due.  Canvas is used to send out announcements to the entire class about common mistakes on the problem set that has just been graded.
• Write solutions to problem sets -- if there are multiple TAs for a class, the TAs take turns writing solutions.
• Assist with miscellaneous tasks, which may include
  • Submitting possible questions for the exam -- you are not responsible for writing the exam since that is the instructor's responsibility.
  • Proof-reading the exam; taking the exam to assess clarity and the length of the exam; writing up solutions.
  • Leading review sessions before the exams.
  • Administering the exam; making sure there are "blue books" available, etc.
  • Grading the exam; entering grades on Canvas for courses that do not use Gradescope; returning paper exams to students or releasing exams on Gradescope; generating statistics for the exam

PHYS 100 (Introduction to Observational Astrophysics) combines a hands-on observational component with a lecture component and is offered in the Spring quarter. TAs for this course must be trained to use the telescopes at the Stanford Student Observatory. 

Teaching assistantships for this course are 25% appointments.  TAs should plan to spend time with students during night-sky observations (approximately 8 to 11 pm or later).  In addition to leading interactive discussion sections and assisting with viewing sessions, TAs for this course will perform the following duties.

• Attend late-evening observatory sessions as arranged with the instructor.
• Hold office hours (2 hours per week) -- students are polled to identify a time that works for those students who are likely to come to office hours.
• Grade problem sets and lab reports.  Grades must be entered on Canvas and graded problem sets and labs must be returned to students at least two days before the next problem set or lab is due. Canvas is used to send out announcements to the entire class about common mistakes on the problem set or lab report that has just been graded.
• Write solutions to problem sets -- if there are multiple TAs for a class, the TAs take turns writing solutions.
• Assist with miscellaneous tasks, which may include
• Submitting possible questions for the exam -- you are not responsible for writing the exam since that is the instructor's responsibility.
• Proof-reading the exam; taking the exam to assess clarity and the length of the exam; writing up solutions.
• Leading review sessions before the exams.
• Administering the exam, including printing and scanning the exams as.
• Grading the exam; entering grades on Canvas; returning exams to students; generating statistics for the exam

Currently, only PHYS 15 and PHYS 16 are offered in the summer. Positions are extremely limited; please do not wait until summer quarter to satisfy your yearly TA requirement.

Duties will correspond to those in ‘TAing for Nontechnical Courses’ above.

* HTA = Head Teaching Assistant

** Course Assistant (CA) appointments do not count towards the three-quarter TA requirement for graduate students in the Physics Department unless a petition has been filed.  See "Course Assistant" page for details.

Regardless of the type of appointment, graduate students who are TAs or CAs and have reached TGR status receive a total tuition allowance corresponding to TGR tuition.

Undergraduate TAs receive the same salaries but do not receive a tuition allowance.

Summer TAs are paid the same as regular academic year TAs, just over a shorter period of time. 

Students in coterminal Master's programs should refer to this link for detailed information on tuition assessment and Undergraduate vs. Graduate status. Coterm students who are eligible and opt to change to the graduate coterminal student group and are assessed the applicable graduate tuition rate will receive the relevant tuition allowance.

Graders are paid hourly and do not receive any tuition allowance.  Hourly grading rate for 2025-26 is $25/hour.