Teaching assistant (TA)

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What it really means

A postgraduate student, often a PhD student, who teaches seminars or labs and marks some work. Sometimes called a GTA (graduate teaching assistant).

Chinese explanation
协助教学的研究生(多为博士生),负责带研讨课或实验课并批改部分作业,有时叫 GTA。

Example conversation

A: Is Dr Patel taking our seminar? B: No, one of the TAs is covering it this term.
A:我们的研讨课是帕特尔博士上吗? B:不是,这学期由一位助教带。

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Reviewed by the UK Decoded editorial team · Last checked 24 July 2026 · Report a mistake