interested in being a teaching assistant (TA) with me (matt)?

Glad to hear it! The process depends on what course you'd like to TA for. The following is a bulleted list of all the courses that I have (or know that I will teach) at UW, organized by quarter (or in some cases, year); please go to the section for the relevant course(s).

Note: this page is intended for UW students. To be a TA, you must be a UW student in the quarter that you are TAing for.

a brief note on not counting yourself out

If you are interested in teaching computer science, I would strongly encourage you to apply to be a TA — even if you don't have much prior experience or feel that you don't have stellar grades. In many cases, those perspectives will inform how you support students in similar situations — of which there are many!

Many different factors go into TA hiring. While some are in your control (e.g. what you put in your application), some are not (e.g. enrollment for that class, during that quarter). If you aren't hired in a specific application cycle, that does not mean that you cannot (or will not) be a successful TA. If you are still interested, I would highly encourage you to continue applying in subsequent quarters.

cse 12x (24wi, 24sp, 24au, 25wi)

The CSE 12X (and 14X) courses have their own application process, which is not managed by individual 12X instructors. For more information (including what the process is and how to apply), please see the CSE 12X/14X TA application website. Note that this is separate from the general CSE TA application.

cse 190w/x/y/z (2023-2024, 2024-2025)

Generally, hiring for the PIE program support classes (for 190W/X/Y: Allen Scholars; for 190Z: STARS) is very instructor-dependent, differs from the general CSE TA application, and can vary significantly year-on-year.

In prior years, hiring for the following academic year begins in spring quarter and continues through the summer. However, I do not currently have any information to share about the 2025-2026 academic year hiring cycle. If you have questions, feel free to send me an email (at mxw@cs.washington.edu).

Note: being a TA for CSE 190W/X/Y/Z is a significantly different experience than being a TA for most other CSE classes at UW. Among other things, it requires a strong knowledge of at least one of the aforementioned PIE programs. If you are not yet familiar with those programs, I would highly encourage that you first learn more about them.

cse 331 (25sp)

Please fill out the general CSE TA application and include the string "CSE 331" in your personal statement. Please also address these two questions:

  1. Describe what you think is the most important role of a teaching assistant.
  2. Analyze a school experience you found particularly effective or ineffective.

There are no other components to the application process.

cse 391 (23au, 24wi, 24su)

Please fill out the general CSE TA application and include the string "CSE 391" in your personal statement. In addition, please (briefly) explain why you would like to be a TA for CSE 391. There are no other components to the application process.

Note: being a TA for CSE 391 is a much lighter workload than being a TA for most other CSE classes at UW. This can be a good thing (it's less work, and a gentle introduction to teaching) but also may not be what you're expecting (there are no quiz sections, there is almost no grading, and in general, there are less opportunities to grow and develop as a TA). In some quarters, 391 may not have a TA (depending on enrollment).

acknowledgements

Many people have influenced the creation of this page. Special thank you to Kevin Lin, whose CC BY 4.0-licensed page on computer science education inspired this page; in addition, the questions asked for 25sp's CSE 331 are directly copied from his "teaching" section. Thank you also to Justin Hsia, whose preamble on qualifications and teaching potential inspired my above "a brief note on not counting yourself out", and to James Wilcox, who inspired the 25sp CSE 331 hiring process.

More broadly, a huge thank you to my many co-instructors, TAs, and prior colleagues for their wonderful contributions to my perspectives on TA hiring and support!