Throughout my UTA experience, the class I served was PSYC 203S Lifespan Development, taught by Suzanne Morrow. My role in the class included mainly grading the participation activities and the extra credit assignments for each module. I also graded exam review sessions which were included in the participation activities. While students are participating in a class, various skills should be learned to help facilitate their learning experience. Some of the skills include thinking critically, being creative, carefully reading assignment objectives, practicing effective study habits, and being detail-oriented.

As a result of being an undergraduate teaching assistant, I believe that the students learned how to effectively approach the participation and extra credit assignments. Emphasizing attention to detail to ensure that every assignment task was addressed in each assignment was a priority for me. I think that the students also learned how to think critically about their coursework material when I gave students feedback on their assignments throughout the course. Throughout my UTA experience, I gave detailed feedback to students who did not receive credit for various assignments. In doing so, I provided the students an opportunity to learn from their mistakes so that they could correct them for their future assignments. I also provided study tips to various students who asked me for advice. Teaching effective study strategies is beneficial in helping students learn because it helps them to better retain the information they are actively learning.

I believe that students learn best when they apply the course material to themselves. Finding a way to relate the course material to yourself is an effective way to retain the information in your long-term memory. Practicing effective study strategies such as summarizing the course material in your own words when taking notes is another way that students can learn more efficiently. Throughout my experience as a student, when my professors told stories or applied the course material to daily life, I was able to learn the information more effectively. Some of the activities I completed as an undergraduate teaching assistant relate to my beliefs about how students learn best. For instance, some of the participation and extra credit assignments the students completed required them to apply the course material to themselves. These activities support my belief that applying the course material in a personal way helps the students learn best. Summarization of course material was also implemented in various extra credit and participation activities. This relates to my belief that students learn best when they summarize the material in their own words. This concludes my beliefs about learning and teaching, in other words, my teaching philosophy.