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I will be honest here and say that I waited until almost the end of the semester to really get into writing this section because before then I was unsure of what my teaching philosophy was. I have taken a mixture of lecture based, small class oriented, and online classes in addition to many struggles along the way about balancing a work, school, and social life. It had taken me until the end of my junior year in college to figure out my own ways of learning and to even begin to think whether or not it would benefit anyone else. Eventually I found that I learned best when presented with an environment that was only supportive and invigorating physically – in a hands-on fashion – but also an environment that was consistently probing my interests. It was this realization that was the foundation for how I wanted to structure my teaching plan while being an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant.

During the Spring semester of 2020 at Old Dominion University, I served my first semester as an undergraduate teaching assistant for Psychology 363, the Psychology of Sex, under the exceptional guidance of Dr. Erin Moore. This class goes far and beyond what the name initially implies. This class makes it a point to examine the psychological and physiological factors that relate to human sexual behavior and feelings. The content is a breakdown of critical issues involved in human sexuality, gender and sexual identity, sexual arousal and erotic behavior, relationship development, and sexual dysfunction and deviation disorders. In a class of 60, I was assigned a group of 12 students that I would manage over for the entirety of the semester. I liked this method since it would be easier to establish a personal connection and a supportive environment based on individual needs. I wanted my presence to be seen as authoritarian; the approachable authority that can foster adequate feelings of knowledge, a relatable figure, and support. I did this by making sure they knew that although I had taken the class before I would still review the same information they would be, I would be as appropriately open as possible, and gave assurance every class that if there was anything I could do to help all they needed to do was ask. I would spend anywhere from six to eight hours a week learning the same material to better create critical thinking test questions and group discussion questions while also having the knowledge to answer any question that might be asked during class.

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Throughout the semester I found ways to consistently represent my philosophy of hands-on experiences, supportive environment, and facilitation of keeping interest of the material. There were many times I would collaborate with fellow UTA’s on test questions and review sessions. I created test questions, study guides, study worksheets, held one study session per unit, sent out weekly email reminders, kept up with students who seemed to slack, held weekly office hours, and – one of my largest contributions – created an interactive lecture on the basis of healthy versus unhealthy relationships which was then co-presented with a fellow UTA, Jenna Washburn. Within each of these I tried my best to promote critical thinking and the use of relating course content to real world experiences. It has been shown that some memory works best when the semantic memory can be paired with an episodic event; this creates a personal attachment to the information. My best use of this would come from holding study sessions in the library. As we would review the study sheets and study guides, I would ask them to relate it to an event in their past or ask them to explain a real-world example. Much praise and adoration came from the student who attended which is what kept my continuance of these session and worksheets throughout the semester. I kept this attitude well after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the school. I would host weekly zoom meetings and have interactive slides prepared for each meeting.

I believe that students learn best when they find the information exciting and are encouraged to study the information. Another important aspect is being able to participate as feel as though they are a part of what is happening within the classroom environment. There were many times students were brought on stage to participate in games or activities while other times there were fun quizzes on the board for them to solves. It was always encouraging to hear the students laughing and having fun while learning in such a content dense classroom. Bringing this kind of personal experience to a class helps to promote better learning practices and a unit of individuals who are excited to learn.