Some of the most powerful ways UTAs contribute to student learning can be traced to the pre-semester and ongoing course preparation work that UTAs do with their instructors. Generally, instructors and UTAs start collaborating in August to prepare for the upcoming semester. Particularly for UTAs who haven’t taken the course they’re UTAing, the pre-semester preparation period is a great time to become acquainted with the course and each other.
UTAs and instructors meet throughout the semester, as well, usually in weekly meetings. Here, UTAs and instructors discuss the upcoming week, discuss student needs, create new activities and lessons to reinforce difficult concepts, double check the syllabus for the next week to see what needs to or could be altered slightly, and more. These weekly meetings also give the instructor and the UTA a chance to discuss strategies for responding to student writing.
UTAs and instructors will want to figure out how to communicate with each other outside of classes and meetings. Instructor-UTA preferences and needs vary widely here. Some instructors have more informal relationships with their UTAs and text each other frequently. Others have more formal relationships and strictly use email. The “right” communication choice is the one that feels best for both the instructor and the UTA.’
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Image by Ray Hennessy