This year I as given the chance to take what I learned in the classroom last year and teach new students this year! As an undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA) for the engineering education department, I help teach two introductory courses in which all first year engineering students are required to take (ENGR 1181 and 1182). Through these courses, students learn the basics of MATLAB, Microsoft Excel, and Solidworks. They also learn to work as a team to complete various documented projects and labs that are designed to give them insights into the multiple different facets of engineering.
Being a TA has given me a new approach to the classroom. Usually, I am the student sitting in the desk, not the one up there grading papers and answering questions. From this, I try to apply aspects that I wish my students would do more into my own personal academic path. I think deeply about a solution before asking for help–and I am not afraid to try something out, even if it won’t work. Also, I have developed more respect for my professors, GTA’s and other UTA’s. As a student your world becomes self centered–but by teaching a classroom you realize that is not the case!