Northeastern UniversityJanuary 2024 - Present
Teaching Assistant
Skills Learned: Communication, Lecturing, Public Speaking, Tutoring, Code Comprehension, Java, Object-Oriented Programming
Currently, I am a teaching assistant (TA) for Fundamentals of Computer Science II, a Khoury College of Computer Science course which introduces students to programming in object-oriented languages by teaching Java. In addition to normal TA duties, I am also a lab lead (explained below). As a TA, my responsibilities are the following:
- Hold Office Hours
Each week, I hold office hours where students can come to me and ask questions about homeworks, exams, or the course in general. Office hours are normally my favorite part of the week, as I get to interact directly with students who bring intruiging questions and ideas to my doorstep. Most of the time, I assist students by explaining concepts they may have missed in lecture, helping debug code, figuring out different approaches to assignments, and helping students prepare for exams. Not only does holding office hours help me practice my speaking and lecturing skills, it also reinforces my own knowledge of the course material by teaching the concepts to others.
- Lead Coding Labs
In addition to attending lecture, students are also required to attend a 1 hour and 40 minute coding lab each week. As a lab lead, I am responsibile for running the lab from start to finish. This includes giving lectures, presenting and assisting with the lab coding problems, and administering quizzes. One of my favorite aspects of leading lab is being able to lecture in front of students. Similar to office hours, I feel that lecturing concepts in front of dozens of students forces me to thoroughly understand the material I teach, thus improving my understanding. My favorite moments from lab come when I explain something to the students and see their positive reactions as they understand my lesson.
- Grading Assignments and Exams
Throughout the semester, students submit weekly homework assignments and complete two midterm exams. For the most part, TAs are responsible for grading these submissions. As a grader, I'm responsible for following the provided rubric while also ensuring that students are following general rules and design principles that are taught in the course. The most important part of grading is being able to read/comprehend code that comes from numerous people; understanding how their methods and classes work, following comments left by students, and keeping track of how different objects within their code interact with each other. As I've come to grade many submissions, I have felt my code comprehension and grading abilities improve. I'm able to efficiently read through code and put myself in the perspective of the student who wrote the code, allowing me to understand it.
- Attending Meetings, Collaborating with other TAs, Responding to Questions Posted on the Class Discussion Board
Each week, all TAs and the instructors meet to discuss homeworks, labs, and exams that are currently being covered in the course. This meeting gives us a time to collaborate with one another; discuss ways to address hard subjects, improve our office hours and labs, and help make the course a better experience for the student. We also go over common questions being asked by students in our class discussion board, and use their feedback to make changes. My favorite part of these meetings is being able to talk with other TAs and learn about how they teach different topics.
Overall Experience
So far, I've loved my experience as a TA. I've enjoyed teaching others about coding and watching students just like me take a similar journey into learning about object-oriented programming. I like talking with my students, conversing with other TAs, and feeling like my interactions have a positive impact on the people around me. Through teaching these topics, I've seen my own skills improve and my knowledge with programming sharpen. The best part of the job is seeing a student struggling with a topic, helping them improve their knowledge, and then watching as they use your lessons to write amazing code. I can't wait to assist more students in the future.