Giffin 1

The Expectations and Realities of Being an ENGL101 UTA in Spring 2023

Beginning this semester as a first-time UTA could best be described by using the analogy

from the Wiggins video on Understanding by design. Entering the classroom on that first day I

expected things to go a certain way, just like the players on the soccer team who thought in-game

would be like practice. As humans, we can only prepare ourselves so much for each new

challenge we face and there will always be inherent expectations. The responsibilities of each

UTA are certainly different by design, based on the courses that are being led. Surprisingly, even

being an English major, I had never come across an English teaching assistant in any of my

previous courses, so there was no archetype for this specific role. Instead, these expectations

were based on a conglomeration of differing courses that had UTAs leading discussion sections,

grading tests, giving instruction or lectures, and much more. This large list of duties seen in other

areas caused me to believe that being a UTA would require lots of work. However, as

demonstrated by Wiggins’ analogy, not all scenarios will fit the understanding of something that

we have learned or become familiar with. After the first meeting with my students and my

instructor, things seemed less structured or intense than I expected which certainly was pleasant.

However, part of me longed to have even more responsibilities and really dive into the role of

UTA, which would remain an ongoing theme throughout the semester.

The thing about having expectations of any kind is that they can (and will) inevitably lead

to disappointment. Going into the role of UTA, it is hard not to play out scenarios in your head to

prepare yourself for anything that comes your way. Similar to this, a large part of being a UTA is

considering the current state of learning, something that this course was constantly reminding us

to do. Understanding how to best help students in this modern state of digital learning, even
 Giffin 2

being one of them, was really difficult at times. Navigating anything post-pandemic became

somewhat of a nightmare, but educational spaces took a particularly hard hit after the

disconnected nature of Zoom meetings or completely asynchronous classes. It is my belief that

during this time, students learned to become dependent upon only themselves and it has led to

drastic changes in the classroom whilst returning to in-person learning. Despite being an article

from 1987, some of Chickering and Gamson’s “Seven Principles of Good Practice in

Undergraduate Education” felt surprisingly applicable for considering these new changes in

education. Their first principle, encouraging contact between students and faculty, is something

that I constantly tried to implement during my time as a UTA. Each announcement was left with

“please reach out with any questions” or if a student expressed having struggles with certain

assignments I always asked them to email me. The excitement of receiving that first email from a

student wanting help or guidance was an unmatched feeling, but it became somewhat few and far

between.

Another one of Chickering and Gamson’s principles that felt like an ongoing struggle to

implement in a modern classroom is encouraging active learning. For students, UTAs, and

instructors alike, actively learning with the presence of technology in the classroom can feel

really difficult. Many modern students choose not to even attend lectures when they can watch it

at home and teach themselves. Writing classes can and should be different but they suffer from

these same choices with many students continuing to distance themselves from learning. Being a

UTA, emphasizing the importance of coming to class and actively learning was constantly on my

mind even being a student myself. Writing is a dense, multilayered process that can be

overwhelming without proper help or instruction to break things down. This idea was something

that I had in mind when interacting with my students and when curating a helpful lesson plan to
 Giffin 3

simplify difficult parts in this process. The topic I settled on for this lesson was “Integrating

Quotes” to help prepare students for their Position Paper drafts/final which required a depth of

research in order to convey a specific argument. Breaking down the elements of writing seemed

to help make the task seem less daunting, something that I have learned through my own

academic career and through this semester. Reframing the writing process can be incredibly

important as an English UTA, something that Murray’s “Teaching Writing as a Process Not

Product” really helped with on both levels. One of the most profound tidbits of knowledge from

this piece that has entirely changed my perspective as both a student and TA is his description of

the prewriting process which “may include research and daydreaming, notemaking and outlining,

title-writing and lead-writing.” (Murray 4) Many think of the writing process as putting words to

paper, but knowing that even daydreaming or thinking about one’s assignment is considered part

of it helps to ease the anxiety of the blank page.

Thinking about the anxiety of the blank page leads into another interesting part of the

modern learning space: artificial intelligence. The central focus of my group project this semester

was the discourse surrounding this idea which has increased rapidly with the heightened

presence of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence bot used heavily by students. ChatGPT has been

particularly controversial in relation to writing courses because this bot could entirely write a

student's paper. This student could then pass that paper through a plagiarism checker to avoid

negative repercussions and submit the work of artificial intelligence as their own. As a writing

student and UTA, this idea is incredibly disheartening; it makes my own efforts and the hard

work of genuine students seem overshadowed or rendered useless. This is not the case for all

students, with many of my own demonstrating true effort, but it puts a real damper on the already

questionable state of the modern classroom.

 Giffin 4

Overall, this semester as a UTA has taught me important lessons about managing

expectations, the state of academia, and being true to oneself. Regardless of these seemingly

negative implications of being a UTA in 2023, the entire experience was incredibly fulfilling.

Was it exactly as I had expected? Absolutely not. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Despite the

rollercoaster of emotions being in this position, from disappointment to excitement, one of the

most important things that I learned is how much I enjoy helping others especially when it comes

to learning. That feeling is something that I will likely be chasing for the rest of my life. Even

with educational environments changing rapidly, one can only learn to change alongside them

and figure out how to do what’s best for students of this age. Figuring out the best way to tackle

the modern classroom is not exactly something that I achieved this semester, but I made some

leeway and hope to continue tackling this goal in the future.

 Giffin 5

Works Cited

Chickering, Arthur, and Stephen Gamson. “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate

Education.” Washington Center News, Mar. 1987, doi:10.25071/1497-3170.2711.

Murray, Donald. "Teach Writing As Process, Not Product," in Rhetoric and Composition ed.,

Richard L. Graves (Rochelle Park, New Jersey: Hayden Book Co)

Wiggins, Grant. “Understanding by Design with Grant Wiggins.” YouTube, 23 Apr. 2012,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cagh0H7PPA.