Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs):
A Daily Reflective Practice Provides New Perspectives on Student Learning and Classroom Dynamic
Jessica Gordon (Faculty), Rebecca Ribley (UTA), Virginia Commonwealth University
Abstract: This session, led by a faculty member and undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA), will
explain the three-tier structure of the UTA program in the University College at Virginia
Commonwealth University and explore the benefits for all participants in this program. The session
will be focused, however, on how the UTA’s and Instructor’s daily reflective writing practice yields
insightful and valuable feedback regarding how to improve teaching and learning in undergraduate
classrooms.
Goals and Objectives
Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:
 Explain the three-tier structure of the UTA program in University College at VCU
 Recognize the benefits of a UTA program for all participants--UTAs, students and faculty
 Explain the specific ways that a UTA’s perspective on student learning and classroom dynamic differs from
and informs that of the instructor
 Implement a similar practice of daily reflection to effectively inform their own teaching practice
Literature Review
Universities have a long history of using graduate teaching assistants to staff low level courses, grade papers, and
assist with administrative tasks. However, as undergraduate peer leadership opportunities became more customary in
the 1980’s and 1990’s, university educators found ways for undergraduates to fulfill the same purpose as graduate
teaching assistants. More recently, however, faculty have begun experimenting with ways for UTAs to assist with
more progressive methods for teaching and learning in the university classroom.
In the 1970s, faculty began using UTAs to enhance instructor interaction with students. Ruth Wallace (1974)
explained that the use of UTAs had the potential to benefit both the students in the class and the UTAs themselves.
Referring to the use of UTAs in the classroom as “An Alternative to Assembly Line Education”, she explained how
UTAs could be enlisted to facilitate weekly discussion sessions. In congruence with Wallace, Osborne, Norman,
and Basford (1997) recounted how, in the wake of the economic recession of the early 1990s, they began training
undergraduates as teaching assistants as a way to staff large classes without hiring new instructors. Faced with a
similar problem ten years later, Hogan, Norcross, Cannon, and Karpiak (2007) describe the way that the University
of Scranton created a program in which UTAs were used for tutoring and “organization, management, record
keeping, evaluation and other such teaching functions”(p. 188).
While higher learning institutions seem to have at first relied on UTAs as a way to minimize costs, more progressive
approaches have focused on using UTAs to enhance the teaching and learning process. For example, Herreid and
Kozak (1995) discuss how the feedback provided by UTAs can be used to promote curriculum reform. The authors
claimed that students “can be led to discuss serious pedagogical issues if they are made to feel like partners, rather
than mere receptacles, in the educational process” (p. 28). They add that faculty, in turn, “gain insight into the
educational process when their own presentations are dissected in detail by students” (p. 28). Gray and Halbert
(2010) recount an experience at New Mexico State University wherein Gray taught a Criminal Justice course with
Halbert, an undergraduate, as her co-teacher. They found that teaching with an undergraduate “leads to a more
student-centered classroom” in comparison to co-teaching with another faculty member (p. 150). Finally, Jacobs et
al. (2002) have written extensively about the use of UTAs to increase the quality of participation in courses, finding
them to be a critical theoretical and pedagogical tool.
Today, more and more UTAs are utilized as a tool for improving undergraduate instruction. While evidence
indicates that UTAs can benefit both students and faculty, we know little about how a UTAs perspective differs
from that of the professor. We believe that a daily reflective practice completed by UTAs and faculty can inform and
improve teaching and learning in undergraduate classrooms.
Description of Session
This presentation, led by a faculty member and a second-year undergraduate teaching assistant, will explain the
ways that undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) can improve instruction in university classrooms of all sizes. In
addition, we will explain how implementing a daily reflective practice for both instructor and UTA can provide
insight into effective teaching and learning in any undergraduate course.
We will begin with a very brief history of the use of UTAs in university undergraduate courses, followed by a short
but clear explanation of the three-tier system for UTAs at Virginia Commonwealth University. A diagram of this
structure, provided below and previously published in The International Journal for Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education, will be provided. The UTAs in VCU’s University College courses facilitate student engagement
by modeling successful intellectual and academic practices and offering assistance to students with coursework.
Faculty who choose to participate in the UTA program select students from their own classes to serve as UTAs the
following year. UTAs understand the curricular goals of the courses in which they serve and tend to be students who
value lifelong learning and enjoy helping other students to succeed academically. Although the program began in
2008/2009 with just five UTAs participating in a year-long pilot, it expanded exponentially within its first two years
as an official course. During the 2012/2013 academic year, more than 100 UTAs worked with over 30 faculty to
improve instruction in first-and second-year courses.
Following the description of the UTA program structure, we will explain the daily reflective practice that we
implemented during the previous semester. The practice involved reflective writing by both UTAs and instructor in
response to a set of standardized questions regarding student learning and classroom dynamic. Questions provoked
observations from the UTA and instructor regarding perception of instructor presence and clarity in the classroom,
student attitudes, and the ability of students to actively apply course concepts in small groups and whole class
discussions. Reflective writing about these observations occurred within a short time after course meetings and
before instructor and UTAs discussed individual perceptions. Subsequent comparison of reflective writing yielded
noticeable trends and valuable insight into the varying ways that instructors and students perceive learning and the
general dynamic of the classroom. An end-of-semester student evaluation reveals further insight into student
perception of teaching practice.
During the final ten minutes of the session, participants will be encouraged to share their own UTAs programs and
similar assessment or evaluation practices. In addition, participants will have time to ask questions of both the
faculty member and the UTA.
References
Gray, T. & Halbert, S. (2010). Team teach with a student. College Teaching 46 (4), 150-153.
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/87567555.asp
Herreid, C.F. & Kozak, A.I. (1995). Using students as critics in faculty development.
Teaching 6 (1),17-29. http://celt.muohio.edu/ject/
Excellence in College
Hogan, T. P., Norcross, J.C., Cannon, J.T., & Karpiak, C.P. (2007). Working with and training undergraduates as
teaching assistants. Teaching of Psychology 34 (3), 187-190. doi: 10.1080/00986280701498608
Jacobs, W.R., Gutzman, J.R., & McConnell, D.T. (2006). Teacher-student collaboration in the first-year experience.
In D. Lundell, J.L. Higbee, I.M. Duranczyk, E.Goff (Eds.), Student Standpoints about Access Programs
in Higher Education (pp. 159-171). Minneapolis, MN: Center for Research on Developmental Education
and Urban Literacy.
Osborne, R.E., Norman, J., & Basford, T. (1997). Utilizing UTAs: an untapped resource. The 11th Annual
Conference on Undergraduate Teaching of Psychology. (pp.19-21).