After an eventful fall semester, my CUTF experience is coming to a culmination. Hi, my name is Nehal Chakraborty and I am a senior neuroscience major. Over the past semester, I worked with Dr. Linda O’Reilly as an undergraduate teaching assistant for her Foundations of Biology 1 class. As a UTA, I helped students through in-class exercises and held weekly office hours. My CUTF project this semester involved compiling class content into review sheets to guide students’ study process for exams. They can use these review sheets to review important content and to stimulate discussion during UTA office hours. 

At the start of the semester, I made my first review sheet with a somewhat limited sense of what exactly to include to best benefit the students. Over time, with Dr. O’Reilly’s suggestions for my review sheets and getting the student’s opinions on my work, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to teach someone any subject. For example, one thing I learned is that labeling images is a much more effective learning aid than filling in the blanks of a sentence. I got insight into Dr. O’Reilly’s teaching methods by receiving advice from her on how to restructure some of the questions to either have a stronger visual component or to connect to another related concept. 

I got a deep perspective of how a professor designs a curriculum and classroom resources to engage their students. Because of this CUTF project, I worked closely with Dr. O’Reilly and saw how she encourages students to think through problems and collaborate with peers. Seeing this, I encourage similar techniques during my office hours. I saw how students used my review sheets to ask one another questions and check their understanding of foundational concepts. Based on what I’d learn, I’d focus on testing specific skills on my review sheet for the next exam. I encouraged students to come to UTA office hours and use the review sheet as a scaffold for summarizing concepts with UTAs and peers. This made me realize how vital it is to put in the time to utilize resources outside of the classroom.

Not only did I learn a lot about teaching, but I also forged a valuable connection with Dr. O’Reilly as both her student and collaborator. Because of CUTF, we worked very closely with one another, exchanging ideas through email and meeting face-to-face for weekly UTA meetings. It was such a unique opportunity to forge a connection with a professor! 

Last week, I created my final review sheet for the last exam of the semester, wrapping up my CUTF project! I am excited to carry forward the communication and leadership skills I gained from my CUTF experience. Being in this fellowship fostered many valuable lessons that I hope to utilize in new teaching-assisting opportunities next semester and in any other project that I take on in the near future.