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Overview If you have taken a CompSci course previously, then you know there are many other people helping the professor to support your learning in that course, e.g., returning feedback about your assignments, reviewing concepts in a recitation section. Most of these duties are done by undergraduate students just like you! Here, you can get a chance to take part in a rewarding job, allowing you to help your fellow students out as they go through the same journey you once did. Ideally, you loved the course that you want to UTA for! You should have at least taken the course before or have the equivalent background experience in the course topics and programming languages or communicate with the professor that you feel confident that you grasped the materials covered in the course you would like to UTA. If you have the time and expertise, you can indicate that you are willing to be a UTA for multiple courses (of your preferred choices). We will coordinate with you if we have such need. Duties and Commitment Being a UTA is a serious obligation that requires a firm and substantial weekly commitment on your part. It requires timely checking and responses to communication (e.g. email, Slack, Ed). It is a semester-by-semester job that extends from the first day of classes through the end of final exams. You must re-apply each semester. All UTAs will be required to attend a training session at the beginning of the semester. Duties will vary between classes, but you can generally expect to do some of the following: - Grade – Responsibilities range from students’ assignments or in upper-level courses, projects. Sometimes a professor may have UTAs grade student exams.
- Hold office hours – Most courses will have office hours in the evening. Office hours are used to answer student questions about topics covered in lecture, homework problems, etc.
- Lead a recitation/lab – Lower-level courses such as 101, 201, 230, etc. have a discussion section where students will get more application problems on topics covered in class. UTAs will lead students through the problems and facilitate collaboration and discussion among students about the topic. UTAs will have to prepare beforehand by attending a lab meeting, and/or looking over the material, and/or doing the problems beforehand so that they can come prepared for answering questions.
- Answer ED questions – Most courses use ED as a tool where instructors can post course announcements and communicate important information to students. Students can use this platform to ask questions about logistics of the course, get clarification on the homework, or a study problem. The professor cannot answer all questions in a timely manner, so UTAs will also respond to questions that students may have.
- Attend planning meetings – Faculty will arrange a regular meeting to gather all their UTAs so that they can prepare UTAs for the upcoming week or address questions and concerns that UTAs may also have.
- Meet with student groups – Some project-based courses such as 308 or 316 will require that UTAs independently meet with the group of students that they are assigned to.
- Administrative duties - If you are a Head UTA, you may have to send out emails and organize various UTAs for specific duties. The professor will be in close contact and instruct you.
- Attend lecture - Some faculty need UTAs during regular class time because the course is structured like a lab.
Information about specific courses at https://cs.duke.edu/undergraduate/uta |