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(2015). Reflections on Our First Calculus Undergraduate Teaching Assistant. Adults Learning Mathematics: An International Journal, 11(1), 59-63  \nReflections on Our First Calculus Undergraduate Teaching Assistant  \nJessica M. Deshler  \nWest Virginia University  \nWest Virginia, USA  \n\u003C[deshler@math.wvu.edu](deshler@math.wvu.edu)>  \nAbstract  \nThis article describes some reflections from the first Calculus I undergraduate teaching assistant in our department as she explored the various ways in which she was able to support both novice and experienced Calculus teachers and the effect of her experience on her academic and career plans.  \nKeywords: Undergraduate teaching assistant ; instructional support; calculus.  \nIntroduction  \nThere is a growing body of literature (across academic disciplines) that supports the use of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) in college classrooms for a variety of reasons. The use of UTAs provides benefits for all involved in the process—the faculty members who work with UTAs in the form of support in teaching ; the students enrolled in the courses in which the UTAs assist in the form of additional support in (and sometimes outside of) class ; and the UTAin the form of experience teaching and mentoring from more experienced supervisors.  \nOver the last few years there has been a steady rise in the general undergraduate population at our institution, a large land-grant public research university, as well as in the number of students taking undergraduate mathematics classes. In addition to this, in response to calls for more active learning models in our classrooms to support improved student understanding, our department implemented changes within course structures in several undergraduate mathematics classes to allow for more in-class participation of students in an effort to move away from the traditional lecture format seen in many undergraduate mathematics classes to allow students to explore active learning. Specifically, in Calculus I, class sizes were lowered and graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) added as instructional support in the classroom to aid more experienced instructors in implementation of active learning strategies. GTAs have been called a “crucial intermediary in the classroom” between faculty members and the undergraduates they teach (Stoecker et al., 1993, p. 334) . This belief has been extended to UTAs (Fingerson & Culley, 2001) and is the perspective of this article’s author.  \nVolume 11(1)– January 2016  \nCopyright © 2016 Adults Learning Mathematics International Journal. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)).  \n59  \nTo facilitate the use of UTAs in the classroom, the department recently began allowing undergraduate students to earn credit by enrolling in a teaching practicum course. For this credit, they are to offer instructional support to Calculus instructors who are willing to supervise them. This paper describes the first instance of using a former Calculus I student as a UTA in Calculus I during subsequent semesters. I will present my own reflections on the process of supervising her over the course of several semesters as well as the reasons I (and the instructional team for Calculus I) initially sought the assistance of a UTA, the benefits and drawbacks of the experience, as well as some logistics of the entire process and lessons learned to aid us in improving the experience for both faculty who supervise UTAs and for the UTAs themselves. Most importantly I describe the effect of the process on the UTA and how it has affected her collegiate and post-collegiate career plans.  \nInstitutional Context  \nWith simultaneous growth in enrolment and efforts to provide a more active, personalized learning environment for students, there has been a parallel increase in the demand","cbCaipZMjJlsws6E","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipZMjJlsws6E","pdf",175148,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Institutional Context\n# Implementing UTAs in Calculus I\n# Using a Former Calculus I Student as a UTA\n# Benefits, Drawbacks, and Lessons Learned","[{\"question\":\"What is the core purpose of the article?\",\"answer\":\"The article documents reflections from the first Calculus I undergraduate teaching assistant and explains how her role supported instructors and influenced her academic and career plans.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the department use UTAs to support active learning in Calculus I?\",\"answer\":\"In response to calls for more active learning, the department adjusted course structures by lowering class sizes and adding graduate teaching assistants as instructional support, and later began using UTAs to facilitate in-class participation and instructional capacity.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the teaching practicum credit work for undergraduate assistants?\",\"answer\":\"Undergraduates could earn credit by enrolling in a teaching practicum course and providing instructional support to Calculus instructors who agreed to supervise them, with an agreed equivalence of three hours of work per week per credit.\"}]","Reflections on Our First Calculus Undergraduate Teaching Assistant | PDF",13]