TA Feedback

During my time as an instructor, I have mentored and taught with many undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants. Below are examples of their thoughts on working with me and on me as an instructor.

Graduate TA Feedback

January 22nd, 2020

It is my pleasure to write this formal letter of commendation for Dr. Jessie Ebie. Dr. Ebie obtained her doctoral degree from Arizona State University, researching Mechanistic diversity in long-range regulation of worker reproduction in polydomous ant species. She is currently a teaching instructor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University where she teaches Introductory & Advanced Biology courses such as Conceptual approaches for biology majors I (Bio 281) and Animal Behavior Bio 331.

While working with Dr. Ebie as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the course Conceptual approaches for biology majors in the Fall 2019 semester, I have come to know her as a dedicated, hard-working scientist, a great communicator and a caring teacher. During this time, I have learnt many teaching and classroom management lessons from working with Dr. Ebie, particularly in the context of active learning, including managing class attitudes, promoting dialogue, encouraging participation from all students and using various interactive teaching tools. Dr. Ebie always ensured that both the students and teaching assistants were well-versed with using available teaching, learning and assessment tools, mainly through CANVAS. She also availed herself as a mentor and fostered additional resources in an effort to further develop capacities of the Teaching Assistants. Importantly, Dr, Ebie sought feedback and suggestions from the Teaching Assistants, for improvements that could be adopted or integrated in future. She is also a fun and contemporary teacher that is mindful of the 21st century students and therefore explores ways to make teaching and learning both impactful and memorable while maintaining content and contextual relevance. As A Teaching Assistant, I can attest that Dr. Ebie has demonstrated remarkable leadership, organization skills and high professional standards. Moreover, Dr. Ebie is a friendly, ambitious, dependable, enthusiastic and self-motivated individual, therefore an invaluable human resource to any organization.

I am confident that Dr. Ebie can perform any teaching and/or training responsibilities timely, effectively and diligently.

Sincerely,

Ms. Fransiska Kangombe

Graduate Student, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University

"Jessie is a truly exemplary professor that is committed to educating students and getting them excited about scientific research. She is patient with her teaching assistants and treats us like an extension of her own teaching style. She regularly asks for and incorporates TA feedback which gives us an active role in course development and assists us in developing our own teaching strategies. Jessie encourages TAs to meet with students individually and in office hours to better respond to diverse student needs. She also anticipates problems and encourages TAs to help her troubleshoot solutions, whether it be an issue with Canvas (learning software) or an issue with student conduct. Her patience and positive attitude make students feel comfortable in attending her office hours or staying after class to get extra support."

–Michele Clark, Graduate TA for Conceptual Approaches to Biology II, Fall 2019

"Working with Jessie is a pleasure. She is aware of her TA’s strengths and limitations, and takes care to both offer opportunities for growth in teaching and to avoid overburdening TAs with excess work. Being in the classroom while she is teaching makes it clear how much she cares about student learning and wellbeing. She is an excellent role model for graduate students who want to go on to be engaged, caring, pedagogically forward-looking teachers. In my experience working with her on course development, she emphasized the importance of thoughtful, well-designed active learning sessions and assessments to reach learning goals and engage diverse student groups. She has experience working with different teaching techniques and a broad range of students, which she uses to find the best ways of conveying key biological concepts, particularly for struggling students. Jessie is not afraid to try a new technique or spend extra time to improve her teaching and help TAs develop as teachers themselves. Working with her is a collaborative experience in which junior colleagues are enabled to both contribute and learn from her example."

–Megan Wheeler, Graduate TA for Biological Thinking, 2016

Holly Hohn

Undergraduate TA for Conceptual Approaches in Biology I and II, Spring 2019-Spring 2020

Ethan Nguyen

Undergraduate TA for Conceptual Approaches in Biology I and II, Fall 2019-Spring 2020