As the Graduate TA for two semesters, I led the remaining TAs in the course, assigning responsibilities and assisting with lab protocols and exams, besides providing support on lab activities and grading material. This was my most recent exposure to a teaching position, and the reality of dealing with a big class led me to develop a great sense of fairness throughout the semester, especially when dealing with students from different academic backgrounds and needs. It was also a very exciting class to assist teaching, since it is one of the first experiences students have of an engineering course. It was clear to see the shift needed from the students when applying calculus and physics concepts to solve the exercise set, giving me a different perspective on how to mentor students during this process.

As a TA for the Thermodynamics class, I had the chance to explore different aspects of teaching during this experience, where I held a few lectures covering the course content, held office hours for students, assisted with lab demos and activities, and provided feedback on the writing exams. One of the challenges I faced during this semester was choosing the right examples to present in class and being ready for the multiple kinds of questions that would arise during the class. Additionally, I had the chance to develop from scratch a lab assignment for the class: I developed the prompt sheet for the class and was responsible for finding the appropriate set of steps that would allow students to reach the correct conclusion about the topic being explored by the lab setup. Even though it was a challenge, it was also rewarding when I would talk to the students, asking for feedback, and I could see that they were reaching the appropriate conclusions and applying the right theory behind the experiment.  

Click here for the lab description

I was invited for two semesters to give a guest lecture for this undergraduate course, particularly on the topic of structural failure in the aerospace context. Usually, at this point in their program, students are dealing with very generic and academic examples of the theory of failure. Besides introducing topics outside of the comfort zone for most of the students, the lecture is focused on real flight accidents where I discuss some of the most famous aeronautical accidents due to structural failure, and we dissect the reasons for each accident and how we can trace it back to one type of failure, connecting with the idea of how important this critical thinking is during the design process. I see this as the chance to bring the aerospace context closer to the students’ reality and give them the chance to put into practice all the theoretical content from previous classes.

Click here for the guest lecture slides

As a former engineering team member during undergrad and current graduate mentor, I have experienced and now see how the learning process is more effective with the "learn by doing" approach. And the value of it is not only in terms of trial and error, but it also provides the opportunity for the student to develop the thinking process and approach a problem, and what it takes to reach a solution. It also shows the students that mistakes are part of any development process.

I believe one strong component of mentoring students is to create a sense of autonomy during the project. One-on-one weekly meetings are an opportunity to discuss their progress and their vision for the project based on results. My part in this process is to make sure the students are on the right track, keeping engaged with the project, and discussing possible alternative solutions or directions for the project. Even though I have the "big-picture" for the project, I like to always ask them about what future steps we can take during these meetings. This is a way for me to work on the notion that their ideas are also important and that they might help us change the course of our work.

I believe one strong component of mentoring students is to create a sense of autonomy during the project. One-on-one weekly meetings are an opportunity to discuss their progress and their vision for the project based on results. My part in this process is to make sure the students are on the right track, keeping engaged with the project, and discussing possible alternative solutions or directions for the project. Even though I have the "big-picture" for the project, I like to always ask them about what future steps we can take during these meetings. This is a way for me to work on the notion that their ideas are also important and that they might help us change the course of our work.