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teaching assistant and graduate assistant worker reference

Archived UK Tier 1 (General) points system forum. This route no longer exists.

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spacekadet
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teaching assistant and graduate assistant worker reference

Post by spacekadet » Sun Mar 19, 2006 5:04 pm

I am trying to earn points under the "graduate level" work experience category. I worked as a teaching assistant and research assistant and am wondering if my reference letter is sufficient. My duties and responsibilities in both capacities are as follows (personal info excluded). I appreciate any advice. =)

Thanks in advance
- ms

While in graduate school, XXX was employed full time by the Department of Mathematics. The positions that XXX held have the requirement of a Bachelor's degree and are filled by individuals at the graduate school level YYY.

XXX joined the department in 2001 as one of seven individuals selected for our VIGRE (Vertical InteGration of Research and Education) Program. VIGRE is a National Science Foundation funded program designed to energize the training of mathematical scientists at universities across the United States. Graduate VIGRE appointees participate in various professional development activities in both the teaching and research realms designed to promote interaction among undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and regular faculty. (This is the "vertical integration" element in the program.)

From September 1, 2001 through July 31, 2002, and from September 1, 2003 through July 31, 2004, XXX held the role of Graduate Research Assistant in which she collaborated with faculty in computational mathematics research projects. In the research component of her appointment, her duties and responsibilities are as follows.

* She analyzed faculty members' research topics and recommended computational approaches to their mathematical problems.
* She analyzed various research problems of her choosing and designed computational solutions to match.
* She developed, wrote and tested scientific algorithms in the computer programming language of her choice.
* She documented software and research results so that other researchers could utilize her results in their own research.
* She presented results to faculty and fellow researchers in seminars.

Attached you will find an additional letter from XXX’s advisor, ZZZ, which provides an example of a specific research topic and her duties. (See below.)

From September 1, 2002 until August 31, 2003, XXX was a Teaching Assistant for two undergraduate mathematics courses: M427K “Advanced Calculus for Applications” and M408L “Integral Calculus”. In the teaching component of her appointment, her duties and responsibilities are as follows.

* She exercised her specialization in undergraduate-level mathematics
* She led discussion-section classes in which she reviewed lectures, expanded on presented concepts, and facilitated discussion with the students.
* She developed learning resources, such as outlines, example problems and solution sets.
* She made herself available in office hours for 120 students to provide individual students with additional instruction and guidance.
* She delivered a range of learning activities and used teaching aids to design learning materials that accommodate a wide range of learner types.
* She used methods that actively involved learners in ample opportunities to develop their abilities and tailored feedback to meet their individual needs.
* She measured student's progress towards the learning goals by
-- Designing, delivering, and grading quizzes and homework
-- Teaming with faculty to proctor and grade exams including the final exam
-- Collaborating with faculty to determine the students’ final grades


////////////////////

Duties stated in advisor's letter:

After completing my modeling course (which covered a number of topics in the statistical mechanics and topology of DNA models at the basepair and continuum levels), XXX began working on a Master's project in the area of polymer cyclization. The basic problem was to develop a way to characterize those changes in the material parameters of a polymer (DNA) chain that would produce the largest effect on the probability of cyclization. In her project, XXX implemented a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm on a rigid basepair chain model of DNA. Using the MCMC algorithm she was able to produce sample sets of chain configurations consistent with a given distribution function, which she then used to study the effects of material parameters on the probability of cyclization.

XXX's work as a Graduate Research Assistant required her to have advanced math skills as demonstrated by a Bachelor's degree in mathematics, experience with statistics and data analysis, and experience with computer systems and programming languages. Her specific duties and responsibilities included: (1) assisting faculty member in undertaking research; (2) collaborating with faculty-member to make detailed observations, analyze data, and interpret results; (3) performing computer programming tasks such as numerical simulations, graph generation, and statistical computations using Mathematica; (4) assisting with statistical data analysis and interpretation to draw conclusions about the research problem; (5) reporting results in a formal written document.

amhilde
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:36 pm

Post by amhilde » Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:22 pm

Was it full time work? You can only get points if it was full time work. Most TA/GA postions are under the assumption that you are going to school as well, even if they do work you like a dog. The letter looks fine ( I had an advisor write something similar though it was not as a TA//GA) and I see that it states "full-time" but you may want to highlight that. I will warn you, however, that the HSMP may still question this arrangement especially as with their system you simply dont work that much when going to school, and may not comprehend this arrangement.

spacekadet
Newly Registered
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:51 pm

Post by spacekadet » Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:28 pm

thanks for your feedback, amhilde.

the work was full time (yes, working like a dog). i was also going to school simultaneously. perhaps i will restate under both TA and GA posts that the assignments were full time.

thanks again,
ms

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