General Genetics (BIO311) Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (SP25)

We seek four to six undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) to assist with General Genetics (BIO311) in spring 2025.  In this position, UTAs will increase their understanding and proficiency with core genetics content and and gain teaching, leadership, and teamwork experience. UTAs will participate in weekly meetings with the course teaching team to discuss, practice, and implement best practices in teaching and offer direct peer support to enrolled students during lecture and during scheduled office hours.

 

Name of research group, project, or lab
BIO311: General Genetics (Lecture)
Why participate in this opportunity?

Being a BIO311 UTA help you deepen your understanding of the fundamentals of genetics, gain experience with teaching and leadership during lecture and your individual office hours, and share knowledge and connect with other students. You will also build skills in teamwork and collaboration by working with our BIO311 instructional team of faculty, graduate TAs, and undergraduate TAs.  UTAs will receive 2 credits for their efforts; a minimum of ~4-5 hours of work each week will be needed to support the class, and more hours will be needed on exam and grading weeks. 

Logistics Information:
Subject Category
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Biology
Genetics
Student ranks applicable
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Student qualifications

Successful applicants will have completed BIO311 (General Genetics) at UMass, highly related and comparable level courses at UMass, or equivalent courses at other institutions. Previous UTA experience is a plus but is not required. Successful applicants will also be excited about genetics/molecular biology and have strong teamwork and communication skills.

You must be able to commit to a minimum of one lecture per week (MWF 9:05-9:55) for this position, in addition to a weekly UTA prep meeting. Each week you will also be expected to prepare for lecture/office hours by reviewing course materials and homework to be able to effectively assist students with the lecture material.  

To ensure that you meet these qualifications:

  1. Complete the application through the PROPEL site.  In your application, please indicate why you're interested in this position, and the strengths you bring to your work as a UTA, and what you think UTAs in this course should do to help all students succeed. 
  2. For your application to be complete, you must also fill out this Google form for availability, logistics, and additional questions. 
Time commitment
5-7 h/wk
Position Types and Compensation
Teaching - Ind. Study Credit
Number of openings
4
Techniques learned

Students will learn how to teach content to their peers and how to help facilitate student learning in lecture, exams, and office hours.

Project start
Spring 2025 Semester
Contact Information:
Mentor
Amanda Raimer
araimer@umass.edu
Teaching Faculty
Name of project director or principal investigator
Amanda Raimer
Email address of project director or principal investigator
araimer@umass.edu
4 sp. | 24 appl.
Hours
5-7 h/wk
Project categories
Genetics (+2)
Biochemistry & Molecular BiologyBiologyGenetics