Students think I give kind & constructive feedback

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"[Charlie] is also kind–hearted and the most understanding TA I've had. This is what matters to me most, especially with the most vulnerable tasks such as providing feedback on assignments and telling me what I can do better in this class. I often avoid reading feedback but I felt confident this time because Charlie approaches with great detail and understanding."

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"Charlie was fantastic and everything we students need from a TA. She graded fairly and gave great feedback, which made me want to see what I got wrong because I knew I would learn from her feedback."

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"The feedback on assignments was clear, and I liked that the correct answer wasn't always just given but instead a helpful guiding question was asked."

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"When I didn't get full credit on an assignment, I fully understood why based on the feedback."

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"Charlie is a fair grader; and she provides individualized, clear responses on all assignments. This helps students to better understand the course material and any homework questions missed."

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Students like the personal connections I build and the support I give

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"She could make things relatable and made me feel like a person, which helped me engage more with what she was saying and the feedback she was giving."

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"Charlie was very supportive of our ideas. When I started research, she encouraged me by letting me know my ideas were good. She even said she was excited to read my paper. Those little bits of enthusiasm and encouragement go a long way! It felt like what I was doing mattered."

 

"One–on–one time with Charlie helps so much, she cares and wants you to succeed."

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"My TA was very engaged in the course material, and her shared enthusiasm about the course made it easy to be excited to learn. She was also very attentive, supportive, and understanding in moments where I fell behind."

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"She is super nice and approachable which made asking her questions easier and made me more comfortable in class"

 

"I appreciated that Charlie went over homework problems, one step at a time, at a very slow pace, and used accessible language."

 

Students like the way I teach...

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"When working on a problem, instead of just giving us the answer, she would have a discussion with the students about their thought process"

 

"She used diagrams and visuals to help connect the material in a new way that really helped me understand."

 

"Asking us what we think of different examples of writing that we were learning about was a great way to engage us. I also liked that she asked us for feedback on her own slides. It creates trust between us and her that I feel is necessary for an efficient learning environment."

... and the way I mentor

"I know Charlie from being together in the Loik-Holl Lab in the Environmental Studies Department since my sophomore year. Charlie was actually the one who took me in after initially meeting with her and the rest of the lab members after a mutual colleague, Dr. Justin Luong, introduced me to her and her research. Ever since then, I’ve been a part of her “Living Solar Panels” lab, a project within her overall Ph.D. dissertation work, acting as a research assistant and social media coordinator. Currently, she is assisting me with my Environmental Studies senior thesis, where we have weekly meetings to make sure that each step of my research is progressing in a timely manner.

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Under Charlie’s guidance and leadership, I personally have accomplished a multitude of goals that I never would have thought to have done when I first arrived at UCSC. I have attended several research symposiums and conferences where I’ve been exposed to experts and colleagues in the field, which I would have never been able to do in a classroom setting, and I even got to present my own research poster at one of them. I’ve learned technical skills like soldering, (basics in) circuitry, 3D printing, performing titrations, and using LiCOR equipment as part of her research. Additionally, I’ve got to learn skills that are surely going to benefit me in the future such as the ability to communicate clearly and effectively to strangers about my work (public speaking and science writing), the ability to experience setbacks and how to navigate them under tight deadlines, the ability to identify big problems and solve them in a group setting, the ability to write academically and concisely, and the ability to narrow down what I want to do and plan out how I want to go about doing that. 

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Charlie is highly organized and thoughtful, having conducted weekly meetings and extracurricular opportunities throughout my time in the lab that would allow us, undergraduate lab members, to strengthen our resumes and add relevant experiences to our CVs. She always encouraged us to utilize our time with her and the lab as a tool to think ahead about our future career paths and focus on projects that would better equip us to go forward in that direction. I can tell that she genuinely enjoys working in a group setting, appreciating any and all input that we may have during brainstorming sessions in the lab. Charlie treated us as equals, even though she was the lab manager/Ph.D. candidate while we were undergraduate students. She was happy to answer any questions we had (even if she’d answered them for us before) to make sure everyone was on the same page, ensuring there wouldn’t be any confusion or potential mishaps during lab time." - Kai Ando

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"I first met Charlie as she was my assigned mentor for a USDA sponsored research program I applied to. I was able to immediately be welcomed into the lab and learn about the living solar panels project. Charlie was friendly, enthusiastic, and helped me feel comfortable in the lab from the beginning, and encouraged my interests and passions. She helped me significantly in finding a project to focus on, providing me with ideas and feedback on how to execute the project." - Sahithi Adiraju 

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"Charlie was my ENVS 100/L lab TA my winter quarter at UCSC (the most brutal class and quarter). In addition, she was my TA for my Wetland Ecology class. Charlie helped me immensely in my ENVS 100/L class to become a better writer with kindness and grace. That class was based around writing APA papers, which I had no prior experience working with beforehand. I had a lot of nerves approaching that class and she eased my worries greatly with the frequent workshops, feedback, and labs we conducted. She assisted me greatly in becoming a better writer while also being incredibly kind with critiques and changes. Her labs were engaging and she made me feel comfortable every step of the way. The lab class for ENVS 100 could have been boring, but she made it fun! I will never forget our final assignment presentations. In my Wetland Ecology class, I got to know her more personally, which was joy considering that ENVS 100 was “all business” in many ways. She would engage in my interests and assist me with any knowledge of post-grad life and about graduate school, which has helped me currently. I am honored to know her and to have her as my TA throughout my short time at UCSC. Charlie is kind, engaging, and helpful. She will critique only where necessary and make you a better student in an incredibly helpful way. I feel like I learned a lot from her and she also assisted needs within my courses well. She is open to feedback and incorporates it well!"  - Lauren Day