Hawa Conde looks to core values to guide her as a teaching assistant — namely fairness and integrity, and support and openness.
“To me, teaching is a multi-way conversation between individuals. …. We are all learners and my role as a teaching assistant/marker is to utilize leadership and the knowledge I gained to support other learners in their journey. I believe that it is important for students to feel included and engaged in their learning and to feel comfortable to ask questions in a non-judgmental climate. I try to create that climate by demonstrating integrity and fairness, and also being open and available to my students.”
Hawa uses her past experiences as a Public Health student to contribute to the development of seminar activities as a TA in the Qualitative Research in Health Sciences course. She was a marker/grader for other courses including Diversity and Health, and Health Policy/Public Health Capstone. Hawa has pursued professional development through CPI TA Day programming and other workshops.
“My philosophy regarding teaching is about sparking an interest in someone else, allowing them to feel connected to their learning and to be equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to embrace their own potentials and reach their goals.”
Testimonials
“Working with Hawa was an absolute pleasure …. She made my job as the course coordinator easier and more enjoyable … Her marking was always completed in a timely manner, and her evaluations were fair and accurate. She was always dedicated to making sure students were fairly evaluated and was never hesitant to ask for support if she needed.”
“Hawa encourages students to become collaborators across multiple learning opportunities. Hawa uses a variety of innovative activities incorporating small group discussions and dialogical modes of learning. In the classroom, Hawa delivers course content to address different styles of learning, such as audio-visual or kinaesthetic, or work to ameliorate particular cognitive or linguistic barriers.”
“The hands-on activities Hawa provided in seminars made qualitative research better understood and made attending class enjoyable. Hawa successfully fostered a seminar environment where I felt comfortable sharing ideas with other students and made collaboration on group assignments less intimidating.”
“Hawa has demonstrated remarkable leadership skills, determination and responsibility as a teaching assistant….Hawa is dependable and consistently looking for ways to improve her teaching methods…Her communication skills were a major asset to the success of the students as the course content was challenging to understand at times.”