Since 2024, ZJUI has inaugurated the Top TA Award, a yearly honor dedicated to inspiring teaching assistants (TAs). This award is intended to recognize their unwavering dedication, heighten their sense of responsibility in teaching support, and spotlight their exemplary mentoring. In 2024, four outstanding ZJUI students were bestowed with this prestigious award, marking their remarkable contributions to ZJUI’s academic community.
Let’s explore their stories as TAs, celebrating their contributions, passion, and the joy they’ve found in guiding others.
Yue Chongying, class of 2026 in Computer Engineering in ZJUI, served as a writing assistant for RHET 101 Principles of Writing in the fall semester of 2023-2024 and RHET 102 Principles of Research in the spring semester of 2023-2024. In 2024, he received the Top TA Award in the spring semester.
1.Innovating Solutions: Tackling Key Challenges in Assignments
While assisting students, Yue Chongying noticed a common struggle among students: many of them overloaded their introductory paragraphs with excessive details and evidence, delaying their central thesis until the end. “I faced the same issue when I took this course,” he recalled. “Balancing structural coherence with a natural flow of ideas is a universal challenge.”
To help students address this issue, Yue Chongying attempted to conduct an in-depth analysis of the function of introductory paragraphs. Starting from two dimensions—readers' psychological expectations across different writing styles and the unique characteristics of students' arguments—he provided numerous practical suggestions for organizing evidence effectively. "For arguments that require building suspense and sparking reader interest, I recommend subtly weaving key pieces of evidence into the introductory paragraph to gradually guide readers into deeper reflection. As for arguments that demand a clear stance and immediate engagement, I encourage students to state their evidence concisely and powerfully at the very beginning, laying a solid foundation for subsequent discussion," he shared.
"What brings me the greatest satisfaction is observing students transform. They start out completely at a loss when it comes to writing, but then they progress to actively seeking evidence, collecting materials, and arranging them in a logical manner. Now, they not only precisely communicate their viewpoints but also manage to engage readers right from the start, laying a solid groundwork for the whole essay. Witnessing this remarkable development truly fills me with sincere delight," he exclaimed with enthusiasm.
2. Personalized Guidance: Illuminating the Path to Growth
“In the process of interacting with students, we should not only focus on the questions they raise but also be sensitive to their underlying confusion.” In his Office Hours, the questions students pose often fail to touch upon the core issues that truly trouble them. Whenever encountering such situations, Yue Chongying would typically employ a strategy of patiently listening while skillfully posing questions like "Why?" or "What do you think is the reason for writing it this way?" Through this guided approach, he gently helped students untangle their thought processes and articulate their underlying uncertainties with greater clarity. Yue Chongying believed that by doing so, he could more precisely pinpoint the true obstacles they faced in their learning journey, thereby offering them more targeted and valuable assistance.
▲ Yue Chongying’s office hour session
In his view, the role of a writing assistant holds different significance and serves varying purposes for each student. For some students, they simply need someone who can patiently listen to their thoughts, helping them organize ideas and alleviate stress through the process of verbal expression. For others who find themselves lost in confusion, the writing assistant bears a more critical responsibility—to clear the fog of uncertainty and illuminate the path forward. Therefore, he always starts by understanding each student's individual needs, explaining concepts through his own experiences and practical examples to help them better comprehend issues and broaden their thinking.
"However, regardless of the type of student needs we face, the most crucial principle for a writing assistant is to consistently uphold listening and guidance. It must be emphasized that we should never directly provide ready-made answers. While offering solutions might temporarily resolve issues, it robs students of the opportunity to think independently and explore learning, ultimately hindering their ability to truly master knowledge and enhance their capabilities."
03. Passing the Torch: Witnessing Transformation
For Yue Chongying, serving as a writing assistant not only deepened his understanding of education but also holistically enhanced his English writing skills. Throughout this journey, he learned to deconstruct complex concepts and communicate them clearly to others. He mastered the art of effective communication with students of diverse personalities and varying learning paces, and he cultivated the ability to guide others in discovering their own academic paths. At the start of the course, students’ writing abilities were generally limited, and office hours were always bustling with questions. By the end of the semester, however, few students sought help—most had developed their own writing methodologies and could independently craft well-structured, logically coherent essays. “Just as ‘one cloud moves another,’ I believe this is where a writing assistant can make the greatest impact,” Yu Chongying shared.
In 2024, Yu Chongying was honored with the Top Writing Assistant Award for his rigorous and responsible approach. He remarked: “I am deeply honored to receive this award. It came as a delightful surprise and affirmed the trust my students have placed in me. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the professor for their meticulous guidance, to my fellow writing assistants for their unwavering support and collaboration, and to every student for their faith and cooperation. Moving forward, I hope to apply the experience I’ve gained here to broader fields, pursue more meaningful endeavors, and continue growing to create greater value.”
▲ Yue Chongying (third from the left) with writing assistants and Prof. Jess Williard
Advice for ZJUIers
1. As writing assistants, we should strategically and intentionally build strong bridges between course assignments and in-class knowledge, fostering deep integration, mutual reinforcement, and complementary alignment between them. This approach helps establish a more comprehensive, systematic, and profound cognitive framework for students. Such integration not only enables learners to grasp the essence and internal logic of knowledge from a higher perspective but also enhances their ability to apply this knowledge to solve real-world problems.
2. As a writing assistant, your words will be regarded as authoritative guidance by many students. Therefore, before offering advice, ensure thorough deliberation and multi-dimensional analysis to guarantee its accuracy and effectiveness.
3. I believe that serving as a writing assistant requires enduring, wholehearted enthusiasm. This passion serves as the driving force that sustains our dedication to thoughtful mentoring and active contribution. If you aspire to become a writing or writing assistant, make this decision only after fully understanding the responsibilities involved. Commit wholeheartedly to fulfilling your role with unwavering enthusiasm and resolve, ensuring tangible and helpful support for students.
