One of the common threads connecting most courses at Penn is that students will have to engage extensively with the courses’ teaching assistants (TAs).
The role of the TA varies between courses and instructor needs. Between research, professional obligations, and other responsibilities, instructors often require assistance coordinating assignments and responding to questions, and they rely on standout students who have previously taken their course to serve as TAs.
Gabriella Gibson (W’26) TA’d Professor Angela Duckworth‘s Operations, Information, and Decisions 2000: Grit Lab, a popular course that deals with tangible ways to apply reflection and goal-setting to students’ personal lives. Gabriella helped students structure goals to accomplish them successfully.
“I had one student who learned how to cook and used it to get in touch with her culture,” she said. “It’s exciting to see students be able to connect with their identity, family, and culture, and to be able to use a class as a means to do that.”
Of course, everybody has different goals. One of her students set a goal of running a marathon. Another student wanted to dunk a basketball. While she saw some students fulfill their personal goals and decide to pursue them further, some learned that their goals might not have been a great fit, which she felt was equally valuable. As a TA, she could see different insights about passion from a bird’s-eye view.
Gabriel Mora (W’26), a junior who TA’d Management 2910: Negotiations, reported the same.
Negotiations is highly experiential—most class sessions include interactive simulations, games, and exercises done between students. He explained that his role was to help “facilitate those interactions” and read through student journals where students reflected on their experiences in the class.
Gabriel was especially drawn to what he called the “data game.” While taking the course as a student, he could only experience his perspective; as a TA, he could see every perspective.
“Since you’re reading the majority of the journals, you’re able to see the perspectives other students take in the same position as you,” he mentioned. “The more data and feedback you get from these simulations and games, the more you learn about the world, how people might react to how different people will play out in different situations.”
“Being a TA is probably one of the most meaningful things to do in your four years on campus.” —Shriya Shah
Shriya Shah (W’25 C’25) had the privilege of experiencing a similar takeaway over the course of multiple semesters through Wharton 2010: Business Communication for Impact. She served as a teaching assistant for two instructors: Sara Mangat and Riddhima Hinduja.
Since WH 2010 lecturers can also be working professionals, her relationship with Hinduja went into mentorship at a time when she was looking for professional guidance, describing it as “being able to learn from her, sitting down for coffee one-on-one, and speaking about her experience.”
The opportunity to connect with experienced professionals is an important part of being a Penn student, but TAing allowed Shriya to take it one step further into developing a nuanced mentorship.
TAing for WH 2010 is especially important, given that the TAs add real-world impact to the instructor’s teaching.
“Teaching assistants model the relevance of the content,” Mangat explained. “They help the students understand the importance of listening and applying the skills they’re learning in the classroom because they have examples through their internships.”
Mangat describes the TA role as necessary for the course to succeed: “As a TA, they have to cross and become part of the instructional team. When I talk to them, I try to get them to understand that they’re a bridge.”
In the fall, Shriya TA’d Wharton 2011: Global Business Communication for Impact, a Penn Global Seminar, which combined the business communications tactics of WH 2010 with added context on how they can be applied in global scenarios. During winter break, she traveled to London with the class for a week.
This gave Shriya even more understanding of the students with whom she had built a mentor-mentee relationship throughout the semester.
“When you go on a PGS, you’re able to understand a student more holistically,” she said. “You can understand how the student operates and what they’re interested in.”
Like Gabriella and Gabriel, Shriya’s key takeaway revolved around the various perspectives that she was helping to facilitate. The small cohort had different degree combinations and interests, meaning she could glean unique takeaways while building relationships with each student.
Wharton lecturer Steven Blum has taught a Negotiations section for over 30 years and has had three teaching assistants per class for the past 15 years. He sees it as a core responsibility to provide them with a rich educational experience as a TA and agrees with the TAs: the opportunity to TA is still a chance to be a student and engage with the course material.
However, having a TA is a two-way street, and Blum acknowledged how much he has gained from having TAs.
“Absolutely, some of the strongest educational interactions I’ve had are with my TAs,” he said.
Gabriel, from the TA side, felt that same impact: “When I was looking for guidance on what I was planning to do after college, in terms of my career, he was the first person I reached out to.”
—Alex Zhou, C’25, W’25
Posted: April 7, 2025
