<p>Does anyone have information on how many classes, particularly freshman classes, are taught by TAs? Has anyone found this to be a downside at Princeton?</p>
<p>Thank-you.</p>
<p>Many of the lower level math classes (i.e. calculus) are taught by grad students. Also, some intro language classes are too. What is more usual is that grad students are preceptors - the professor gives lectures, and then once a week you meet in smaller groups with a grad student to discuss the material. Grad students might also lead review sessions. </p>
<p>I do think that having grad students teach calculus is sometimes problematic. I’ve never taken calculus here, but I’ve participated in a lot of conversations where grad students were talking about their teaching and have heard other undergrads complaining. I think the problem is something kind of specific to math - a lot of math grad students don’t actually know how to do calculus very well. They probably haven’t taken it since high school, and haven’t used it much since (except for a bit of studying for the GRE math subject test). Professors have generally been teaching calculus since they were a grad student, so they tend to remember it more. Also, not having to assign homework, grade homework, or create the tests (the head instructor and graders do that) makes it easier to not be very involved.</p>
<p>Interesting. My son took Calculus back in 8th grade, calc II and III in 9th, but he uses it frequently in physics and math competition stuff. </p>
<p>Language might not be so bad. My son’s Arabic teacher at the local CC is pretty awful so it couldn’t go anywhere but up for him.</p>
<p>Yeah, calculus is often taught by grad students. I’ve personally taken MAT201 and 202 here (multivariable and linear algebra, no analysis) and the first time I had a new “faculty” member who was awful. This time around I have a second-year grad student who’s really into it and constantly asks us for feedback and provides extra practice. (It’s her first time TAing, too!) (Note the these courses had no lectures, only relatively small classes.)</p>
<p>As the above poster noted TAs usually appear in precepts in courses where the professor leads the lecture. Typically the professor has at least one precept, and other faculty members take some other precepts with grad students picking up the rest. So for example, in COS 226 my preceptor was a professor from another class entirely. This is the first semester I’ve had a grad student for a TA in precept.</p>
<p>In my (admittedly brief) experience–I’m a sophomore now–TAs haven’t had a noticeable effect. Yes I had a bad calculus teacher, and one less than stellar physics preceptor (though he was faculty too…hmm) I’ve also had some pretty good TAs. And talking to grad students is something I recommend you do anyway; for example I had some really cool discussions with my physics lab TAs. Grad students are closer to us in age and experience and therefore sometimes more approachable.</p>
<p>Languages are fine in my experience–in fact my intro Japanese course was one of my best-taught courses. All “staff,” no professors, but the senseis were really phenomenal. I think that languages in general at Princeton are really well taught. I don’t have a language requirement but I’m taking Japanese anyway because you’d have to be crazy to pass up the opportunity to get such good language instruction, IMO!</p>
<p>Princeton’s Japanese and Chinese language teaching are both very, very good.</p>
<p>Introductory modern language courses aren’t really taught by full faculty anywhere, and a good thing that is. There is almost no overlap between the skill set and content knowledge required to teach an introductory language course and the skill set and content knowledge of a scholar in the literature or culture that uses that language. Can you imagine Stephen Greenblatt or Helen Vendler teaching introductory English to a group of Japanese teens? Not a good idea. Same thing the other way around. So almost all colleges use instructors who are hired for that purpose, usually native speakers with lots of patience.</p>
<p>In general, the intro math sequence is almost entirely TA-taught (Calc I, Calc II, Calc III and Linear Algebra), while intro languages with large enrollment (i.e. Spanish, French, German, etc.) are often taught by TA’s. For me, my math TA turned the class into one of the worst I’ve taken thus far. For the most part, though, “preceptors” are not too terrible.</p>