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<p>Quite the opposite. I see no reason why a TA should not teach a lower division course. Afterall, they are now in grad school and should have a solid understanding of the basic material covered in Calc 1, 2, 3, or Physics 1 & 2, or Chem 1 & 2, etc. I was a TA for several years and was perfectly capable of teaching intro/lower division courses. It saved the department money, gave me teaching experience, and paid me a salary while I was in grad school. Why not do it for lower division math, physics, chem? Why have a prof teach those courses only to hog-tie him/her from approaching the subject from his area of expertise? Does anyone really benefit from having an expert in statistics, geometry, or algebra teach lower division cal classes rather having a qualified TA teaching the course? </p>
<p>As far as when the exams are written - supposedly they are written to test knowledge of what appears on the syllabus. My DS’s experience was that the prof writing the exam somehow always managed to include material NOT on the syllabus, but was taught in his/her class only. Needless to say, that prof’s students did better on exams than the students supposedly taking the same course /different section/different prof.</p>