<p>hahaha why are people saying that sophomores are teaching freshman? Do they know what a TA actually does? It is commonplace at many universities to have undergrads that have finished a course also be allowed to TA for it. And again, this isn’t just allowing any undergrad to do so. I wanted to TA Intro to Comp Sci my sophomore year, and didn’t make the cut, even though I got an A in the class! Having undergrad TAs works extremely well most of the time, and they are NOT teaching courses. They are there as a resource, to lead discussion sections, to help out in lab classes, etc. If someone is saying “sophomores are teaching freshman” please provide the course name and number so we can find out.</p>
<p>I agree that TA’s don’t typically teach in the traditional sense. They lead discussion and cover something that may warrant deeper understanding. I believe this are recitations not class lecture. However, anytime I have ever had a TA they have been graduate students in the field, not those who just got through the course the year before. I imagine, however, that one of the criteria to being a TA is welcoming and helpful demeanor so that younger students find you approachable? There is a big difference between being a good student and being able to help others understand.</p>
<p>I want GU badly - my parents are on the fence. If they read this thread, I guarantee you my Dad would want to know why he would pay $50K to have sophomores or any other undergraduate student asked by the administration to lead a class for other undergraduates. I’ll never tell him…</p>
<p>Dude that’s not true, don’t worry… I’ve never heard of a sophomore teaching a class! That’s total BS, and doesn’t even make logical sense… having a sophomore teach?! Come on think about it…</p>
<p>modadunn, at least in my economics class, the TA’s are usually responsible for going over problem sets and grading homework. They are not going into the intricacies of macroeconomic fiscal policy. The professor takes questions in class, is available before and after, and has office hours if the lectures aren’t clear enough. But for the simple quantitative calculations done at the introductory level, the CPI is the CPI, whether a sophomore, grad student, or professor says so. </p>
<p>I think you guys are attaching far to much weight to the role of TA’s in these particular courses. Now, believe me, there are some courses, like history or government, where the TA’s have a much more substantial role, and those are done by grad students (in my case, my history discussion section is actually lead by the professor). I said it before and I’ll say it again: these are a handful of courses, in a handful of departments for a fraction of the TA’s, for the most basic, introductory level class.</p>
<p>Is Georgetown really worth the money ( 200K over 4 years)? Particularly if you have TAs running classes and inferior facilities. Can this be true?</p>
<p>we’ve already said that TAs do not run classes. They will run the discussion sections, as well as laboratory sections (under the direction of a laboratory professor). This is common at the vast majority of colleges. Professors run classes.</p>
<p>Wow, I’m not even enrolled yet but, Svenster, have you even read this thread? The current students just finished explaining that TA’s are not “running classes” but more often than not doing menial tasks like grading and stimulating discussion.</p>
<p>And, this may be just me, but dirty windows don’t qualify as inferior facilities. I’m not saying she was wrong or that it isn’t valid, when I visited Lauinger it seemed fine, but to say that Georgetown has bad facilities is a bit of an exaggeration, especially after they just completed the brand new MSB building.</p>
<p>Read the original news article. You have sophomores acting as TAs for Freshman classes. These aren’t graduate students acting as TAs, these are fellow undergrads.
Would you like students who just completed their introductory classes to decide your grades? These are your peers. What depth of knowledge or insight can they provide when they are just one year ahead of you in college. You’re paying $50K a year for this? Let’s be serious. Anyone looking at this objectively would agree that this is not appropriate for an institution of Georgetown’s supposed academic quality.</p>
<p>you aren’t understanding what we are saying.</p>
<p>-ALL PROFESSORS TEACH ALL COURSES AT GEORGETOWN
-TA’s will teach the DISCUSSION SECTIONS of courses, under the direction of the PROFESSOR
-TA’s will lead the LABORATORY SECTIONS of science courses, under the direction of a LABORATORY PROFESSOR</p>
<p>-do you know what TA’s are? TA=teaching assistant. They assist the teacher. Every single course at georgetown is taught by a professor. This is how it works in large courses at the vast majority of colleges. Read the original news article, it does not say that TAs are teaching courses.</p>
<p>You’re completely missing my point. I never said the TAs mentioned in the article were teaching classes and even if they were, I wouldn’t have a problem with that if they were Phd students. The article mentioned that the Econ department was using sophomores to act as TAs for freshman classes. I was questioning whether this was appropriate and responding to the prior post that said that these sophomore TAs were also grading papers. </p>
<p>Once again, I don’t have a problem with TAs if they are fully qualified graduate students. It’s a common practice at all major universities. But I think its absurd to have sophomores, or any undergrad acting as a TA and assessing the work of their peers.</p>
<p>Not even at UVA…a state school does this happen…</p>
<p>again I will say that undergraduate TA’s is a common practice at the majority of colleges. A quick google search shows this. UVA also uses undergraduate TAs, a quick google search confirms this. It makes sense to have sophomore TAs for freshman level courses, where they know what is important to know for the course, what is emphasized on exams, etc. Sure TA’s will grade papers, however the professor sets the rubrics and criteria for those papers, and the professor is ultimately in charge of grading. TA’s are not “running classes”, as you stated in post #26. Also, teaching assistants at all levels are typically students that received As in the course, and also took other courses outside of that specific course. </p>
<p>So once again, undergraduate TAs are used at the majority of colleges. UVA uses undergraduate TAs and graders, as does Cornell, Princeton, Columbia, UCLA, Duke, etc. from a quick google search. You’re making this into an issue when it really is not.</p>
<p>the people bagging on georgetown seems to have some other beef with the school other than just sophomore TA’s, like maybe they didn’t get in or they don’t like big schools in a city? not sure what, but georgetown’s tuition is well worth it in the long run, especially if in the SFS or MSB.</p>
<p>oh my. Please take our word on this. Yes, My intro-econ TA is a junior. He is very well qualified, very helpful person. My TA last semester was a grad student. I actually prefer my current TA, but that’s not the point. ALL he does is once a week he collects my homework and gives us the answers. He is not responsible for anything else except grading our quizzes. I assure you an undergrad is capable of what the department asks of them. My professor teaches the class, decides my grade. The TA is there to keep records and explain the homework. I have gone to him for extra help and he has been incredibly willing because he lives on campus and has taken the class. It has an no way hindered my learning experience. These TA’s are very different than TA’s say in the philosophy or government department, which I hope is the source of this misunderstanding. A TA for discussion section is very different than a TA for a recitation (as in Econ). First recitations are voluntary, discussion sections are mandatory. Discussions sections are meant to go deeper into the material, recitations are review. My history professor had one TA; there were two discussion sections each week they
switched off leading the sections. The TA was a month away from finishing his thesis and already had a teaching job set up with Georgetown. My philosophy TA is a full time professor with a PhD assisting another professor in the department. I’m taking his class next semester. I can see where you could be worried, but please don’t be. This is not a sign of Georgetown’s decline. It is just more efficient. Many Phd candidates, never took intro level classes, are international students who don’t have a full command of English, or are very good at econ but very bad at explaining it. My TA took the class two years ago, speaks perfect english, and is very good at breaking things down.</p>
<p>Jason–Can you tell me what classes at UVA are taught by undergraduate TAs? Please, thanks.</p>
<p>note that I did not say that there are UVA classes taught by undergrad TAs, I said that UVA uses undergrad TAs. A quick google search turns up UVA Computer Science applications to be an undergraduate TA, the UVA Biology department also uses teaching assistants (under the supervision of a professor, which is the same situation at Georgetown, as I noted earlier in this thread), etc. The point is that Georgetown is not the only school that uses undergraduate TAs, as a google search turns up other schools, such as Princeton, Duke, UCLA, Columbia, Cornell, UVA, etc.</p>
<p>Being a grader and setting up a lab is one thing (for math and science classes)…what exactly do the undergrad TAs for econ at Georgetown do? Do they just grade the problem sets and get paid by the Department? Or are they the ones who hold the extra recitation section offered (supplemental to the class)? I think what people are concerned about is not so much that undergrads are used as “TAs” but their involvement in a recitation or in a class. Setting up a lab for a biology class is different than holding a recitation in which you’re answering students’ questions and concerns about their upcoming tests.</p>
<p>see above for answers on econ TAs from someone that was actually in these courses. What is the problem with having an undergraduate who went through the course and presumably got an A answering questions about the material that they have previously mastered? And is the professor, who is in charge of the course, missing from all of this? Like I said, this is being emphasized way more than necessary.</p>
<p>Ok…after reading what these TAs do for their econ classes, I agree…this issue is getting blown out of proportion. At different schools, TAs do different things and are given different responsibilities, however, when you put it into context, it makes a lot more sense (At UVA the econ TAs have more responsibilities for the their students and I agree having a grad student as a TA was not necessarily any better–mine was pretty crappy).</p>