<p>TAs are not any better or any worse than profs when it comes to grading (and skipping town). Profs are ultimately responsible for grades that are given by TAs. It does not mean that they always take up that responsibility (and I should know from my S's experience). When it comes to commenting, TAs are often far more thorough than profs. Way back when, we were told that the ideal combination, when it came to writing senior thesis, was to have a graduate student to advise you on nitty gritty issues, and a prof to give you advice on analysis/theory/further references. The prof won't tell you that your citation style is all wrong and you should look up the Chicago manual; but a TA will.</p>
<p>Apparently, the prestige universities themselves don't seem to think their TAs are a sellng point. When's the last time you saw an article in praise of the quality of the TAs on the Yale website?</p>
<p>Well, Yale TAs do go on strike with some regularity! I also think they start teaching earlier in their graduate career than at some other universities.</p>
<p>Actually at Harvard, there are students who are undergraduates who are TA's something I just found out. I can understand Ph.D. students doing this but I am not happy about paying $50K a year for a student who is a Junior.</p>
<p>when was the last time harvard was #1? it's only been a few years right?</p>
<p>The press reported that it's been 12 years.</p>
<p>The rankings are pretty much BS anyway.</p>
<p>My son has been CA. So has a friend of his at MIT.
The problem--and it's not unique to Harvard--is that in math and science, a lot of graduate students are funded through their profs' research grants (this is not the case in the humanities and social sciences). And the grants preclude paying students for doing anything but research. The other factor is that in some of these disciplines, students are expected to get their Ph.D.s in 4 years, maybe 5. Contrast this with the social sciences and humanities where students are not allowed to teach until after they've passed their generals (at Harvard; Yale is different), which is usually at the end of their second year, and where they can take 7-8 years to finish their Ph.D.</p>
<p>But even at LACs, some advanced undergraduates get to grade exams, as I discovered to my surprise.</p>
<p>Um...I'm not sure what you mean here, marite. Unless a student wins a predoctoral grant on their own, they most probably have to teach for a couple of years or at least one year. Professors are reluctant to pay the students out of their own grants while they are taking classes. Usually, graduate students are paid through a teaching fellowship. </p>
<p>Anyway, 1st and 2nd years usually TA intro classes, and they should be more than qualified.</p>
<p>
[quote]
when was the last time harvard was #1? it's only been a few years right? The press reported that it's been 12 years.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Harvard was ranked Numero Uno as recently as in '04, '05, and '06; before that they were first from '91 to '96 and also in '98 and '99. </p>
<p>
Oh please! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>At Harvard, in the social sciences and humanities, students who have not passed their generals (taken at the end of their second year) are prohibited from teaching. It's in the handbook. In math and sciences, a lot of students are paid through their profs research grants or NSF grants. Either way, they cannot teach. Now, it should be possible for them to be given teaching fellowships that would enable them to teach. But it is possible that the funding agencies may not want profs to carry too many graduate students on their books. My H's own graduate studies were paid for by a research assistantship from the Dept. of the Navy.</p>
<p>As I said, it probably works differently elsewhere. I know, for instance that at Yale, grad students begin to teach earlier but then they are allowed more time to take their generals.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Usually, graduate students are paid through a teaching fellowship.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>When I was in grad school you got paid through a teaching fellowship only if you happened to be TA-ing that quarter. Most of the time we were paid through research fellowships funded by the professors' grants.</p>
<p>Harvard's grad programs are the cream of the crop...what are TAs (or GSIs)?...yep, the top apprentices of their respective academic discipline. Sure, they don't have formal teaching credentials, but then again, full tenured professors don't have formal teaching credentials either.</p>
<p>Harvard has the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning which offers support for TAs and Profs. Other universities probably offer similar support:
Derek</a> Bok Center for Teaching and Learning</p>
<p>"When I was in grad school you got paid through a teaching fellowship only if you happened to be TA-ing that quarter. Most of the time we were paid through research fellowships funded by the professors' grants."</p>
<p>Well, yeah, but my point is that typically math/science grad students in the first two years are paid by teaching fellowships during the academic year. Even if you are working for a well-funded prof, they generally will have you on a teaching fellowship the first year because you are so busy with classes you don't have much time for research anyway. Sometimes it depends on how many undergrads there are--if there is a large number of undergrads in intro classes, the need for TAs is larger. Partly for this reason, public universities may require more teaching. Also, sometimes there is a teaching requirement of 1 or 2 semesters for a PhD, partly because the university needs it and partly because it is thought that teaching experience is beneficial to the grad student. Regardless, I don't think most grants or research awards prevent you from teaching if you choose to.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Well, yeah, but my point is that typically math/science grad students in the first two years are paid by teaching fellowships during the academic year.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Not at my school (science program at a UC). Research fellowships were far more common than teaching fellowships. And the teaching fellowships that were available tended to be filled by grad students working in poorly-funded labs or departments that couldn't afford research fellowships</p>
<p>I looked up the Harvard Math Dept. website and here is what it says. Note that in Harvard lingo, a half-course is a semester course and a full course is a year-long course.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Students without outside support are required to teach as part of their financial aid package. Usually they do not teach in their first year, are a teaching fellow for one
half-course (i.e., for a one-semester course) in their second through fourth years, and are
a teaching fellow for two half-courses if they stay for a fifth year. Teaching fellows ordinarily teach their own sections of undergraduate calculus, but have a course assistant to help with grading and to teach a problem section. There are a few upper-class tutorials taught by experienced teaching fellows. All students must participate in the Teaching Apprentice Program run in conjunction with the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning before they may teach.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There's wriggle room in the description, but it's for rare exceptions, not the norm.</p>