<p>Hey I had no idea where to put this. Have any of you TA'd a class? Did you like it? Was it worth it? I was asked to TA a new class that is being developed for the university next year and I felt honored to have been asked b/c I really wanted to TA but I didn't think it would happen this soon. But I have a lot of hours and will only do it if I have time. So I guess I'm asking is it worth it? Here are my career goals (just throwing 'em out there). I want to major in ChemE with a minor in a specialization of BioE and go to law school and become a patent lawyer. I just wanted to hear about any TA experiences if people had them. There hardest parts, the grading . . . anything would help.</p>
<p>This may not be what you're looking for, but here's a small part of an answer from one perspective. TA's are often less respected by student and parent. It is not unusual for a student or parent to feel "I'm paying a lot of money to be taught by this school, but in this class, I don't even have a real teacher."
Rightly, or wrongly, many feel that way.
Further evidence of this is that a number of schools I've seen will proudly add "No classes taught by TA's" when they discuss student/faculty ratios. If they choose to mention it as a selling point, when they're showing someone on a college, there must be a reason. On the other hand, I've never heard a tour guide use "And many of our classes are taught by student TA's" as a selling point.</p>
<p>It is quite a compliment to you that your school feels you know the material well enough, and have the language skills, and teaching skills to teach a class. I have never been a TA, but I am guessing they pay you an amount of money equal to what a professor would get for teaching that class? Or they credit you that same amount toward your schooling?</p>
<p>I know there are many other angles to consider, best of luck.</p>
<p>Well younghoss, at U of I, it is very common to have TAs. Whole classes are taught by them in fact. It is a way of life. So less respect is not really a concern for me as long as I am teaching the students what they need to know and well. They get less respect here only if they suck (which I hope I don't).</p>
<p>Also about the "salary": TAs get their tuition waived but I am not exactly sure if it is just by semester or what.</p>
<p>Being a TA will also hopefully help me to choose whether or not teaching college (as a prof) is right for me.</p>
<p>If you are looking for teaching that way, TAing this early is definately good. It lets you see what its like before you get too far into the process.</p>
<p>I wouldn't go to a school that used TA's to teach. My school is definately one of them that says that no classes are taught by TA's.. and that's great. In fact many of my professors have been VERY successful in their fields and i have learned tremendous amounts of things from their vast amount of knowledge as well as experience. As far as I'm concerned, a TA can't even begin to teach a class as well as someone who has 30 years experience working in the field and teaches that experience well. I don't want to learn from someone who has no experience doing what they're teaching. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>This may not be a situation where the TA is teaching, they may actually be TA'ing (that is..teacher assisting) and helping the teacher by running discussion groups or labs but not teaching the full course.</p>
<p>Still wouldn't go to a school that uses them. I love my 15 person classes where there is no need for a TA. I know all of my prof's on a first name basis, and still chat with ones i've had in previous semesters.</p>
<p>Yeah at U of I there would be no way to take the massive 350 people classes using just the professors. There are discussion sections to break the lectures down. I love TAs and think having them is great. That's nice to have small classes but you don't get those until junior or senior year at U of I. Here at U of I the profs are also famous but you have to make the effort to know them.</p>
<p>And btw this thread is not on the usefulness of a TA but rather if anyone has had an experience being one or knows someone. And, fendergirl, if you've never had TAs (you obviously don't even know how they work) how would you know you don't like them. Sorry but you don't put your two cents in if you don't know how to spend them.</p>
<p>Fender, I think you're exaggerating the use of TAs. I have small class sizes where I don't need a TA and classes where professors need TAs to assist in the grading and organizing the course. whether or not there were TAs, I still got to learn my professors on a first-name, one-to-one basis. Professors used to be TAs in the past, you know?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, some TAs have tremendous egos and think that they have can "play" with a student's future, especially when grading papers.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hey I had no idea where to put this. Have any of you TA'd a class? Did you like it? Was it worth it?
[/quote]
I was offered a TA job twice and also felt honored to be selected as a TA (both times I was not the #1 student overall in my program but was selected in a particular subject area where I showed interest). Both cases involved professors running classes and my running a review session and grading HW and tests. </p>
<p>I accepted one of these positions (I would have accpeted the second but I chose a different grad school) ... and yes it was worth it. First, the pay was terrific ... a cash stipend and a big break on tuition. Second, helping teach a subject will certainly further your understanding of the subject. The big caveat is time, I spent too much time grading trying to be fair and thorough and it took more time than I signed up for (that said my partner TAs did a better job of keeping the time near the stated requirement).</p>
<p>My TA job was in B-school and between the TA job and RA jobs I managed to make my B-school expense significantly less than I expected when I started school ... it was a huge help getting through B-School.</p>
<p>I know how TA's work.. I've sat in on classes at other schools that used TA's. I just feel like if a school has to put 350 kids in a class and has to hire some students to help them out, then they aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. (the school, not the professor) I pay my tuition to have an experienced professor grade my papers.. not some college student. I KNOW the TA's grade papers at my one friends college... and I honestly don't think they are qualified to do so. I don't have a problem with them grading multiple choice things or running a review session, but the whole paper thing just doesn't do it for me. </p>
<p>All I'm saying is I pay x number of dollars per year to get the best education that I can, and I don't feel that someone 2 years older than me is capable of giving me that education... from an experience standpoint.</p>
<p>
[quote]
All I'm saying is I pay x number of dollars per year to get the best education that I can, and I don't feel that someone 2 years older than me is capable of giving me that education.
[/quote]
hmm ... I tend to look at situations as having both pros and cons. I took a history class at Cornell with over 1000 people in the lecture ... horrible of Cornell to do that you might say. Not really, the prof was absolutely amazing ... when he took over the course there were 10-20 students each term ... he was so good (almost) everyone wanted to take his course ... and rather than cap the course (and leave hundres of kids disappointed) the course was allowed to grow ... and of course TAs were needed to help grade papers and exams because it is not humanly possible for one person to grade that much stuff. It is great when courses have 10-15 people in them ... it is also great when a school does not limit access to one of it's best teachers.</p>
<p>i can see something like that.. of course kids have favorite professors and whatnot.. and yeah, capped courses can be somewhat troublesome, but i think it all works out okay.. </p>
<p>it's like, I took a bowling class last year, and i'm sure i could of taught that class just as well as our professor did. but that's because i've been bowling for 15 years. i took a computer graphics course and ended up helping everyone that sat around me with photoshop.. because i knew what i was doing and earned an A.. but that doesn't mean i should be grading their work. when i took color photography, i showed my black and white photography professor how to use our color photography labs (she was new to our school) and how to go through all of the processes.. just because she's an awesome person and was interested in learning and I knew what i was doing and got an A.. but that doesn't mean i'm qualified to be grading her prints. same with my digital imaging course... and a bunch of other courses that i'm not even going into. :)</p>
<p>I'm not trying to say that TA's are awful and don't reserve to live or anything like that.. I'm just saying I wouldn't want someone my age grading my work. They don't have the experience necessary to make an accurate judgement. (in my mind) Just my own personal perference.</p>
<p>I am SOOO happy I had a TA in my calc2 class b/c my prof was horrendous and a terrible grader. The only reason why I got a B was b/c of my TA. He was a MUCH better teacher than my prof, who has been teaching for 38 years. So stop making general lump sums a/b all TA's b/c they can be amazing.</p>
<p>i'm sure they can be good.. and i'm sure professors can be bad.. but hey, that's part of life. i didn't say that you guys shouldn't like ta's, i said that I don't like TA's, and that I don't want them grading my work. this is all my opinion..</p>
<p>is it worth going to a school (UMass-Boston) with alot of TA's? the TA's(indian immigrant) english is really horrible and i think they can't teach. would this school be worth going to?</p>
<p>are you saying all of the TAs are indian immigrants? If so you're wrong b/c a lot of them are some sort of AZN or white. Also I think any school that gives you the education you need while getting to the best place you are able to is worth going to.</p>