<p>I'm sorry if this has been asked many times before, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. At the undergraduate level, how many courses are taught by TAs rather than full professors?</p>
<p>Your big classes have a professor teaching the large lecture with a TA (called GSIs at berkeley but same thing) teaching a smaller discussion section.</p>
<p>The only classes I know that are only taught by a GSI are R&C classes which are usually taught by a PhD student.</p>
<p>Foreign language classes are often taught by GSIs (or non-professor "lecturers") and summer school courses are also often taught by GSIs.</p>
<p>Does anyone else find it odd that people look down on the fact that some classes aren't taught by professors? Being a professor does not make one a good teacher (it just means good researcher). Though if one is a professor, you know they at least have a mastery of the material.</p>
<p>It depends on the GSI. I took an upper-division course once where the GSI (who was leading my section) had just taken the same course the previous year. Did not inspire confidence!</p>
<p>I see, thanks. Also, compared to GSIs, professors are almost always more experienced in their field, have a far broader view of the subject, etc. While these aspects don't necessarily translate into better teaching skills, I nonetheless value them. Moreover, the ratio of GSIs to teachers can be used as a proxy to determine the amount of attention given to undergraduate education.</p>
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Moreover, the ratio of GSIs to teachers can be used as a proxy to determine the amount of attention given to undergraduate education.
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<p>Not really, that's more a function of the size of a school and its wealth.</p>
<p>I don't see what the size has to do with the ratio of professors to GSIs; obviously it would impact the number of each, but it wouldn't really affect the proportion of one to the other. Also, wealth does factor into it, but it's not the only important variable. For example, Harvard is the wealthiest university in the world, yet it still has TAs teaching classes because of a lack of attention paid to undergraduate education. For a school that can be somewhat selective in allocating its money, the way in which it is distributed can be instructive.</p>