<p>I'm a Freshman and taking 5 courses in the fall semester out of which 3 are taught by assistants, only having 2 actual professors. Should I consider myself pretty unlucky, which I do, because they perhaps don't offer as good of an education? Have you ever taken a class taught by a TA? How were they, in terms of how well did they teach? Poorly, so-so, as good as any prof?</p>
<p>Just like professors, there are TAs who are good teachers, and TAs who are bad teachers. I've had both. I TA'd for a course once where I was just a supplement for the regular professor, but I was approached by the students and asked to hold weekly review/teaching sessions, and I'd essentially re-teach the material. The students told me that they just liked my teaching style better than the regular instructor's style. </p>
<p>I've been in the same situation as my students were in, where the professor was preoccupied by so many different tasks that he/she was involved in, that he/she really didn't have the motivation to teach a course that well, whereas the student TA put a lot of thought and effort into the lesson plans and the teaching of the course. Of course, the TAs are often less experienced at teaching, so you're going to get some real stinkers occasionally, but they're no worse than some of the really awful professors I've had who completely didn't care about the course.</p>
<p>So... it depends.</p>
<p>I've taught a class as a TA before, and I got pretty good reviews. I've also had a few classes taught by TAs, and they're often better than the professors.</p>