Questions tagged [teaching-assistant]
Questions concerning the use of graduate students as course instructors, usually under the supervision of a faculty member.
5
votes
1answer
264 views
Whether to strike? [closed]
I'm a graduate student teaching assistant; I run discussion sections. Our department has just initiated a strike. I'm half way through the last semester of my PhD. Do I show up and "work" and get paid ...
5
votes
3answers
352 views
Do I need to report that the professor I have been assigned to TA hasn't assigned any work for me to do?
The professor I have been assigned to TA hasn't assigned any work and has stonewalled me. I have sent three emails to check in and he hasn't responded. How should I respond? Should I bother reporting ...
20
votes
3answers
9k views
PhD: admitted with TA with 5h a week, is it standard?
it is my first time applying to a (pure math) PhD program and I just received my first admission letter (yay!). It says I'm considered for TA and "Teaching duties consist to up to 5 contact hours a ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
For a TA, is a recommendation from his employing university helpful for a PhD?
A friend of mine finished his Master's program a year ago and started working as a Teaching Assistant at a university. He will be granted assistant professorship this year but he is in the process of ...
3
votes
3answers
330 views
How to politely request payment for extra hours of TA service rendered?
My TA letter indicates 90 hours working. However, I worked for 120 hours due to the volume of the students. Now my work is finished I want to let them know by writing an email to the professor. I want ...
2
votes
5answers
245 views
What do you call a “practice” class that accompanies a lecture?
In my country it is very common for courses to consist of two types of classes: lectures primarily focus on theoretical aspects of a topic and then after each lecture comes a corresponding “practice” ...
0
votes
2answers
112 views
TOEFL Score and Teaching Assistantship
How does my TOEFL score affect my odds of being granted a TA in US Universities? I'm an international student BTW.
3
votes
4answers
237 views
Misconduct report [closed]
I am teaching at the university, and I am giving Calculus 1 for first year engineering students.
I am having a problem with some students, their behavior in the class is inappropriate: making noise, ...
4
votes
2answers
425 views
Professor blatantly taking course material from internet (other schools) [duplicate]
I am TAing for a CS course. The professor I am TAing for, I took the same course with him one year ago. In that semester and this current semester I am TAing, he has been taking lecture slides and ...
1
vote
2answers
162 views
Most recommended automated way for conduction university exams
In most of the universities of India, conducting exams such as mid terms and end terms for a semester is as follows:
1) Designing question papers and taking print of them
2) Distribute it among ...
9
votes
5answers
863 views
Professor not giving solutions to exams and assignments that I need to grade
I am a grader for a CS course at the college institution I attend. The professor I am TAing for is a full-time employee at a company. He is teaching this CS course on top of doing that. The first exam ...
4
votes
3answers
229 views
Is anything wrong with hiring TA as a private tutor?
I'm an undergraduate student and recently I've been trying to find a private tutor to help me further expand my knowledge (outside of a scope of my courses). I've discovered one of the TAs advertises ...
70
votes
7answers
27k views
Dating former student?
Here's the situation: She was an undergrad, I was a grad TA. At that point, our interactions were totally professional and limited to the classroom. However, she and I both since graduated and left ...
92
votes
19answers
21k views
Professor does not care about cheating, what should TA do?
I am a PhD student, working as a Homework marking TA in a school where cheating is extremely blatant. The university has an extremely strict policy against cheating. Hundreds of students in math ...
1
vote
1answer
98 views
English requirement for Teaching Assistantship for Ph.D students
I am applying to Ph.D programs of universities of America as an international student.
I currently have an 8.0 IELTS with 7.0 Speaking, and a TOEFL with lower points: Reading, Listening and Writing:...
1
vote
1answer
123 views
For each of these cases which is the designation that best describes my role in class
Since I've finished my PhD I've been asked to perform some teaching duties. These duties correspond roughly to the three cases I describe below briefly.
1) So in this one course I was responsible for ...
24
votes
6answers
4k views
Is it a good practice for teaching assistants to sit in the lectures?
Has anyone tried this technique and how has it worked out for you?
Essentially, there are several problems with doing teaching assistant work (TA),
You might not even be from the institution where ...
3
votes
3answers
138 views
Recitation Grades
I'm a Graduate Teaching Assistant in a Mathematics at a large state university. In the fall semester, I will be expected to be a TA for Calculus I, which will be taken by first year students. The ...
4
votes
3answers
208 views
Should graduate students who are graders help undergraduate students with homework?
In my department, we hire graduate TAs as both graders and teaching assistants. The teaching assistants are assigned to lead discussion sections that meet twice per week. The graders are assigned to ...
0
votes
2answers
141 views
PhD student working as a substitute teacher | interview tips
Our university is looking for a substitute teacher in Computer Science and I have an interview for the job this week.
My academic profile is making me a little bit nervous and makes me think that I ...
4
votes
3answers
304 views
Would being a teaching assistant influence your research?
I see that a TA position requires 20h every week which almost equals 2.5 days workload. Wouldn't that be too heavy for a Ph.D. student? If I don't do the TA, I could save the time to do high-quality ...
9
votes
2answers
518 views
What should a TA do if they cannot do all of the assigned homework for a class?
I'm a TA who is assigned to help grade papers for an upper level course. In the first assignment, I realized that I do not know how to do one of the assigned problems. The professor has requested that ...
1
vote
1answer
182 views
Should PTAs be allowed to mark exam scripts? [closed]
PTA - Postgraduate Teaching Assistant
Because I love information (I'm at university, right?), I was looking through some manifestos of my department, and came across a proposal to allow PTAs to mark ...
0
votes
1answer
550 views
What to write in the followup email to a professor for a graduate teaching assistantship [duplicate]
I will be pursuing masters from UT Austin this fall.I have mailed professors for the position of a teaching assistant. Some of them replied and some did not.
What should I write in the followup ...
6
votes
1answer
170 views
Dealing with mistake in scheduling an extra lecture
I am a TA for an undergraduate class, and I have the following situation:
Usually, I give my (one-hour) lectures (which consists of solving exercises and reviewing theory as needed) at Thursdays 12 p....
4
votes
1answer
77 views
Can I ask a prof (alumni of my college) to recommend me to another prof for a TA position?
I was looking for a TA position and mailed prof A, who is an alumni of my college, for a TA. He replied saying that he would not be taking any courses this year so will not require a TA. Can I ask him ...
1
vote
1answer
160 views
Changing due date for a student suddenly
Today I had two students never working on their assignment but looking at their phones the whole class. I did not warn them that I will collect their work but I told them to put their phones away. ...
3
votes
3answers
184 views
How do I ask a professor to recommend me to another professor to hire me as a teaching assistant?
I have been admitted into a college in the US for a master's program. I am applying for TA positions under various professors because TAs get tuition benefits.
One of the professors who taught me as ...
1
vote
3answers
158 views
Should I report students that hand in similar reports (up to small permutations) in an assignment?
I am currently correcting assignments (pass/fail) for a Bachelor's course in which I am a TA. Students write some code and then discuss their results and approach in a report (in groups of two). My ...
21
votes
2answers
3k views
How to write side-note reviews on assignments without sounding testy?
I'm an undergrad teaching assistant of a physic BSc student's lab. My job is reviewing the (usually 8-10 pages long) reports the students make, arriving in electronic format. During the review, I add ...
10
votes
1answer
1k views
TA for the class versus taking the class?
My Ph.D. advisor and I are trying to decide whether I should take his class this Fall or be the TA for it (I have not had this class before).
My question is, shouldn't one have already mastered the ...
4
votes
2answers
352 views
Does modifying the grades multiple times make me look unprepared/unprofessional?
As a TA, I have to grade students' assignments.
The main instructor usually has requirements regarding the minimum average grade for the class.
At the same time, it is tricky to predict the class' ...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Something similar to MBA, but with support?
If someone can't afford to go to school for an MBA, but wants to train to be a manager, is there some compatible Master's, which has a reasonable level of support (teaching assistantships)?
31
votes
10answers
7k views
What is the best way to motivate teaching assistants?
I am head TA in a 300-student class, with 12 other TAs. Currently I do the following things to motivate my TAs:
We have an internal Slack channel called #shoutouts where I mention TAs every time I ...
2
votes
1answer
409 views
How can an undergraduate TA ask to give a lecture if they have given one in the past?
TL;DR: I have given a lecture once for this course in the past during an emergency, and would like to re-challenge myself once I get adequate prep time, as I feel it is an important experience. Is it ...
10
votes
2answers
363 views
How do grad schools train grad students to be teaching assistants?
I am an international student and doing Ph.D. in Physics at a US university.
My teaching assistant (TA) duty is to tutor undergrad students. I am supposed to solve whatever problems undergrads ...
43
votes
12answers
8k views
How to resolve grading dispute between TA and Lecturer?
On a math exam recently, the students were asked to use the definition of a limit of a sequence to prove that the sequence given by 3n/(3n+5) converges to 1. Given a positive number Ɛ, the definition ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
Is it bad if I am not a teaching assistant during my PhD?
I've applied to be a teaching assistant (helps with running undergrad labs and marking reports/tests/exams) every year so far during my PhD, but have never been successful. I'm getting to the end of ...
1
vote
2answers
118 views
Qualifications to be computer science undergrad TA? [closed]
so I've applied to be a teaching assistant for System Fundamentals (undergrad course) and am meeting with a Professor tomorrow.
I did well in the class, but I'm not sure how "smart" one has to be in ...
3
votes
2answers
255 views
How to Approach Students with Different Expectations on Coding Lab Sessions as a TA
I am a TA for undergraduate Introduction to Programming class at freshman level. I usually have around 30 students per semester who have two hours of lecture earlier during the week with their ...
2
votes
3answers
293 views
Is there a reason a TA and a professor may have to travel together?
I don't work in academia but I'm working on a screenplay set in that world. I was wondering if there might be a reason for a TA and a professor to travel together for work. If the professor were ...
7
votes
4answers
777 views
Forwarding a student’s question about exam modalities to a professor as a TA?
I am currently working as a teaching assistant.
My tasks this semester include writing/putting together a formula sheet containing a lot of formulas and some graphs that the students should not have ...
28
votes
4answers
7k views
Professor refuses letter of recommendation request
The application for TA fellowship, one normally takes recommedations from previous professors one has TAed under.
What he replied when I messaged him asking for a letter of recommendation:
If you ...
5
votes
2answers
202 views
Would it be safe to assume that TA and tutor are the same thing? [duplicate]
I am currently an Australian studying at ANU. I have worked as a tutor for about a year and now I am about to apply for a Ph.D. program in the states. Since the US uses TA (teaching assistant) instead ...
2
votes
1answer
115 views
Should TA work be listed in a CV for an internship in the industry?
Personally, I didn't teach but helped the professor conduct a laboratory course throughout the semester.
It was also not a paid work but I volunteered.
Should something like this be omitted from an ...
2
votes
1answer
199 views
How should I deal with incorrect information given to me by a TA [closed]
I'm in an introductory CS class, and we have a small project we need to complete. I was struggling, so I went to the student(undergrad) TA's office hours, and asked a couple questions which made sense ...
6
votes
3answers
196 views
Should I ask my students to contribute in preparation of the manuscripts?
As a part of my PhD. I supervise master and bachelor thesis. Even though, I get extremely smart students I find that they are having troubles in writing up their research as articles. Often I end up ...
63
votes
6answers
14k views
How to toughen up against hostile students as a TA?
I did not have a good experience when I TA'ed the first time. I faced a hostile student who refused to accept that he was wrong and didn't give me a good reason why he should deserve more marks. He ...
43
votes
9answers
11k views
Should Professors and by extension their TA's, hold student athletes to the same standard?
As a former student athlete at the high school level who played football, the academic requirements asked of me were no different than that of my fellow classmates. I never asked for any special ...
-3
votes
1answer
376 views
What should I do when a student complains about the marking in this situation? [duplicate]
When I was a marker, a student came to meet me to complain that I did wrong in the assignment marking but he didn't bring his assignment. I assumed that what he claimed was true and apologized. Then ...
