That’s odd…I went to an Ivy and never had a TA teach a class. I can’t believe you had quite a few classes taught by a TA. My kid goes to an Ivy and never had a TA teach a class. Again…you used the phrase “quite a few” which doesn’t make it believable. |
Assisting with some teaching duties is different than being the sole professor for a course. There is little evidence that it’s likely for students to encounter many, if any courses taught only by a TA. Unless you went to a large public you don’t understand how this works. |
Some UC's have over three hundred students in the same lecture hall. At that point, might as well learn from a video lecture series... |
I understand it very well. I have been the sole instructor of a class as a TA. I did not design the course but I was the instructor of record and no faculty taught any of the sections of this course. All sections were taught by PhD candidates. The term TA did not appear anywhere on the syllabus, but that's what I was. |
Whose name was on the syllabus? That should be the instructor of record. Name the school and the year. |
She posts here often. She taught a freshman required peer review writing course at Hopkins . She did not control the syllabus, at least the TA didn’t when I took the same course. All sections read the same works of fiction and peer review essays written by other students. No exams. Very similar to law school legal writing classes typically taught by adjuncts. |
It is not uncommon to have TAs assist the primary professor in the class by grading homework and leading Qand A sessions once a week.
It is uncommon to have a TA be the primary instructor for a class. The U.S. News list earlier in this thread, although nearly ten years old, lists schools with the highest percentage of TAs who are the primary instructor of a class. |
wow the tuition is so much better at UGA as an OOS. |
That’s probably why it’s on the list of schools with the most classes primarily taught by TAs. Gotta keep cost down somehow, |
The list from ten years ago is irrelevant. Is your college the same as it was 10 years ago? Schools like UGA have become crazy popular post Covid. |
Why would it be irrelevant? People are stupid and don’t research things like TA use before sending their kids off to school. |
Here’s a UGA TA manual from 2019-20 for instance. According to this document, 17 percent of the TAs at UGA are Instructors of Record, meaning that they are primarily responsible for the classes they teach. https://www.cs.uga.edu/sites/default/files/in...%20TA%20Handbook.pdf
Do your research folks and don’t rely on what schools are “hot” at any particular point in time. |
A lot changes in a decade. Calling people stupid is provincial, be better. |
Right, but UGA’s own materials show it was still continuing in 2020 and likely today. So maybe assume things haven’t changed unless you have proof they have. |
Instructor of Record (IOR): These TAs have the most responsibilities and work the most independently. IORs can be assigned to all types of classes and their duties are usually comprehensive. While they are primary instructors (they do not assist another instructor), they are still supervised by a faculty member. See section 1.3. for more information. 17% is significantly less than the 35% cited from the outdated USNWR article. IOR's are still supervised. What is your point exactly? |