Questions tagged [teaching-assistant]
Questions concerning the use of graduate students as course instructors, usually under the supervision of a faculty member.
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Should I accept an offer of being a teacher assistant without pay?
At my last statistics II class, the teacher said told all the students that, if one of us wanted to be his teacher's assistant for this course, they could send an email or arrange a meeting to talk ...
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3
answers
354
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Does Being a TA for an Irrelevant Course Benefit My Resume?
Would having experience as a TA for a course outside my field be seen as a positive on resume?
How might this experience be perceived by potential employers or academic committees, especially when it'...
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answer
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Does a Teaching Assistantship get counted as Teaching Experience when applying for teaching position in India?
In the Indian academic system, does one's teaching experience such as being a teaching assistant count towards one's application for an Assistant Professorship? My TAship involved everything from ...
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Is there generally a relationship between a dept's research grant numbers and the teaching loads they give PhD students?
To me, one of the most important factors that differentiates a good PhD program in the US and a bad one is the teaching expectations placed on the student. In some departments, PhD students are ...
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Does TAing the same course repeatedly help your academic career path?
I'm a PhD student specializing in computer vision, with a previous Master's degree.
Until now, I have TAed the 5xx course "Introduction to Computer Vision" twice, and 4 other courses (...
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2
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Feasibility and Legality of Simultaneously Being a TA and RA During a PhD Program in Different Countries
I am currently exploring the possibility of undertaking a PhD and have a query regarding the roles of Teaching Assistant (TA) and Research Assistant (RA). I am particularly interested in understanding ...
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1
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Ethical and Normative Aspects of Unpaid TA Positions with High Workload for Recommendation Letters
I'm facing a situation at my university that I'm not sure is standard or ethical, and I'd like some outside perspectives. In certain courses, we have about 60 teaching assistants (TAs), all of whom ...
- 1,737
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2
answers
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Having a relationship with one my students as TA? [duplicate]
I'm a teaching assistant and the semester is almost over. I might be a TA next semester too. I like one of my students, but I think it's not professional to tell her. Is it wrong to ask her out, or ...
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Is It appropriate for students to express interest in becoming a non-funded TA for a specific course?
I am an undergraduate student and along with some of my peers, we are interested in the possibility of becoming teaching assistants (TAs) for a particular course taught by a professor in the US whom I ...
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What should I do if my professor is selectively favouring natives for TA positions?
I'm a third year graduate student pursuing a PhD in Europe. My field of work is computational chemistry (mostly involving developing software packages). In addition to that I have a masters in Physics....
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1
answer
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Feasibility of a Makeup Exam
I'm currently a TA for a first-year math course (at a US university), and one of my students wasn't feeling well on the day of the midterm exam for this course. They emailed the instructor their ...
- 1,905
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Advice on class teaching as a beginner with public-speaking anxiety
I am a first year PhD student in Mathematics and I am teaching a first year undergraduate tutorial-style class. I have done lots of one-on-one tutoring before and quite enjoyed it, but I am struggling ...
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8
answers
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How to move forward after microaggression allegations against my TA
Context: I am an associate professor of mathematics at a small liberal-arts college in the US.
I am teaching multiple sections of a general-education mathematics course this fall, and I have an ...
- 4,527
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votes
4
answers
422
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Decreasing the workload of Teaching Assistants
I am a teaching assistant auditor at my university and my duty is to assess the working conditions of the TAs in my department (Physics & Astronomy). To do this, I send out surveys towards the end ...
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Should a TA position which requires teaching a class offer more money than one that doesn't?
I am currently a PhD student (international) at a University in the US (TX). I was offered a TA position, however the position requires me to work as an instructor of the course. I worked before as ...
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2
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Are there Ph.D. or postdoctoral positions in Europe that primarily focus on research without significant teaching assistance?
I am currently considering Ph.D. or postdoctoral opportunities in Europe and have a strong preference for research-focused positions. I am interested in pursuing a program or position where the ...
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Are TAs supposed to get paid for hours it takes to grade?
I help students in a lab for 10 hours a week then have to grade their labs every other week. Does anyone know what the norm is? Are they supposed to assign grading hours for you as well?
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Writing personal information in a teaching statement
I'm writing a teaching statement for a cs/mathematics teaching position. I start the statement with a section "Personal Background" in which I simply say that both my parents and brothers ...
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0
answers
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How to proceed with a problem with a professor and class structure as a whole
I am a teaching assistant for an introductory summer term class. I have not previously been a TA for this specific course, but have worked within this department and typically teach an accelerated ...
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votes
1
answer
376
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How to approach getting a TAship as a new grad student
I'll be starting my graduate(MS CS) program in the upcoming fall at a US university.
I'm looking for GTA opportunities. However, the course-professor mapping is not publicly available and there is no ...
user171390
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1
answer
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Does a teaching assistant position improve your PhD application?
I am currently working on a Master's degree in mathematics and was recently offered a teaching assistant position for a graduate-level course that covers material I am really comfortable with.
My ...
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Can a school make a grad student TA if the student was promised an RA by admissions?
A student applied to a 5-year PhD program after graduating from an undergraduate program. The student was accepted to the graduate program and was promised a research assistantship and tuition waiver ...
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2
answers
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How to write a teaching assistantship statement for PhD application without teaching experience?
I am applying for PhD programs and some of them ask for a teaching statement for TA positions. However, as a graduate student, my only experience related to teaching is working as a grader of a ...
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Is it ethical to become a volunteer teaching assistant?
There is a negative attitude towards volunteering in academia.
I am about to graduate (currently an undergraduate student). There is a 6-month gap between my graduation date and the matriculation date ...
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answers
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Is it appropriate to ignore emails from a student asking obvious questions?
A student often sends me emails asking obvious (homework) questions whose answers can easily be found in the teaching materials.
I do not always keep the teaching materials with me, so I cannot reply ...
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8
answers
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Unreasonable requests to a TA from a student
One of my students' behaviour just feels always disrespectful to me. A homework was due tonight, and she asked me yesterday evening how to solve multiple questions. I try to respond as soon as I can, ...
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votes
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answers
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Handling unprepared students as a Teaching Assistant
I am a Grad student and this is my first time as a TA, in a first-year undergraduate course.
My concern is students that come to office hours completely unprepared, asking things that have already ...
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2
answers
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Are TAs expected to solve the homeworks or do they get the solutions from professor [duplicate]
Is the TA expected to solve the homework for the professor or is the professor supposed to provide the solutions to the TA for grading homework?
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answers
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Being TA for abusive professor
Over the course of my PhD, I've had the pleasure of being a TA for many courses under many different profs, all were great experiences. I learned a lot, did a lot of good work with the other TAs and ...
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As a TA, how much information should I share with the professor about students?
This is my first semester being a TA. When students email me and include personal reasons (e.g. sick family member or mental health struggles) when they ask for things like extensions or to switch ...
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answers
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Should I accept an unpaid TA position?
I am a fourth-year undergraduate math major. I come from a not-so-big school, where the mathematics department is not funded that well. Recently, a professor asked if I would be interested in becoming ...
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votes
5
answers
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Being undermined as a TA over grading
I have marked several writing assignments for this course and the grade grubbing from this cohort was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced as a TA.
The primary instructor and I were given a heads up ...
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how to deal with difficult students who do not reply to teacher's email?
I hope all is well,
I find myself in a situation where one student keeps a grim face when I teach. It seems he is not happy with the way I deliver the material. This makes me feel uncomfortable and it ...
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1
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Should I ask the program coordinator regarding an offered PhD TAship for 11 months?
I have been offered a Ph.D. position in the USA where the offer says 'the admission comes with an 11 month per year teaching assistantship that carries a $2,000/month stipend, health insurance, and a ...
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answers
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What to do if you are assigned to TA a course you are not qualified to teach?
I am a PhD student in an Applied Math program. Recently, we received our TA assignments for the next quarter. To my surprise, I was assigned to TA a graduate-level class that I had never taken before ...
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7
answers
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My peers think I slept with my overly friendly TA - what do I do?
I am a female undergraduate student and in a bit of a situation here.
Last semester, I had a male graduate teaching assistant for one of my classes, and I got the very strong impression for months ...
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Are there universities with permanent long-term tutor positions?
In the two universities I studied at, as well as in the university I am currently teaching at, the tutors (teaching assistants) are usually master students. This means that they work for two years, ...
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votes
2
answers
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How to communicate students' feedback about a professor as a TA
I'm a TA. Recently a few students (good students) approached me, because they are having a hard time retaining the information from the main professor's lectures. (They think he is putting too much ...
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Do you graduate slower with TA funding for PhD students?
I am in computer science in the usa with a PHD offer. I’ve been told that if u get funded with a TA position, it doesn’t necessarily slow your graduation time. Is this true? It seems obvious to me ...
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Is it unprofessional that my TA texted me on a Saturday night?
I had an academic issue during the week and I reached out about via text (he is okay with this method of communication. In fact, he gave me his number without me asking for it). I reached out to him ...
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0
answers
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Dating my TA after the fall semester [duplicate]
Long story short, my TA and I have expressed romantic feelings for each other; I’m a man while she’s a woman, if that matters. We’ve not acted on our feelings yet, but now that grades are submitted ...
10
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answers
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Is it normal for a professor to contact only one specific TA regarding the course?
I am one of the teaching assistants for a course with multiple TAs. However, the professor keeps sending all the important information regarding the course, like when the exams are, information about ...
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votes
2
answers
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Department forcing me to teach a course even though my advisor has funds available to fund me from a grant
My advisor has funds for me to use for research from his grant so that I don't have to teach in my final semester. Unfortunately my department is denying the request and forcing me to teach a course ...
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answer
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Am I being taken advantage of as a teaching assistant?
I'm a valedictorian of a university and wanted to continue the research path by applying for a teaching assistant position at my faculty. After submitting the profile, the faculty announced that I ...
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Do outside-funded graduate students normally have TA or grading responsibilities in the US?
Assuming a student has full funding from an outside source. Do the TA and grading responsibilities become optional?
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Best practices after the termination of your teaching assistantship
My university is an "at will" employer. Graduate students are not unionized. I'm a PhD student and I'm sensing a possibility for a TAship termination, so I want to explore possibilities.
(1) ...
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8
answers
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Dealing with a micromanaging instructor, as a teaching assistant
I'm a teaching assistant at a US university for a calculus class. My major duties are to write worksheets and then grade them along with the homework.
I have been a TA long enough (5 years now) to ...
user82663
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2
answers
352
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Am I too young to be a TA for a Master's programme?
I will graduate from my Master's programme in a week. I did exceptionally well and landed a TA position within the same department. I am truly humbled by the faith that my professors have put in me ...
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votes
3
answers
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Got negative teaching reviews, can this affect my prospects for postdoc
I’m a sociology PhD student in the EU. Back in September, I started teaching a recitation class. My MSc is from another institution (which is also in another country – I moved from Finland to France......
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Is it unusual for UK univerisities to give tuition waivers to teaching assistants?
I've been checking the websites of different UK universities for teaching assistantship benefits. None of the websites I've visited so far disclose the specific benefits that TAs receive. So, I wonder ...
