Xref: utzoo soc.college:2554 comp.edu:2130
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!caen.engin.umich.edu!mhk
From: mhk@caen.engin.umich.edu (michael Kamlet)
Newsgroups: soc.college,comp.edu
Subject: Teaching Assistant Quality
Keywords: TA, motivation
Message-ID: <420ff765.17b59@bunting.engin.umich.edu>
Date: 16 Mar 89 19:03:00 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: U of M Engineering, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Lines: 60


(Note : cross posting -- soc.college - comp.edu )


   For a business class I'm taking we are discussing how the quality of
 teaching assistants can be improved at the university.  I would like to know
 what other schools do to try to maintain "quality education"

A few of the questions we are focussing on are :


(1)  How are Teaching assistants selected ?  and is there any training?

   For example - here at Michigan (in the EECS dept) each TA writes down the class
 he/she would like to TA.  The list is matched up with the needs of the dept.
 If no match between class and TA is found, a TA may be assigned based upon completed
 course-work.
 As an undergrad, I became a TA when my counselor mentioned that a professor I
knew was looking for one.  My counselor made a call and the next thing I knew, I
was a teaching assistant.


 A short 1-2 class to "train" TAs was recently developed here.


(2)  What do the TA's get ??

   Generally this is a tuition waiver plus stipend.


(3) Is there any motivation for improvement ?

   It is very hard to be "fired" or not placed next semester, but are there
 any programs that reward "good" teaching??


(4) Is there any feedback on performance ??

   In most jobs, you receive a performance evaluation so your performance can
be imporved.  At Michigan, TAs are "evaluated" by the students towards the end
of the semester and the TA is allowed to look at the comments about a month
after the beginning of the next semester.  It seems to me that if more feedback
is given to the TA, there would be more chance for improvement.


 
    Post or Email reponses  
                           
 
                    Thanks,
                            Mike Kamlet



 Internet : mhk@caen.engin.umich.edu
 Bitnet   : Mike_Kamlet@UMICHUB.Bitnet

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