Did you find that your time at university was mostly waisted?

Question

What I mean is this. It seems that (at least in the USA) many of the classes were being taught by GTAs rather than professors. Although they tried (the GTAs) they were ill-equipped and uninformed. I feel as if I got cheated when it came to my college education. When I did get a professor they simply didn’t seem to care.

Answer 1

Larger universities often use TAs and that's a shame. It's not a waste though... you get out of college what you put into it. Much of college is the study groups... meeting in small informal groups to study and debate the issues of the day and learning together. If you missed that or were too busy partying or whatever, then that was your loss.

Rent "The Paper Chase". That's what it was supposed to be... TA's or not.

It also is possible you were a good student but you simply went to a bad university. There are some out there.

Answer 2

I graduated from 3 different universities here in the USA and didn't have a GTA in any of the classes, not even undergraduate school. Heck, I don't recall even having a GTA proctor any of the exams either. I thought perhaps the use of GTAs was related to current teaching philosophies as I completed my final degree (MBA, finance) in 1982. But I do recall reading news article about the proliferation of GTAs in the 100 - 200 level of undergrad classes.

If the GTAs were ill prepared and uninformed, this reflects poorly on the instructor of professor who selected them to lead their classes. This begs the question of whether you would have also been cheated if the assigned professor had taught the class. As one of the other people who answered your question remarked; perhaps it was the school that was ill prepared.

So I would have to say that fortunately I don't feel that the majority of my time was wasted. And at what it cost to complete graduate school (twice!) I am certainly happy the time was not wasted. Were there some classes I thought were a waste off time? Sure, but I imagine most people have had a class or two they feel they could have done without.

Answer 3

Sorry your experience was disappointing. Whether GTAs are well trained or not and whether "real" faculty are good and dedicated teachers or whether all their energy and talent are spent on research depend on the university and department.

Remember too that professors and grad students alike at most universities are divided between teaching and research responsibilities; if all they wanted to do was teach, they'd be at a high school or community college. That doesn't excuse poor teaching or laziness on their part, but just because they only teach a couple classes doesn't mean they have another 6 hours a day to devote to preparing their classes, and unlike many high school teachers, they expect students to be self-motivated and meet them halfway with outside studying, not just come to class and absorb things.

Obviously you're going to have better luck with GTAs in, say, humanities departments where those students are planning to become professors in that field, because they'll be better trained and more motivated. In my case, we (GTAs) had some preparatory training before classes began, had a (very good) course in teaching methodology while teaching our first semester, and could depend on support from faculty and more experienced grad students as we went along. We also were responsible for almost everything--lesson planning, daily teaching, preparing handouts and tests, drafting assignments, grading. It was our class, not a discussion section or lab of someone else's, and we were well trained. We had great results, and freshmen/sophomores were arguably better off with grad teachers than faculty because for the most part, faculty hated teaching those courses.

You wouldn't want your professors to start out having had no teaching experience, now, would you? Well, grad school is where they get it, or at least where they're supposed to be getting it. It's a shame that some departments or universities just hand over classes to grad students with nothing more than a textbook, or with everything prepared for them but no training. And I know that happens, especially in fields where the grad students aren't being prepared to be professors but rather business professionals or engineers or whatever.

Answer 4

What subjects did you take that were taught by GTAs? I was a GTA for 2 years. I was responsible for a discussion test for an American History survey class. I had a teaching degree, though.

I had some TAs (as we called them) for the undergrad level classes- math and history. I was terrible in math anyway. I would have benefited from a tutor if I knew enough to ask for help.

Overall, I do not think my time at the university was wasted. I earned a BA in Education, an MA in history, and an MLS (Master's in Library Science). I guess it's all how you look at it.

Answer 5

I found my time in college exceedingly valuable, but I know that the experiences students have (both with profs and with GTAs) can be radically different. Some profs are engaged and available; some GTAs are excellent communicators and discussion leaders. It's very hit or miss, and it varies from discipline to discipline.

The experience you describe sounds like the kind folks frequently find at large public universities. GTAs, for better or for worse, are extremely inexpensive labor for the purposes of accommodating the curricular needs of hundreds or thousands of students in basic courses, and the training they receive, their confidence in the classroom, and their own command of the requisite material can be extremely various.

I'm sorry that, in retrospect, you feel short-changed. You're surely not the only one.

Answer 6

Thats what i say screw them and get your money
back and maybe just maybe you still can find one
that you can find worth going.

Answer 7

They obviously didn't teach you how to spell.