background
« All Posts by this Blogger
teaching

Teaching Assistants (TAs) are an essential part of the learning experience, helping students fill gaps in their learning and helping professors understand students' needs. In most colleges and universities, TAs are graduate students and often teach lectures alongside, or in place of, the course professor. At Dartmouth, the undergraduate and graduate programs are quite separate, so most TAs are undergraduate students who scored well in the course—anyone can do it! In fact, I am a TA myself!

This term, I am TAing Introduction to Programming and Computation, also known as CS1. I took the course my first-year spring and it was one of my favorites to date. So, I've thought about applying for the position since then, and finally was able to fit it into my schedule my junior winter. It's only been a month or so since I started, but it's been one of the best on-campus jobs I've had thus far.

So, what does a CS1 TA do? For starters, one of my responsibilities is to hold weekly recitation sections. Recitation is an additional hour of class where a TA reviews topics of the week, and helps students through practice problems to reinforce learning. Next, each TA holds three office hours per week, where students can come in to ask for clarification on coursework, labs, and anything that's on their mind.

With these, and grading, TAing can be a busy job. However, I've found that it's a great way of improving my own understanding of the class, and to help other students get a good introduction to computer science.

Many classes hire TAs—and some have Learning Fellows (LFs). LFs are a lot like TAs, except that they do not grade assignments, and that they attend lectures to facilitate in-class activities. So, at Dartmouth, there are lots of ways of getting involved in your favorite classes and to make some pocket money at the same time!

Posts You Might Like