Word: tf
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...taken as carte blanche to cut such overviews to a minimum, in favor of jumping straight into the course’s first lecture. Encouraging professors to neglect the administrative details risks allowing them to become less engaged with the running of their classes, resulting in situations like my TF-led core...
...much I need to cover, and I don’t know how I’ll ever get through it.” This often leads to dire consequences: assignments that contain unrealistic expectations, or mandatory class meetings that occur outside of class time, or a TF who turns into course head instead of a TF with additional administrative responsibilities. To the complaining professor, I respond: “Too bad.” I have enough faith in the Harvard tenure process that faculty should be able to figure out how to do their job and organize their...
...bold to say that our sections are the most significant aspect of our Harvard learning experience. Most of us desperately try to get into a “good section”—which is directly defined by a “good Teaching Fellow (TF)—“but it’s all-too-often forgotten that the TF alone doesn’t make or break a section...
Harvard students have a common understanding the ideal TFs. They’re well-versed on course material—this is particularly important as students’ lecture attendance decreases once semester doldrums sink in. We always trust that a stellar TF will fill in the gaps. A TF must also be a fair grader—of course, by “fair,” I mean “easy.” After the grade deflation push, this is the common conception of “fair.” Finally, TFs must administer section...
...perhaps we’re going about this all wrong. After all, is a good section solely determined by a good TF? In my experience, TF’s often begin section with a piercing or controversial question, only to receive deadly silence and vacuous looks from their students. In spite of the TF’s efforts, the section awkwardly rolls on and generally each student speaks up a couple times to garner the necessary participation points. Rarely does a section discussion have students sitting on the edge of their seats—let alone spark a heated debate...