Word: tfs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...performance expected from students. Professors must explain these expectations at the beginning of each course, so that students will no longer have to guess what their grades signify; they will no longer feel that their work was judged so subjectively—often seemingly arbitrarily—by TFs who have widely divergent conceptions of the course’s standards...
...reasonable to expect TFs and professors to share a unified vision for student performance. In order for TFs to recognize and consistently differentiate varying qualities of work, increased TF training is an absolutely critical priority; it must be increased from its inadequate level. All Harvard teaching fellows should be required to pass a course on how to lead a Harvard undergraduate section—such as those currently offered on a volunteer basis at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning—before being allowed to instruct students. If this were enforced, TFs would actually have classroom teaching...
Professors should have clear expectations not only for the students, but also for the teaching staff. Head TFs should serve more than an administrative function; as the most experienced and qualified member of the teaching corps, the head TF should work closely with the professor to develop a solid understanding of the course’s grading standards and must then, in turn, monitor the grades awarded by each TF. This doesn’t mean that all TFs must give the same grades, but it does mean that if one TF is giving higher (or lower) grades than...
...professor of accountability. Indeed, professors must make certain that their TFs’ grades are accurate and fair. If a TF gives higher grades than expected, the professor should personally evaluate students’ papers to ensure that the TF held students to the same high standards as other TFs. This professorial oversight creates the disincentive for TFs to cave in to student demands for higher grades or for TFs to give higher grades in implicit exchange for better CUE ratings. If TFs know their grades will be closely scrutinized, then they will adhere to the prescribed standards...
McCarthy: One of the things that I do know, because one of his head TFs for the three major courses that he teaches is one of my closest friends, is that he has not missed a class since he’s been here. In fact, on September 11th, Cornel was in Times Square. He apparently called Skip Gates and said, “I’m not going to be able to get out of Manhattan because no one is getting out of Manhattan, and I’m not going to be back...