Word: tfs
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Unfortunately, TFs needing assistance in English are only part of a larger problem: the lack of adequate training for teaching fellows. Even when TFs can speak English, many Harvard students report serious problems with the quality of teaching in their sections...
...they deserve. Ideally, professors would take more responsibility for actual teaching, but in reality, the burden falls on teaching fellows, who come to play crucial roles. The leading of discussions, the grading of papers and exams, and the monitoring of lab sessions are left largely in the hands of TFs. Whether a student has a good or bad experience in a course depends in large part on the quality of his or her TF's instruction...
...Harvard today, it is clear that much is to be desired in the quality of instruction offered by TFs. Students regularly complain of teaching fellows who do not have an adequate grasp of the material, who have not prepared for sections or labs they lead, or who cannot express ideas clearly to their students...
...strongly support two recent efforts made to remedy this situation. First, we urge the Faculty Council to pass a proposal by Dean Buell requiring that TFs be screened for English language competency before they enter the classroom...
...members had several objections to the proposal, none of which are valid. As Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences John E. Dowling said, "Language skills cannot be used to judge someone's teaching capability." His sentiments were echoed by Baird Professor of Science Gary J. Feldman, who observed that TFs can compensate for a "lesser grasp of English" through other attributes...