Apprentice Teachers: Teaching Assistants in the UI Anthropology Department
Teaching assistants at the University of Iowa and other large public universities have come under fire from a variety of quarters in recent years. Critics complain that undergraduates are rarely taught by faculty members but rather by inexperienced and poorly trained TAs. In 1993 the Office of the Dean of the UI's College of Liberal Arts conducted a study of the use of teaching assistants in the university. The results of that study show that over the course of four years over 70% of the courses taken by the average undergraduate are taught by faculty members. Many departments, including Anthropology, do not employ TAs as primary instructors but rather as leaders of discussion sections. In addition the study noted that many graduate students who work as TAs have often taught at the secondary or junior college level before entering graduate school. Other TAs bring unique work experiences or special talents to the classroom - the writer W.P. Kinsella was a TA while he attended the Writer's Workshop here.
Prof. Virginia Dominguez discussed the use of TAs in her introductory course, Anthropology and Contemporary World Problems. In order to bridge the gap between herself and students, Prof. Dominguez provided her e-mail address on the course syllabus and invited students to ask questions on line. Although few students raise questions in lecture sections many more have been willing to communicate through e-mail. In addition she relies on teaching assistants to augment her lectures. "I have always had very good relations with TAs," she commented, "they can take in the entire range of the lectures and help me get through to the students." Prof. Dominguez noted that that aspect of the TA's role is especially important in introductory courses where a complex subject is distilled into two short lectures per week. Because of the importance of the weekly discussion sections, teaching assistants for Prof. Dominguez assign 20% of a student's grade. "This not only gets the students to take the discussion section seriously, but also empowers the TAs as junior partners," she adds. Prof. Dominguez attributes part of the benefit of using TAs to their proximity in age to undergraduates and the closer contact available in small groups.
Jolene Stritecky, one of Prof. Dominguez's teaching assistants, is a third year graduate student and has worked as a teaching assistant since coming to the UI in 1993. She recalled her first experiences in the classroom with amusement, "It was amazing. I said take out a sheet of paper and they all took out a sheet of paper." Over the last two years Jolene says she has learned a number of ways to draw students out and encourage lively discussions. Sometimes the simplest technique is the most effective, "They won't talk and I refuse to lecture. So I stop." Eventually, she says, students begin to participate in the discussions. Jolene feels that being a teaching assistant has given her valuable experience while at the same time providing students with the kind of personal attention that encourages learning. Working as a TA also provides her with the experience of balancing teaching duties with her own research.
Prof. Dominguez adds that if there is one drawback to the use of TAs it is in the demands teaching makes on the graduate student's time: "It is not necessary for the future of anyone's academic career to spend 20 hours per week teaching for four to seven years." At the same time she notes that teaching experience is important for future college faculty: "When you have a PhD and walk into a classroom for the first time, it's hard to admit to your colleagues that you don't know what you're doing."
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Last Updated: 10-2003
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