ICECOLDECON Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I put this question in another thread, but I was hoping by mentioning the school in the thread title, that Id get more focused feedback. I had originally received a 10,000 dollar fellowship (not including tuition and I am out of state) to attend UT Austin and that was recently upgraded to a TAship (a lil over 14k with health insurance and a tuition waiver). While I am pleased, I heard that the dept tends to work their ta's pretty hardand Im a little worried about the associated work load and how much time it might take out of studying. Should this be a concern? Was anyone able to ascertain, from the flyout, how hard they work their teaching assistants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICECOLDECON Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 On 2nd thought, I've been a ta before (at my masters university) and it really depends on who you get assigned with as to how much work you will actually do......I cant imagine that you really could make a general statement like at UT they work ta's hard..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRod Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 On 2nd thought, I've been a ta before (at my masters university) and it really depends on who you get assigned with as to how much work you will actually do......I cant imagine that you really could make a general statement like at UT they work ta's hard..... All the grad students I've talked to at UT seemed unconcerned by the load TAs have. From my observation a good rule of thumb is that if you're slated for x amount of hours anywhere, they'll work ya x amount of hours if there is work to do so (unless you get a laid back prof to TA for). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltwatersally Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Since the major task for first year TAs seems to be grading, it probably depends on who you are assigned to, how many students are in the class and how many tests and exams the prof gives during a semester. You also have office hours and are expected to attend the classes you are assigned to cover. I think that is the majority of the tasks required of a TA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICECOLDECON Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 Okay, thanks everyone.....I put in to accept the offer a minute or two ago...so now everything becomes official Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilleNouvelle Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Yay! That's great! And to be honest, grading can't be that hard. The hardest part I think of being a TA is fielding constant e-mails of kids asking you what a supply curve is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 or if you have to work with the intro stats class...they are completely lost and don't come in for help until the day before the exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICECOLDECON Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 or if you have to work with the intro stats class...they are completely lost and don't come in for help until the day before the exam. I was a ta for a 500 student intro micro class at my masters school and I had a really small office......well, during most office hours I had two regulars who came in for help b/c they liked how I explained things.....and then the final office hours before the exam Kaboom..........I get like 40 students lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Haha...you need on deck chairs to keep them in a holding pattern outside the office! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Yay! That's great! And to be honest, grading can't be that hard. Ditto. You could probably do it at a restaurant or pub while drinking beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICECOLDECON Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 Yay! That's great! And to be honest, grading can't be that hard. The hardest part I think of being a TA is fielding constant e-mails of kids asking you what a supply curve is. I actually found grading to be pretty relaxing....I usually did grading with tv or music on in the background......although, I can say that at times, the relevance of the following was not lost on me..... phd020808s.gif picture by nrg84 - Photobucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilleNouvelle Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I actually found grading to be pretty relaxing....I usually did grading with tv or music on in the background......although, I can say that at times, the relevance of the following was not lost on me..... phd020808s.gif picture by nrg84 - Photobucket LOL, that's awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnviroEcon Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 phd020808s.gif picture by nrg84 - Photobucket Haha, I absolutely love this comic strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRod Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I actually found grading to be pretty relaxing....I usually did grading with tv or music on in the background......although, I can say that at times, the relevance of the following was not lost on me..... phd020808s.gif picture by nrg84 - Photobucket Hah!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Adding "-ism" to any word just makes it sound bad. Ex: macroeconomicism, developmentalism, graduate schoolism, sappyism, etc. etc. LOL! That's pretty funny, and possibly true. F.A. Hayek uses the word "scienticism" when he critiques economics sometimes. He says the math and metrics are sometimes used as "scienticism," meaning it tries to make economics look scientific even though it's not. By the way, I'm not saying I agree with Hayek, so no need for any of you guys to start trying to "argue" with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRod Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 LOL! That's pretty funny, and possibly true. F.A. Hayek uses the word "scienticism" when he critiques economics sometimes. He says the math and metrics are sometimes used as "scienticism," meaning it tries to make economics look scientific even though it's not. By the way, I'm not saying I agree with Hayek, so no need for any of you guys to start trying to "argue" with me. Who would argue when all are agreed on the truthinessisms and correctness of Hayekismistic philosophies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treblekicker Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 grading is a lot easier when you randomly assign the grades. i knew a philosophy grader who would hand out the papers to all of his friends. if they liked the first sentence, the person would get an A, otherwise, they'd get a B or C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangsiuje Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 And to be honest, grading can't be that hard. I find grading to be painful. It's the least favourite part of being a TA, for sure. At my undergrad, the mean waiting time for getting a test/assignment back was 5 weeks. Here, you're expected to do marking and hand stuff back in a week. :doh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonghornEcon Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Almost everyone with funding at Texas has a T.A.-ship their first year, so you are not going to be disadvantaged relative to the other students. The work load depends on your professor. Not all T.A.s attend classes, but if you do they are three hours a week. You are required to hold two or three hours of office hours. Some T.A.s have to grade weekly homework assignments. On the average week, most T.A.s work far less than the 20 hours they get paid for. Grading exams and essays tends to be more time consuming, and unfortunately, we often have to do it right before we have our own exams. Most professors expect quick turnaround on grading. A few T.A.s have received bad reviews for taking to long to return assignments. As far as a know, even with bad reviews, upper years with good standing were still reassigned as T.A.s, but I believe if you get two (?) bad reviews they will not reassign you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99luftballoons Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Ditto. You could probably do it at a restaurant or pub while drinking beer. From experience, this is completely true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRod Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 From experience, this is completely true. I knew one particularly sweaty-prone TA who graded while using an elliptical machine... "Hey TA, what's that spot on my paper from?" "Oh nothing, student, carry on. Better luck on the next paper . . ." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treblekicker Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 From experience, this is completely true. i've done it. it doesn't take all of your faculties to compare a homework to the solution manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 i've done it. it doesn't take all of your faculties to compare a homework to the solution manual. I'm gonna do it. If you're already planning on going to a pub during the week, you might as well get some homework done while you're there. That's what I call economizing on time! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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