Alright, I have to get something off my chest.
Am I the only one a little bothered by the fact that many of our assignments — at the graduate level, no less — are being marked and graded by a TA? No offence to the TA who is reading this, of course, but the last time I had a TA was during my second year as an undergrad. I’m shocked (heh, that’s the pg-13 word) that FIS finds no fault in having student markers for graduate students. We are paying a rather substantial tuition to learn and to be evaluated by professionals, NOT by students. I recognize that our profs are overworked; I have a night-time class where the prof has already taught two times earlier in the day and is exhausted to the point of not being able to effectively communicate ideas or spell basic words on the blackboard. Where’s the money going, FIS?
I used to be a TA. I’m not sure how decent I was at the job, but I recognized what was at stake for the students, and I always kept that in mind when grading their papers… is B+ the new A?
In the past four years I have maintained a 3.90 GPA, completed an Honours BA (awarded summa cum laude), a Masters degree in English, a post-graduate specialized diploma, and half of first term. Yes, four years. I’m driven as F#%$. I’m a two-time scholarship holder, and have received several bursaries based on academic performance.
I am not a B+ student…
oh wait, I am now.
If it makes you feel any better, I have noticed a slide in my grades compared to the standard I set in undergrad.
Maybe things are just adjusted to ensure that 1st semseter FISers dont get too cocky?
Another thought- maybe there a lot more smart people in this program than there were in undergrad, and we are now average on the bellcurve?? ~SHUDDER~
You are both right – everyone in the class is smart and got high undergrad marks which raises the bar. And – with the push to get everyone into univ and grad school enrollments have increased and more and more depts use TA’s to mark. My preference would be to mark all papers but it is impossible to do with the size of the classes. The preferred size for a graduate seminar is less than 20 students. But according to univ management these classes do not ‘make enough money’. The crux of the problem has been created by several factors:
- politically governments have embrace the notion that everyone should go to univ, that a univ educ is a right not a priviledge to be earned
- economically governments have not provided adequate funds to cover the increases in enrolllments and have created a funding formula that rewards universities for adding students and penalizes those that want to remain small
the result is the situation we now have – a decline in educational quality and an increase in costs to the buyer..
gord
Wow. I wasn’t expecting *any* responses to this post… ok, maybe an anonymous reply telling me to stuff it..
Now look what you’ve done!
Oh I see the problem, I just don’t like it…
@Klara – Agreed, but I was comparing Graduate school to Graduate school, not Grad to Undergrad. I have a previous Masters degree from U of T — in English, no less — and yet I’m at the bottom of the curve, scoring below undergrads. I’m not claiming to be the smartest person in the world, but I do find this situation anomalous, if not insulting when I compare it to past academic performance, i.e., back row, third from the left.
*le sigh*
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@Gord- Yes, yes, and yes. I see where you are coming from and really appreciate your commentary. I’m still critical of FIS, however, as other departments at U of T (graduate English, for example) are able to employ more profs, therefore enriching the learning experience for students and easing the professor stress level and workload. In GradEng, the standard tends to be one prof teaching one seminar (16 or so students) per semester. I guess I was spoiled last year, having the opportunity to develop relationships with profs, truly learning from seminars, and receiving valuable feedback from my professors, rather than purple forms.
You raise a good point — and one I agree with 100% — in regard to marking: “My preference would be to mark all papers but it is impossible to do with the size of the classes”. If it is unfeasible to ask professors to mark this many papers, then can this be asked of a TA? Further, I have the same TA marking my assignments for two, if not three of my classes this term. So that’s… how many.. 100? 200? papers he is responsible for marking over the course of a week. And this is on top of less important things.. like writing a PhD dissertation.
It’s one thing to have TAs marking at the graduate level. It is appalling to have ANY individual assigned to this many classes.
*le sigh sigh*
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I don’t mean to whine, but I’m feeling so disconnected from academia right now. I am uninspired and dispassionate, and find myself approaching assignments with a “whatever, it’s just going to be another B+” attitude, rather than my usual fervor.
There’s other issues going on, too.