Students Teach as Course Assistants

English students looking to meet with a teaching fellow (TF) usually trek to the Barker Center. For psychology students, it’s William James Hall. For some students, the task may even require a trip to the graduate student dorms near the Radcliffe Yard.

But for students studying subjects such as math, statistics, and life sciences, their destination may lie closer to home.

In several departments, course assistants (CAs)—college students themselves—are playing a key part in the academic experience of hundreds of Harvard students.

THE INS AND OUTS

CAs are asked to perform a number of tasks, including attending lecture, leading section, hosting office hours, and writing homework solutions.

Nicole Ali ’08, formerly a CA for Math 1a, “Introduction to Calculus” and currently for Math 19a, “Modeling and Differential Equations for the Life Sciences,” estimates that she spends around 12 hours per week on the job.

“This averages out to 1.7 hours of work per day. Some weeks would be more, if the problem sets were long or hard. This means that I was being paid around $13.33 dollars per hour,” Ali calculates with the precision of a young mathematician.

But the responsibilities and rewards of the CA lifestyle can vary significantly depending upon the course and department.

Calculus CAs are required to grade homework, hold problem set sessions, host office hours, attend lectures, and tutor for free at the Math Question Center inside the Science Center for one to two hours per week.

And all math CAs face Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) evaluation at the end of each term.

“I take the students’ comments very seriously, in addition to the feedback I ask for during the semester,” says Alexander P. Ellis ’07, who has been a CA for Math 113, “Complex Analysis” and Math 131, “Topology.”

But life sciences facilitators do not grade homework and are not subject to CUE evaluations—and they earn slightly less than their counterparts in the math and statistics departments, according to math preceptor Bret J. Benesh.

“Grading assignments is definitely the most time consuming part of the job,” says Ruwan Gunaratne ’09 who was a CA for Math 1b, “Calculus, Series, and Differential Equations” and was head CA for Math 21b, “Linear Algebra and Differential Equations” this past semester.

HIRING AND TRAINING

Preceptors Benesh and Thomas W. Judson are charged with hiring calculus CAs for the math department, and both said they find the CA program to be beneficial to the academic success of their students.

“They are very important,” Benesh says, “and we always need more qualified people.”

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences requires that undergraduate CAs have maintained a grade point average of 3.33 or above over the previous two semesters, and have at least sophomore standing.

During a typical spring, the math department fields roughly 100 CA applications, hiring about 50 students each fall. According to Banesh, the student-to-CA ratio in his department is around 30:1.

In the statistics department, where CAs head introductory quantitative methods course sections, one CA will be hired for every 12 to 15 students—with three employed this past spring, according to statistics department administrator Betsey B. Cogswell.

While TFs are hired and trained through the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, each department accepts applications, conducts interviews, and organizes training sessions for CAs individually.

“Prior to the beginning of the year, we have a Sunday training session for the CAs on tips for grading homework and providing resources students can use,” Judson says. “We usually invite a speaker outside of the math department but internal to Harvard, to teach professional conduct.”

Life sciences teaching assistants, called facilitators, receive their initial training through the Bureau of Study Counsel at the start of the term, says Elizabeth J. Heller, a preceptor in molecular and cellular biology.

Amanda R. Mason ’09, a facilitator for Life Sciences 1b, “An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences: Genetics, Genomics, and Evolution,” says she participated in role-playing scenarios designed to teach mentoring skills at these initial sessions.

As the semester proceeds, teaching assistants continue to receive guidance from higher-ranking instructors. “After that,” Mason says, “facilitators continue to have bimonthly meetings with course heads throughout the semester and have discussions such as on how to best teach concepts that may be especially difficult.”

CA OR TF

For students, the differences between a CA-led section and one headed by a TF can be significant.

“It is easier for undergraduate CAs to relate to students, because they learned the material themselves more recently and encounter similar mathematical concepts on a daily basis in their own classes,” Ali says.

Mason calls her interaction with students as a life sciences facilitator “almost like having a personal tutor provided by the course for free.”

“I treat [CAs] more as peers than as teachers,” says Samuel F. Lichtenstein ’09.

According to Shirley X. Dong—a second year graduate student in organismic and evolutionary biology who has served as a TF for Math 19a, “Modeling and Differential Equations for the Life Sciences”—graduate TFs, who deal with more conceptual-based teaching, do not have much interaction with CAs.

She says her sections focus on supplemental readings of the course, which are papers that deal with the application of math in biological fields.

On the other hand, a typical CA section focuses on reviewing the material from lectures and clarifying homework questions.

“I usually plan 45 to 60 minutes for a presentation I prepared ahead of time, which includes going over problem solving strategies and ideas in lecture. After that, I do a few example problems and answer questions about homework,” Ali says.

THE REWARDS

As with any other position, compensation is a consideration for CAs—but many say that money takes a back seat to other aspects of the job.

“It pays better than most other campus jobs,” Ellis says, “though the pay is not at all the motivation for me.”

CAs in the math department are paid a base rate depending upon their experience as a CA, according to Judson. Then, each is paid more depending upon the size of the class, and accordingly, the number of homework assignments they must grade.

“For students who enjoy math and enjoy teaching, it is a really fulfilling job,” Gunaratne says. “For me, the best part is working in the Math Question Center because I get to interact with students one-on-one, and it’s rewarding to know that they’re very appreciative of your efforts.”

And though she is not enamored with rising for 10 a.m. lectures, Mason says that her work as a facilitator gives her a chance to review material that she missed during her first time through the class as a student.

As she puts it, “to teach is to learn twice.”

—Staff writer Jennifer Ding can be reached at ding@fas.harvard.edu.