Sapphire120

Ok crisis averted! I emailed the prof last night telling him what happened and he emailed back this morning saying not to worry, that he's accidentally divulged too much in the past too, and that he'd just change the questions for everyone. So then I emailed the two students and said that it turns out that the questions I thought would be on there actually won't be but just to look back over notes for my lecture. I didn't get into the "why" of the whole situation with them though maybe I should have. But thankfully, the prof wasn't mad and my conscience feels cleaner now that the questions are changed! I told him that the future, I'm going to work on being more tight lipped so that I don't give some students a better advantage than others. Thanks for weighing in, everyone!

Yeah that's exactly why I feel bad about it. Another one just emailed me asking if there are certain things to focus on more than others and (having now had time to think) I was more vague with him (look over notes from my lecture on topic X etc). But why should he get less of a chance than the two who happened to cross my path in the library? On the other hand, I don't think that sending out a mass email to all my students giving away those specific questions is a good idea either. What if I sent the professor an email saying I divulged more than I probably should have with 2 particular students yesterday regarding a couple of questions and ask him whether I should make a copy of the exam for the 2 of them that replaces those questions with different ones? Then email the students in question to let them know that those questions I discussed with them will have to be replaced because I feel like I may have jeopardized the integrity of their exam by divulging too much?

So I ran into two of my students in the library this afternoon before the course midterm tomorrow for the class I'm TAing. I casually chatted with them about how studying was going and they each showed me their detailed, thorough study guide/outlines they made (one was 17 pp., the other 20). When I asked, they also told me they had multiple exams this week. They're really hard working students, don't complain, write well, and participate in class. They asked me general questions, like "Do you think my outline is too detailed or not enough?" etc. I guess I just felt sorry for them, seeing how hard they're working and how much effort they're putting in and I probably disclosed more than I should have. For the midterm, I contributed 2 (out of 20-25) of the short answer questions based on a lecture I gave on a certain topic. With those in mind, I never said directly "make sure you know X" but I strongly hinted and gave them clues until they figured out the topic. They opened their lecture notes and repeated back to me what they had written down (which was the precise answers to the exam questions). So I never actually said the question verbatim, but I let them know they should be very familiar with the information they had just verbalized to me and that if they knew that, they would know the answer to the question. In the moment, I wasn't really thinking clearly (instead feeling sorry for their hectic exam load and impressed by how much effort they were putting in to this exam amd genuinely wanting to help). But thinking back, I'm now wondering if I crossed some sort of ethical line? Should I tell the professor of the course what I did?

So I have a freshman in my discussion section in a class I'm TAing for who is from China (first time living in the US). He is listed on the roll under his Chinese name but he told me he goes by "Leo." So I'll of course call him that since that's what he prefers to go by (as I do for any other student). But it just got me thinking -- shouldn't it be my responsibility to learn how to say his Chinese name rather than his responsibility to change his name to make it easier for his American instructors to say? I remember once being in a tennis class in which there were a lot of Asian students and when the coach was calling roll, he got flustered trying to pronounce their names and finally said "Can't you all just come up with English names that I can call you by?" which came off as culturally insensitive to me (his tone more than anything). I briefly thought about sending my student an email or pulling him aside after class in private to tell him that I don't mind learning how to say his Chinese name and call him by that IF he wants. But then I thought maybe it would make him feel singled-out and uncomfortable when maybe he just wants an American name and to blend in. So is the safest bet just to call him Leo?

I'm taking a grad seminar and although I've never been one to complain about unfair treatment in an academic setting, I feel like that may be the case with this course. Multiple times over the course of the semester, I will say something in class (composed of 6 students btw) and the professor will barely nod, but then directly after I say it, another student will say something like "To echo *my name*, I thought that was interesting too" And then they'll basically restate the exact point I just made (which is fine...they're obviously acknowledging that I had the idea so that's not what bothers me). It's that whenever another student says my exact idea, the professor becomes highly enthusiastic and says multiple times about what an excellent, insightful comment that was etc. And I'm over there silently like wtf? Did I not *just* say that?! I've tolerated it throughout the semester because I thought I was imagining things but after the most recent class meeting when it was extremely obvious, I feel like I need to calmly address it with the professor. He will be someone that I work closely with from here out so I need to establish a good relationship with him and get to the bottom of things. Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice about how to broach the subject?