TAing two classes each semester in the first year?

[sdt13]

 

Hi everyone,

 

At my school, things are a bit different whereby we have to apply for TA-ships, as they are not guaranteed nor forced upon anyone who doesn't want them.

 

I have an extensive background as a TA from undergrad (I was a TA for ~10 classes at various levels from grading to teaching labs), and I believe because of this I was offered 3 courses for the upcoming year (1 fall, 2 spring) where most students only get 1, if any. I just received another offer for the fall, so I was wondering if TAing two classes each semester in the first year is manageable? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

[TakeruK]

How many hours are your TAships? In my old Canadian MSc program, the standard TA load was 2 courses per semester, and 2 semesters per year. But, each course was only 4.5 hours of TA work, so this was only 9 hours per week. Usually, they would try to assign it so that a TA would teach 2 lab sections of the same course or something, so that they get the most out of the 9 hours (the prep work would be shared!). I did have this load for one semester, and I found it to be manageable although 9 hours per week was just at the boundary where I actually felt my TA work was hindering my ability to do research (and fulfill the obligations of my RAship) and my coursework.

 

In general, in Canada, I would think that something like 12 hours per week would be the maximum recommended TA load for someone who has other funding sources (and thus obligations). This number is coming from a science viewpoint, where we are mostly funded through RAships instead of TAships. I know that my friends in the humanities/social sciences in Canada would often not have any other funding and would spend a much larger amount of time working as a TA, though. 

[sdt13]

It averages out to be about 9-10 hours a week both semesters. I don't think I need to regularly attend the course itself for the fall (both are in my area), but the description strongly emphasized a heavy grading load at the end of the semester (i.e., when I will most likely also have an exam). Both of these courses are taught by the same professor, who also happens to be my advisor. 

 

On top of this, I will be taking one stats course (which I've technically already taken as an undergrad), running at least 2 studies, and co-supervising an honors project.

 

For the spring, one course I was assigned to TA is completely out of my area and it happens to be the one to take the most time (~135 hours/semester). The other one is grading papers for an area I'm familiar with. On top of this, I will be doing mostly the same as above, but will be taking 2 courses instead of 1. This is the semester I am worried about most because I have no idea how I was placed in this TA-ship out of my area. The professor requested someone with extensive knowledge, but In fact, coming in I do not meet all of the requirements for this area so I have to take a supplementary course on this topic at the same time.

[TakeruK]

The first semester sounds manageable. Busy, but doable. I find that it's usually a good thing if your supervisor is your TA employer, because then they will understand and see all the work you have to do! I'm not 100% sure if UVic works the same way, but at all other schools, the TAs are unionized and every hour spent working is counted towards your contract (i.e 135hrs/semester or whatever it is for that particular course).

 

At Queen's, the TA contract requires the TA and the prof to sit down at the beginning of the semester and budget the TA's hours in a way agreeable to both (but the employer has the final say of course). So, if the prof wanted the TA to sit in on the lectures (or, in your case, take a supplementary course), then these count as working hours against your TA contract. This would greatly reduce the amount of TA hours the prof has left to "spend" on things like grading, preparing for discussion sections, leading discussion sections, so at Queen's, very few TAs end up attending lectures since there just isn't enough resources. Even if UVic doesn't do this, I would recommend sitting down with your prof at the beginning of the semester and discussing how the prof expects you to spend your 135 hours that semester. You should also make a contingency plan, like what to do if grading takes longer than expected. It would be helpful to log your own hours and then re-evaluate your "TA hours budget" at the midterm to ensure you don't run out of hours before the end of the semester. For example, if you find that you've already spent 70% of your grading hours by the middle of the semester, then maybe at the midterm meeting, the prof might decide to reduce the amount of assignments, or reduce the length of assignments, or tell you to spend less time grading. 

 

I'm a big supporter of putting in the effort to ensure a great education for my students, and I put 100% effort into every hour that I was contracted to work (with about 10% leeway) but I also think that our time as grad students/TAs is a commodity and the school/department/prof should respect that (instead of expecting us to spend as much time/effort as we can). Sometimes, to keep the workload manageable, I had to grade writing with only a number at the end or a few marks here and there. This was something I hated to receive as a student, but it was the best I could do with the limited hours. I taught a lab course, so luckily, students could find me during the lab session or during office hours if they had further questions.

 

Anyways, the bottom line is that I think you will have enough time for everything as long as you budget your time and plan ahead how many hours to spend each week on TA work, on your courses, on your research, and on supervising your student. I think it's important to remember that grades in grad school do not really matter and it's easy to accidentally spend way more time than necessary! At first I was spending as much time as I did on courses in undergrad (5 courses!) but then soon realised this was way too much time to spend on only 1-2 courses. Eventually, I tried to average it out to something like 10 hours/week per course. Good luck!

[juilletmercredi]

I wouldn't, but it depends.  I TA'ed two sections of the same class during the fall of my fourth year and I felt like I didn't have enough time for research and writing, or studying for my oral exams (which ended up getting delayed because of the TAing).  But it depends on what the TAing is.  I was TAing statistics that semester and the instructor basically showed up, lectured, and left.  The three of us TAs were responsible for creating exams, creating homework, grading homework, and teaching our own lab sections which including creating and grading lab assignments.  And I had to attend, which meant 4 days a week - two 1.25 hour lectures twice a week and 2 2-hour labs twice a week.

 

I don't think you should have to take a supplementary class just to TA.  If it's an area you're interested in, that's fine, but IMO making you take a class so that you can TA for them is a waste of your time.  I would turn down the unfamiliar TA and just do one class in the fall and one in the spring, especially in your first year.