3 ms·
> I can assure that in college no T.A ever meant it as a form of motivation. I (unfortunately) did this as a T.A. in college. Despite being well versed in the
by kevinnk 11y ago
> I can assure that in college no T.A ever meant it as a form of motivation.
I (unfortunately) did this as a T.A. in college. Despite being well versed in the material and caring quite a bit about trying to teach I used the "this is easy!" line as well as falling into many other teaching traps. I think part of the problem was that I never had a problem learning the material (I came into college with a fair amount of prior experience) so it was hard to relate when people had trouble. The other problem was without being formally taught about how to teach, it's hard to get feedback on what's helpful and what's counterproductive. For instance, it wasn't until I took a class with my girlfriend that I realized how much I interrupted or talked over other students when they asked questions. Without direct feedback I would probably still be doing it.
- agumonkey 11y agoThe intention behind is what matters. Even a frustrating 'this is easy', if well meant, won't be the same as a formal 'duh'. It's slightly paradoxical that most TA are people who had it easy with the subject, thus rarely able to explain things to people who struggles, thus not really teachers. I said this here somewhere before, this system crafts colleagues who will discuss a bit with you as pairs if you're on similar levels, not people able to explain. But maybe the school comb is balanced this way, only people able to grasp things on their own gets to advanced through it.