I got back my TA feedback forms from last term. I averaged a neutral evaluation across the board in all fields. But it was the comments that really ticked me off.
First of all, I only had 8 or 9 forms. This is because, out of a class of 70, only six people had any extensive interaction with me. The rest only knew me from project proposal evaluations or when I gave a guest lecture.
So when three or four of the forms I had said that I was never unavailable really ticks me off. I changed my office hours to be more available. I made special appointment times with groups that asked. With all of those courtesies, I only had two people show up during my office hours and one group request a special meeting. Saying I was unavailable is total crap.
They also complained that I didn't reply to the newsgroup and that another student did it entirely. Well, first of all, I wouldn't hold it against the TA if another student managed to beat them to it (I personally have done that in several classes). Plus I don't think the students realized that I had no experience with the framework they were using.
Anyway, at least some of the forms said that I was helpful and receptive.
Oh, and someone didn't like my casual lecturing style and wanted me to sound more like a "prof" than a "guy".
So what is the lesson here? Unless there is a majority trend, the forms are worthless.
3 comments:
lol, sorry to hear that. I got the same thing too when I was TAing. You can never satisfy everyone I guess. I still read the forms, but they rarely have any usesful suggestion in them =P
this just means you'll only improve! :)
welcome to the wonderful world of teaching. ever hear some teachers say *if i reach even one student, my job is worth it*... sucks to be the other 34 in the class.
j(not ackie)
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