thehockeykid Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 There i will obviously be some favoring bound to happen in your seminar or lab groups. It seems that they tend to favor women is this correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medlor2010 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 There i will obviously be some favoring bound to happen in your seminar or lab groups. It seems that they tend to favor women is this correct? Yes, yes it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t0ny Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Yup. So very true. Just like anything else in society, pretty face = perks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notjk Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Yup. So very true. Just like anything else in society, pretty face = perks DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smile101 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 hi guys, As a current TA, i really don't think there is "favorites" among the class. The TA's really don't invest that much time into thinking about individual students (does your TA know your name?), and most TA's that i have talked to go above and beyond ensuring fairness. In addition we usually have pretty defined marking guides, so there isn't a lot of guesswork when it comes to assigning grades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb35 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 hi guys, As a current TA, i really don't think there is "favorites" among the class. The TA's really don't invest that much time into thinking about individual students (does your TA know your name?), and most TA's that i have talked to go above and beyond ensuring fairness. In addition we usually have pretty defined marking guides, so there isn't a lot of guesswork when it comes to assigning grades. Yeah I'll second this. I definitely did not play favourites, and my marking schemes wouldn't even have allowed me to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I agree with the two posts above me. As a TA, I go out of my way to make sure everything is fair and that everyone has as much of a chance to get help as possible. Marking schemes are very specifically defined, even when you might think it would be more subjective. In a lab with discussion questions at the end, for example, there's usually a guideline we have that says, "If they referred to three of the following five concepts they get 2/2, one of the following concepts gets them 1/2, and none gets them 0." I also announce that people can come and talk to me if they have questions about their marks, and I explain why people got the mark they did. It might seem like I favor certain people, but that's only because those people are talking to me and asking me for help rather than ignoring me or telling me "everything's fine, we don't need you" when I come over and offer help because I can see they're having trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earth.razer Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I don't think there's any intentional favoritism. TA's don't go out of their way to give pretty girls higher marks. BUT, favoritism don't have to be intentional. Like any human TAs will pay more attention to people that catch their attention and give more help to people they like. So, I'd say pretty face + likeable personality = perks. This is indeed true anywhere in society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bj89 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I always try to pick up the hot chix in the lab I TA, coercing them into "extra study time" outside of the typical lab time, and letting them earn "extra credit" for any missed assignments Please note: this post is riddled with sarcasm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I don't think there can be favoritism in marking, but there can be favoritism with attention, help, and giving out answers before the assignment is due. Motivated, good looking people who have been treated well by their TAs are going to be more willing to go to seek clarification after hours. Please note I feel I have been on the receiving end of some of this in the past, especially as a mature female student, since I am about the same age as many of my (mostly) male TAs. I don't take advantage of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osteon Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I award points based on getting the answer right or not, and nothing more. Therefore, I guess I favor the smart people in that they tend to get more answers right, and therefore more points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBoss Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 ... (does your TA know your name?)... A minor point, but yes, most of my TAs knew my name, and a decent proportion of my TAs seemed to know everyone's names, but I don't really see any noticeable favoritism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I agree with the two posts above me. As a TA, I go out of my way to make sure everything is fair and that everyone has as much of a chance to get help as possible. Marking schemes are very specifically defined, even when you might think it would be more subjective. In a lab with discussion questions at the end, for example, there's usually a guideline we have that says, "If they referred to three of the following five concepts they get 2/2, one of the following concepts gets them 1/2, and none gets them 0." I also announce that people can come and talk to me if they have questions about their marks, and I explain why people got the mark they did. It might seem like I favor certain people, but that's only because those people are talking to me and asking me for help rather than ignoring me or telling me "everything's fine, we don't need you" when I come over and offer help because I can see they're having trouble.+1 Sure, some TAs favor some students but, from talking to other TAs, I think that the majority don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charmer08 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Well ofcourse they favour some students over others. If you went to a ta's office to discuss your essay 3 weeks before its due... the ta knows that you care. Also, students that have talked to the ta are able to negotiate much more easily by bringing up some of the points that the ta said to them (Me and my friend went to the ta regarding the grade we recieved and she bumped my grade but not my friends'... so from past experience it does happen... but then I had put a lot of effort in the essay and it was obvious from reading it... nevertheless essay marking is very subjective). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerena Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Well, now that you mention it, the keroppi I draw beside the mark I write down on assignments/exams might be a bit bigger for students who talk to me after class? Maybe a bit more shaded in? I'm terrible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt.pepper Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I always try to pick up the hot chix in the lab I TA, coercing them into "extra study time" outside of the typical lab time, and letting them earn "extra credit" for any missed assignments Please note: this post is riddled with sarcasm. it doesn't help that your name is bj89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Depending on the university/course, assignments/labs are rotated among TA students such that you're never marking your own students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liverpool Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Just being nice to your TA can work wonders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 it doesn't help that your name is bj89 LOL! It'd be funny if the 8 was something else haha. All the TAs I know don't bother with this kind of thing. I mean, there's really no point and many of them just want to get the marking over with so they can turn to their own work. That said, I think appearing intelligent, motivated and active in a lab can induce an automatic reaction in a TA. When marking, they may be less inclined to subtract marks, especially in subjective marking. I've noticed this before though it could just be that said student's lab report was simply very well written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bj89 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 it doesn't help that your name is bj89 LOL! All joking aside, in the class I TA I try to give everyone equal attention, but it all boils down to who seeks out help. Some do, and some don't. I tend to discourage students from answering questions that I propose to other students who are having trouble understanding a concept, so you could say that I give less attention to know it alls, but then again they aren't the ones who need the extra attention (and its not like i ignore the heck out of it). That being said, most people on here seem to have a solid moral compass. HOWEVER! Keep in mind people there are a few TA's who tarnish our names, and do provide unfair help - this help may not necessarily be to attractive members of the opposite sex, but rather to those who have connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bored Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 definitely true for TAs, but also for profs from what Ive observed from my chem prof.. He seems to take more questions from blonds then any other.. Ive kept a tally of this, lol.. Even when I ask him a question, he answers as if its painful, but when a blond asks it, he is very happy to answer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymeddream Posted March 11, 2011 Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 I have never really had a problem with any of my TA's. However, I work in a lab where all the graduate students have to TA...and they are always talking (mainly complaining) about the students that give them trouble or argue with them for marks but I have ever heard of them praise good students or talk about any of the students that are smart and don't give them trouble. One of the grad students in this lab was actually my TA in first year (I didn't even know that she worked in this lab until I started working there as well)....she knew my name and knew that she had known me somehow but couldn't even remember that I was a student in her lab.....when I talked to her about it...she mentioned that its because I never gave her any trouble to actually make an impression on her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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