College Students (Under or Graduate Level)

[MissAva]

Unclear on American Campus: What the Foreign Teacher Said I was sent this article after about 30 minutes of near tears explanations on why I was so frustrated with on of my TAs.... Does anyone else feel like this?

 

[Blue824]

Well, I graduated last year, but I got through having only one heavily accented foreign teacher, she was German and it was for an art history course. I didn''t have any problems, however, if I was in a class where I had to learn math or science or econ, those concepts can be difficult to understand in clear English, let alone in half Chinese. I probably did not have a huge issue because I was at a smaller private university. I was not majoring in areas where TAs really had a large involvement (I think I only had 2 TAs my entire time). That actually was a major factor in my decision, I didn''t want to be in large lectures, I really enjoyed having about 20-35 people in my classes.

My parents had to hire a tutor for my brother because of this problem. I guess I don''t think that is really fair when you''re paying like 36k a year for the school to teach you and then you have to pay an extra 60/hr a few times a week for a tutor? I know my brother wasn''t the only one with issues in that class, I mean, he''s a smart kid at one of the best universities in the country....he and some other students banded togethe and complained to the deans. I know parents called as well to lodge complaints. He said they gave the teacher horrible reviews at the end of the semester....and guess what, that teacher was not teaching anything the following semester. His is a larger public school, so far he''s only had that one negative experience with a TA.

I understand the need for universities to present a diverse group of students and staff...I just think the primary interest should be the students education.