Guest Columnist Paul Franco | Bad recitation? Don't blame just the TAs

As a teaching assistant the past two years in the Philosophy Department, I was disappointed to read The Daily Pennsylvanian's article ("Hard to follow recitation? You're not alone" 9/17/2007), which implied that the blame for "the classic bad recitation" should be placed squarely and solely on the shoulders of the TA.

As such, the article fails to recognize the responsibility of the student in recitation in creating what History TA Erin Cohn describes as a "'good recitation,'" namely "'the opportunity [for the student] to engage in the material.'"

In providing an opportunity for the student to engage the material in a smaller setting outside of a big lecture hall, the student must use the recitation as an opportunity and come prepared to engage the material.

Such preparedness involves at least the following three things: doing the appropriate reading before class, completing the assignments given out by the TA and professor, and, most importantly, coming to recitation with an open mind that is willing to contribute to discussion and ask any questions about the material or lecture that the student may have.

Certainly the TA has a responsibility to know the material and to present it clearly, to establish good communication with the students inside and outside the classroom, and to respond to the educational needs of his students.

Furthermore, a TA should create an atmosphere that fosters open discussion, a classroom that welcomes - and is not hostile to - the questions students have regarding the material. He or she should direct discussion such that it touches the important points of the material, and answer, to the best of his or her ability, any questions the students may have.

However, beyond this, there is very little a TA can do to ensure that a recitation will be good insofar as this involves the students engaging and discussing the material. Whether or not the students come prepared, ready and willing to have a discussion with their fellow students (which is what a recitation should be) about the material is something that is out of the TA's hands.

I am sure just as many of "the classic bad recitation[s]" have come about due to lack of preparation by the students as have those that have occurred because TAs are unprepared, do not know how to communicate with students, or do not know how students learn best.

In fact, most TAs probably do know some (but not all) of the best ways for students to learn the material they are presenting. This is because most of us were (gasp!) college students for at least four years before entering graduate school and becoming TAs. As such, many of us have more than likely have mastered certain techniques conducive to learning the material we are teaching; otherwise we would not have become the successful students that we are.

Furthermore, since graduate students have been communicating with professors as students for at least four years, I would like to think that most of us also know the best ways to communicate with students.

Of course, it never hurts to have a little extra training in trying to tackle the (very) hard job that is leading a recitation. The programs provided by the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education certainly sound very helpful - especially the idea of a standardized evaluation form for TAs - and should be implemented. However, the issue at hand is not whether the SCUE programs are useful.

What I take issue with is the tone of the article and the quotes therein which seemingly imply that the brunt of the blame for so-called bad recitations or poor communication with the students should be placed solely on the TA.

The student has just as much responsibility as does the TA in creating a good recitation (by preparing for class) and in establishing communication between themselves and the TA (by coming to office hours with any problems related to class that they may have).

If both the TA and the student fulfill their respective responsibilities, then we will have fostered an environment that is most conducive to learning. And it is in this perfect world where the "classic bad recitation" will be as extinct as the pterodactyls. Except in Jurassic Park.

Guest columnist Paul Franco is a fourth-year graduate student in the Philosophy Department.

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