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Show lessons, Fail 2003 page 19 Under Pressure: TAs Face Unique Grading Challenges ARTICLE BY SARAH LEYMASTER PHOTOS BY VANESSA SORENSEN & MARIE HENDRIKSEN College students want to do well, and often feel pressure to get grades that will guarantee them success. Students planning to attend medical or law school seem to be especially driven to earn high grades. Sometimes this stress leads students to put pressure on their professors. Because graduate teaching assistants are students themselves, they are put in a unique situation. They understand the student's desire to do well, but must be fair when evaluating student work. Is it possible that graduate teaching assistants experience different grading pressures than tenured or associate professors? Students want to earn good grades in all of their classes, but pressure may be greater to do well in courses that fulfill general education requirements. For entrance into some majors, there are certain general education requirements that students must pass. At The University of Utah, the math and writing departments offer courses that fulfill such requirements. All University of Utah students must take writing 2010, as well as an upper-division writing course, and must earn a minimum grade of C- to fulfill the University's graduation requirement. Students are also required to take a math class, most commonly math 1030, 1050 or 1090, and must earn a minimum grade of D- to fulfill the general education requirement. However, students preparing to major in business or engineering must earn a grade of B or better in all of these courses. When this is the case, it is likely that such students will express their concern to get a good grade. Graduate students teach the majority of math 1030, 1050 and 1090 courses, as well as writing 2010 courses at the University of Utah. Josh Thompson, a doctoral candidate teaches MATH 1030 at the U. He believes that there is a difference in the way students approach graduate teaching assistants and tenured professors about grading issues. Of graduate student teachers, he says, "many of us haven't figured Josh Thompson, a math TA, says that graduate students are a bit more casual in the way they teach, and sometimes students pick up on this. |