David M. Renton '98, who is currently enrolled in Math 112, says he is comfortable with the role played by undergraduate teaching assistants.

"My TFs have been upper-class math majors and have had a deep level of understanding of the material," he says.

By contrast, Jones says his undergraduate teaching fellow plays a rather large role in determining students' grades in his engineering sciences course.

Jones says undergraduate teaching fellows have the "dominant responsibility" of evaluating students' laboratory performances, which he considers central to the course.

But he says he does not rely on his teaching fellows to grade examinations, explaining, "I don't feel comfortable about it."

A Special Case

Although many science courses employ undergraduates, Computer Science is a hazy area where grading can rely on both subjective and objective critiques.

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education Jeffrey Wolcowitz says the grading policy allows undergraduates to grade material "that is objectively right or wrong."

Of the appropriateness of undergraduates grading others' computer science problem sets, he is less certain.

"I wonder about that," he says, adding that those in the computer science concentration were involved in writing the policy in "Information for Instructors."

Like an essay, there are many ways to write a workable computer program. Similarly, programs can be graded on subjective factors.

"Although there are many different ways to write a CS program, we have attempted to [cut] out the subjectivity by grading on purely objective terms--such as functionality, efficiency and consistency of the chosen style," Abhi A. Shelat '97, a TF for Computer Science 50 and 51, wrote in an e-mail message.

"Grading will never be 100 percent objective because there's always a judgment call needed to allocate partial credit," Joshua E. Seims '96, a TF for Computer Science 121 and 175, wrote in an e-mail message. "But for the most part, the grading standards for each assignment are pretty clear."

Still, Anthony L. DeWitt '96, a teaching fellow this semester for Computer Science 141: "Computing Hardware," says the material he works with is fairly objective.

"[F]or programs, you should just be grading whether the program works," he says. "One should not count off for differences in coding style or any other subjective points."