Even after hours spent studying the Courses of Instruction and the CUE Guide, shopping dozens of lectures and seeking out word-of-mouth, even the best-planned schedule can be foiled by one thing: a terrible section leader.
In a lecture class with hundreds of students, the professor's teaching ability may not be as important as the Teaching Fellow's (TF) skill in explaining difficult concepts or leading a meaningful discussion. Because TFs are crucial to undergraduate education, it is often the students who suffer the consequences when their graduate student instructors fail to make the grade.
When undergraduates receive an unsatisfactory report card, they can turn to the Bureau of Study Council, the Writing Center and other on-campus resources for help.
When their TFs are burned by a low score on student evaluations, they can turn to the Bok Center and the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE).
The CUE is dedicated to students and their education, says Terry Aladjem, assistant director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, and it works closely with the Bok Center in helping both TFs who receive low scores and experienced TFs who just want to improve their skills
"We work to insure the best possible teaching for our undergraduates," wrote Dean of Undergraduate Education William Todd in an e-mail message, "but, together with the Bok Center and the Dean of Graduate Studies, we also want to give our graduate students all possible help in developing their pedagogical abilities."
A TF's Report Card
"When a TF falls below 3.0, we write the letter in which we outline some measures the TF can take to improve his/her performance," Todd writes in an e-mail message.
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