The man who taught Economics 200 last winter quarter was everything 21-year-old Chris Piovarchy could ask for in a teacher.
The junior in business from Valley City, Ohio, said that with more than 100 students in the class, the teacher amazingly knew the first and last names of every person. He was animated, engaging and Piovarchy said "extremely intelligent."
As for professionalism and punctuality? He was first-rate.
He encouraged students to visit his office hours, which Piovarchy did on a regular basis. He said the teacher even helped him in his other courses, and held a pizza party for his classmates at the end of the quarter.
A professor with tenure? An award-winning researcher? No.
Subhra Saha, 30, was merely a teaching assistant who said he only previously taught two economics classes as an independent instructor before teaching Piovarchy.
Experiencing about 95 percent of his college classes with teaching assistants, Piovarchy said he prefers being taught by TAs than by professors.
With other students in agreement, could it be Ohio State TAs teach better than professors?
Although they vary from department to department, Alan Kalish, director of Faculty and TA Development, said there are basically three kinds of TAs. These include independent instructors, such as Saha, who can teach an entire course independently. There are graders, who typically attend class with a professor and help with assignment grading and requests of the professor. Lastly, there are recitation and lab leaders, who hold classes after lectures to re-teach and answer student questions.
Occasionally Kalish said he hears complaints from students and parents that TAs are too abundant and that there are not enough professors. But Kalish said these comments are "few and far between."
"We generally hear very positive feedback from our students," Kalish said. "But like professors, there are some really great TAs and there are the ones students don't always like."
2008 Woodie Awards