The NY Times did an article on how students are having a problem understanding foreign TA's in their classes. I experienced this as a Biology major at Rutgers. Even if you understand the words these TA's are saying, their cadences and phrasings are different then you're used to hearing. There's an extra layer of thought you have to go through to get to the knowledge you're trying to learn. This is just unacceptable when you're in these desperately competitive classes.
The TA's are saying students are just complaining but I think this is a pretty easy problem to analyze. Let's apply some of this science here. Just compare the scores of the students with American TA's to foreign TA's. You'll need some controls for the different schools, disciplines and such but it can be done. Is there a difference? If there is then this needs to be addressed. The schools seem to be putting their heads in the sand. Maybe they need to stop outsourcing these positions.
The TA's are saying students are just complaining but I think this is a pretty easy problem to analyze. Let's apply some of this science here. Just compare the scores of the students with American TA's to foreign TA's. You'll need some controls for the different schools, disciplines and such but it can be done. Is there a difference? If there is then this needs to be addressed. The schools seem to be putting their heads in the sand. Maybe they need to stop outsourcing these positions.
