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The Teaching Assistant Program: Some Experiences...

Personally, I don't think I ever understood how exceptional our TA Program is until I attended a conference of educators (SIGCSE). Brown's TA Program gives the department an exceptional amount of flexibility while allowing students to explore the pleasures of teaching and developing a course that affects their peers. With multiple minds working towards a goal of education, students can view material from multiple viewpoints, seek out help when reaching a stumbling block and the course can move at a far more rapid pace than it would without the TA system.

In addition to the advantage the TA Program gives students, the satisfaction of TAing cannot be duplicated. Knowing that you helped someone cross a barrier in comprehension is tremendously rewarding. Being able to create assignments and watch as people maneuver through learning the concepts you helped present is fascinating. In addition, being able to help students reach their potential creates a desire for improvement in yourself.

I enjoy being a part of the TA Program because it has helped me grow personally while helping others.

Age: 20
Grad Year: 2000
Concentration: Computer Science
Web page: http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/dmb/
Email: dmb@cs.brown.edu
Interests: Folk Music, Literary Magazines, Cooperative Housing

My experiences TAing for the department have varied quite a bit. The biggest difference is probably the difference between UTA'ing and Head TAing. As a UTA, for both cs4 and cs15, I had a great time helping students learn. I spent the majority of my time working with students, helping them struggle with and eventually understand the concepts that the class was teaching. This interaction with students was what made me fall in love with TAing. Passing on the information, and helping them to understand felt fantastic.

As a head TA, I feel my role has been more towards the course as a whole than individual students. I have worked to make sure the TA staff has worked together well, and tried to make the class run smoothly, and be enjoyable for everyone involved. It is a feeling of great responsibility, but being able to affect a university class like this as an undergraduate is an amazing honor, and something which I feel very strongly about.

It's these two things: being able to help people and being able to influence amazing classes as an undergraduate, that make the TA program in this department amazing to me.

Age: 20
Grad Year: 1999
Concentration: Computer Science (ScB)
Web Page: http://www.cs.brown.edu/~jbm
Email: jbm@cs.brown.edu
Interests: sports/exercise, games (video, role-playing), dancing

Ta'ing has been a rich and rewarding experience. Becoming a ta is one of the best decisions that I have made while at Brown. As a ta, I have gotten the chance to work alongside faculty members as they put together a class. Along the way, I've learned a lot about the internals of courses. I have met and become friends with many bright and interesting people on the ta staffs. And lastly, it's been very satisfying helping fellow students. I appreciate the hard work that my ta's do, and it is nice to continue that chain.

Age: 19
Grad Year: 1999
Concentration: CS
Web Page: http://www.cs.brown.edu/~gk
Email: gk@cs.brown.edu
Interests:

I have been a TA for 4 different courses during 6 of my semesters at Brown. The TA program is great for a number of reasons. As a TA, you learn a whole lot more about Unix than you would just as a student at Brown, and a lot more about the concepts taught in the course than you would just taking it. Teaching material you enjoy to others is really fun. My personal favorite part of the TA program is the fun you have with other people; TAs do silly stuff like put on skits in class, and many of my friends are people I have TA'd with.

Age: 21
Grad Year: 1998
Concentration: Computer Science (ScB)
Web Page: http://www.cs.brown.edu/~sas
Email: sas@cs.brown.edu
Interests: include ballroom dancing, 80's dancing, roller-hockey. :)

For the past four semesters, I've TA-ed CS4 and CS15. TAing introductory classes is exciting because you're dealing with students who have never programmed before and may even be a little scared of computers. By the end of the semester, you've helped them adjust to an entirely new way of thinking. When I was struggling through CS15 my freshman year, I remember talking to one of my TAs who said that she had also had a hard time at first. I was surprised that just last year she had begun 15 with no prior experience, and now she knew enough to be a TA. She encouraged me to keep trying, and by the end of the semester I actually knew what I was doing. One of my goals as a TA is to do the same for other beginners who feel like they can't understand computer science.

Age: 20
Grad Year: 1999
Concentration: CS / Am Civ
Web Page: http://www.cs.brown.edu/~plm
Email: plm@cs.brown.edu
Interests: Old-time fiddle, running, making things