Last year I was a TA for two terms for the same undergrad course (CSC207 Software Design). I just received the student evaluations for my performance as a TA during the winter term, so now I have a clearer view of my performance during the whole year.
There were 9 and 8 evaluation responses during the Fall and Winter terms respectively, and the students gave me a mark from 1 to 7 inclusive, where 1 stands for extremely poor, 4 stands for adequate and 7 for outstanding. Here are my stats:
| Fall 2008 | Winter 2009 | |||
| mean | std dev | mean | std dev | |
| presentation | 2.33 | 1.41 | 4.38 | 1.51 |
| English | 3.67 | 1.41 | 5.12 | 1.55 |
| clarity | 2.44 | 1.67 | 5.00 | 1.07 |
| enthusiasm | 2.78 | 1.79 | 6.00 | 1.07 |
| question handling | 2.56 | 2.07 | 5.12 | 1.73 |
| grading fairness | 3.44 | 2.07 | 4.88 | 1.25 |
| grading speed | 3.67 | 1.94 | 4.62 | 1.69 |
| overall | 2.67 | 2.06 | 5.38 | 1.41 |
I think that the stats kind of tell the story of me coming and adapting to Canada. I came last September and for the first term, I really really sucked as a TA. But then, as I slowly became more and more accustomed to the place, the people, the language and the academic environment, things got much better.
I especially note the “enthusiasm” stat. It’s actually surprisingly accurate: the more I got accustomed to this place, the more I started identifying myself with it and regarding it as a place to which I want to contribute. I just feel sorry for the poor students that had to suffer me during my adaptation period…
