Brown CS 190 Summer Placement Test/Course - What are others' experiences?

browncssm15
Sat, 15 Jul 2017 14:11:08 +0000

Hi @profdad2021, speaking as a recent brown cs alum (2017) and having been a TA and HTA in the department in the past, I just want to add that I definitely believe there’s a difference in being blunt and giving “personal insults” in your responses to students as an instructor - having put in the effort to write responses that don’t come off as the latter, even if a question can be answered by reading the handout or instructions, I think that also comes with practice. What your daughter saw could potentially be a response from a TA who’s been hired for the first time, and hasn’t undergone professionalism training yet (happens at the start of each semester). That, of course, is not an excuse for rudeness imo, as that should in no way be part of addressing your students. There are also, imo differences in the course and staff cultures of all three intro CS tracks (based on having been through one and had a lot of friends who took/TA-ed the other tracks), and each have their pros and cons, so it definitely is a good thing to try this placement exam, but to not over-sweat it and also know that the other options are also good for everyone depending on interests!
I’d be happy to speak more about brown cs and TA-ing and intro courses in general - if you want to pm me! It was a fantastic department overall