Tom Campbell wants LA and Berkeley to cost as much as Stanford

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I’ll inject a personal anecdote of mine. I remember sitting in one of the feeder math courses and wishing it was taught by my old high school math teacher instead. Sure, he wasn’t an eminent mathematics research scholar who was heavily published in the top journals, but at least he knew how to teach math in a way that made it fun and interesting in a way that the assigned mathematics professor could not. Nor, like I said, was the material groundbreaking stuff. If my old high school math teacher could successfully teach AP calculus, then certainly he could teach multivariable calculus and linear algebra. What that also means is that Berkeley could pick up some cheap lecturers who may not have the research portfolio to merit a tenure-track job, but who had strong teaching skills, to teach those feeders. You don’t need tenure-track faculty to teach feeder courses.

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<p>It all goes back to the old debate about teaching skills, preparation, and dedication, and how appropriate the “Faculty + TA/GSA” truly is. </p>

<p>Of course, in this corner of CC, speaking ill of the TA model is considered nothing sort of sacrilege and blasphemy.</p>