[Violagirl]

So for my O Chem lab, I have a TA that's made going lab really uncomfortable. He has a tendency to come down hard on students when mistakes are made and I'm planning on talking to the head professor about it tomorrow. I'm hoping that she will listen and be understanding about it. Has anyone else ever been in this situation and did things turn out ok?

Note: I actually meant to put this in the generic discussion board, sorry!! I'm going to move it there so this thread can be closed. Thanks!

[Arkcon]

If you're absolutely convinced the situation warrants going to the prof then that should be fine.  I've had Teacher's Assistants I didn't like, and some that I understood were doing their best while the other students disliked them because they simply didn't like them personally, or perhaps the student was wrong, and wouldn't accept mild criticism.  In any case I've made it through the class just fine, but profs in my day were more or less hands on, sharing lab work with their TA. We don't know your specific situation, so we really can't comment.

[Doc Oc]

Violagirl, I'm going to be brutally honest with you, as someone who's been on both sides of the fence.

The bottom line: both of you are probably right and both of you are probably wrong.

I've TA'ed lots of labs and they can be very frustrating.  Understand that you're one of probably 30 or so students that TA has to teach and patrolling the lab making sure you don't kill yourselves is an exercise in patience in itself.  I can agree that some TAs have terrible attitudes about teaching, but their responsibility is to make sure you learn the material and don't hurt yourself.  Being your friend or making you comfortable in lab is completely optional.  Your professor may empathize with you, but are you prepared to deal with it if she doesn't?  I can say she will almost certainly not take any action unless your TA is doing something inappropriate like sexually harassing you.

I've noticed that you've posted a lot in the Organic forum lately, basically asking people how to answer the questions for your lab reports.  It doesn't show good initiative on your part, and I bet that comes through in lab.  I ALWAYS knew which students hated lab and were only there because it was a prereq for their biology degree.  They may as well have stamped it on the front of their shirts.  Basically, instead of logging in face time with your TA or your professor, you've resorted to an internet forum full of strangers.  And now you're proposing to go complain to the professor that your TA is mean, but you don't go to office hours and you appear to be struggling with class.  Try to understand how that looks.  I believe that your TA is a jerk.  I also believe that you aren't trying your best.  The important thing is to figure out a way to bridge that gap.

My suggestion to you is to start going to office hours for either your TA or your professor.  You might be surprised how positive that ends up for you.  I can tell you that as a TA, when you're grading lab reports or exams and you're not sure whether you should give a point to someone, you will almost always give it to a student who comes to office hours a lot because you recognize their effort to improve.

[Violagirl]

Doc Oc, thank you for your honest opinion. It helps to get the perspective from somebody that TAs too to gain futhur insight.  I did talk to my professor today and it ended up being the best thing. She did give me a bit of his side but also gave me suggestions on what to do as well. My TA has office hours for while I'm in class, I think I'm going to start seeing her more often. Thank you again.

[Doc Oc]

I'm glad you had a good conversation with your professor and I hope things start to improve for you.

BTW, I'm not trying to discourage you from asking questions here, that's what the forum is for.  I just think that you would see more benefit by asking your TA or professor.  FYI, TAs and professors spend probably 75-80% of their office hours alone, it's usually only during midterms and finals that they have a lot of students coming by.  So it only takes a few visits for you to become very recognizable.

[Violagirl]

Thank you very much!

No worries, I know you weren't.  I plan to start visiting my prof more, especially now after seeing how easy she is to approach with questions in comparison with my TA. Thank you again for your input!

[pfnm]

I found that presenting myself as a good student (arriving early, writing quality lab reports), familiarising myself with the lab (especially the location of equipment was etc), being very familiar with safety (filling out multiple risk assessment forms for each experiment, with flowcharts on the back and other information) and being very prepared, then when in the lab, staying quiet and doing my work...all this helped me get on with my demonstrators.

I did not particularly enjoy the organic chemistry lab, but I hope I was able to hide that well from demonstrators like Doc. Oc