Interesting point, Jim. My experience with TA/GAs in college was that the scientific disciplines tended to have foreign-born TAs while the social sciences did not. One exception was a basic sociology class my freshman year that had a German professor and an Indian TA. The TA only administered tests.
As far as measurement education, I learned metric in 2nd grade and had learned non-metric before that. In 5th and 6th grade, we tracked our growth in cm. From 7th grade on, we dealt in metric exclusively for measurement. Non-metric units were not used at all. I graduated high school in 1984. In speaking with my father last week, we were discussing metric education and I asked him when he learned metric (he is trained as an engineer). He said that it was in grade school which surprised me as he graduated in 1947. He went to New York City public schools. My question to those educated in the U.S. prior to the 1970s is; were you taught metric in public school and if so, when were you introduced to it? Phil -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James R. Frysinger Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 4:56 PM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:33396] Re: Teaching assistants On Friday 24 June 2005 14:29, Nat Hager III wrote: > I read with some amusement in the New York Times this morning, an > article describing how university undergraduates are having trouble > understand accents of their foreign-born teaching assistants. I think > the problem is bigger than just getting the teaching assistants to speak > better English. > > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/education/24assistant.html? > > The Global world is closing in... Nat, I think it is fair to infer from the above that you expect there to be problems because the foreign graduate students use the SI and the students cannot cope with that or have problems with that. If so, I would have to say that I disagree, based on my experience at the College of Charleston. We do not have graduate student TAs but we do have professors who are foreign born, many of whom are over here on visas. In my 13.5 years at the College I have heard students grumbling about language problems but never --- not once --- have I heard any grumbling about the SI being used. The article featured a student who had a problem in a chemistry class. Chemistry just is not done in non-metric units. With a few exceptions, it is all SI. The exceptions that come to mind are the use of the calorie instead of the joule in some courses, the use of the dalton instead of the unified atomic mass unit (the dalton, Da, has been proposed but it has not yet been approved by the CIPM), and perhaps the odd angstrom for wavelengths instead of nanometers. The calorie and the angstrom are fading rapidly from the scene. In physics, by way of partial contrast, there was for years the arrogantly proud professors who delighted in "proving" that physics works just as well in ifp as it does in metric units. Those are retiring from the rosters as we speak. Then there are the astronomers. Ah, yes, there they are... For some reason some astronomers/astrophysicists are convinced that the SI doesn't do magnetic units right and that it also makes sense to stick to the other cgs units --- when not using parsecs and lightyears. So, I do hear occasional rumblings along the lines of "What the h*** is an erg?" Putting that in terms of the joule answers the questions satisfactorily. And so forth. I finally quit asking my students whether they preferred "English" or metric units because they all prefer metric. Now, don't get me wrong. They are not very good at using metric units! But they are much worse at the non-metric units!!! With dual-unit training going on in the K-12 curricula we end up teaching both sets of units very poorly. But since the metric system is easier, that's the one that sticks better in the students' minds. No, use of the SI by graduate student TAs is not likely the problem in chemistry and physics, at least. It might be a real bummer for geography or journalism students, or perhaps for some architecture students. Those are fields where I know some truly unit-numb, innumerate professors stand and teach in non-metric units. TAs there who use the modern metric system probably through the students for a loop with hectares, for example. The article is on the point, I think. Fluency in English goes beyond a good vocabulary and correct grammatical usage. It has to do with accent, idiom, use or non-use of tonality, speed of speech, and many other issues that make foreign teachers a problem. This is one that we have wrestled with extensively in our job interview process, and for good reason. Jim -- James R. Frysinger Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist Senior Member, IEEE http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: Physics Lab Manager, Lecturer Dept. of Physics and Astronomy University/College of Charleston 66 George Street Charleston, SC 29424 843.953.7644 (phone) 843.953.4824 (FAX) Home: 10 Captiva Row Charleston, SC 29407 843.225.0805
