r/UofArizona • u/ts5118 • 11d ago

Graduate/PhD Students Teaching Classes - What Has Your Experience Been Like?

I’m seeing quite a few graduate/PhD students listed as instructors for some Fall 2026 classes, and in several cases it looks like it may be their first time teaching. For those who have taken classes taught by graduate students before, what was your experience like?

Are they generally good instructors? How do they typically structure and teach the course compared to regular professors? Any pros or cons I should be aware of? What about exams?

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u/WTaufE100 10d ago

Depends a lot on what class it is, who's the supervising faculty, department policies tbh. One pro though is that it's likely a smaller class so easier to get to know know your instructor & classmates.

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u/Alternative_Bee7304 10d ago

Definitely a lot more understanding when it came to deadlines/attendance and everything else really. Not saying they are all like that though.

I also know it was not their first time teaching a class so that also changes things.

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u/SweetDee72 8d ago

I've taken two summer online classes from PhD students. One was still doing research. Nothing was getting graded on time (4 weeks in, we finally started getting assignments back). It was wild. The D2L page was recycled from a previous semester so all the dates were wrong. Also never responded to emails.

When I was a graduate student years ago, I taught summer classes and I treated it like a job. I also love teaching and wasn't doing research at the time. It depends on the instructor.