The course I'm TAing for this semester is the second half of a bigger sequence. The two courses are extremely related in overall concepts yet are distinct in their individual content. I recently sat down with the professor to discuss the upcoming exam. Prof. Teacher was upset at the students' lack of participation in a lecture this week, so Prof. Teacher decided to make the test very hard and including material from the first half course (which was not taught by Prof. Teacher).
I argued that this wasn't a fair treatment of the current material, which of course got Prof. Teacher a little perturbed (since TAs are supposed to agree with all Prof. Teachers, even if their opinion is asked...right?).
But is it fair to test students on material from a previous course, without warning? The way this sequence is set up, it would be very analogous to testing a history class covering post-Enlightenment topics on information from the pre-Enlightenment class.
We're meeting again later this week. Do you think I should just give in and agree with Prof. Teacher, or is PT expecting too much?
