Without grad students, the classroom has changed for the worse, some Temple undergraduates say

For some Temple students and parents, getting graduate student teachers back into the classroom can’t come soon enough.

Grace DiMartini, a sophomore from Gaithersburg, Md., said her philosophy class used to meet in person twice a week, for an hour and twenty minutes each time, filled with lively discussion and deep thinking.

But when its graduate student teacher went on strike, the university converted the class to an asynchronous online course with interaction limited to discussion boards. And the new professor doesn’t seem to have the same strong background in philosophy as the graduate student, said DiMartini, a philosophy major.

» READ MORE: Temple reports progress in negotiations with striking grad students and plans to meet again Wednesday

“I picked philosophy of the mind to learn about philosophy of the mind,” said DiMartini, 19, “not just to read articles and write a page about it for a grade. If I post something [in the discussion board] I have to wait for someone to respond to me. It could be days and then the spark goes. I’m really only taking the class at this point for the credits. I’ve given up trying to learn anything.”

» READ MORE: Temple undergrads caught in tug-of-war as 1,000 attend afternoon walkout and rally

Others have had concerns about classes being moved online, too. Julia Barth, a psychology major from Langhorne, said one of her classes, “Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences,” was challenging before the strike started when it met three times a week in person. It was moved online with only one meeting per week.

“It’s definitely very challenging,” Barth said.

Temple has said that some of the classes taught by striking graduate students have been moved online to accommodate the schedule of the new instructors and because of “intimidation.”

Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer, acknowledged the difficulty the strike has caused, in an email to the Temple community Tuesday evening.

“The last five weeks have been immensely challenging,” he wrote. “Together, we have had to navigate through a work stoppage that distracts from the university’s larger mission of educating our students and serving the Temple and North Philadelphia communities. We recognize the impact this has had on our community, and we thank you all for continuing to demonstrate amazing patience, flexibility and resilience.”

His message came after a day of negotiating with the Temple University Graduate Students Association (TUGSA), which Kaiser said yielded progress. One positive sign: The university on Tuesday said it would reinstate health care insurance subsidies for striking students — the university had been roundly criticized by some public officials and union leaders for taking them away.

And negotiating teams for the two sides resumed negotiations at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The union is in its sixth week of a strike — the first in TUGSA’s approximately 20-year history — seeking better pay and benefits.

DiMartini empathizes with the graduate students’ fight. She recalled when one of her teachers had a baby and didn’t have enough paid leave. He had used whatever time he had and then had to get someone to cover for him, she said.

“I love my graduate students,” she said. “I think my favorite classes have been taught by graduate students.”

DiMartini said she complained to Temple about the quality of the philosophy class and was advised to drop it if she was dissatisfied. But she said that could interfere with her graduation date.

“They put us into a really tight spot,” she said.

Traci DiMartini, her mother, is upset, too, that her daughter’s education has been affected.

“These kids love Temple,” said DiMartini, a human resources director who grew up in Downingtown, “but they have to get their act together.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.