All students are expected to serve as Teaching Trainees during three* semesters of their residence, for their own professional development as well as the good of the Department. Normally, in at least one of these semesters (and often both), students serve as TTs for 24.900, Introduction to Linguistics (a heavily enrolled multi-section introduction to linguistics for undergraduates). Responsibilities of TTs in 24.900 include the following: (a) attendance at lectures given by the instructor in charge, (b) leading a weekly one-hour discussion section (called “recitation” at MIT) of approximately 18 students, (c) correcting assignments of students in the recitation section and (d) meeting with students for extra assistance during office hours. Students may also have the opportunity to serve as a TT for an intermediate undergraduate or first-year graduate class, as needed.
*This is a change of policy that took effect in the fall of 2023. (Previously students were required to TT for two semesters). The new norm will be to teach one semester in each of years 2-4 in the program. This change came with an offer of a post-doctoral position for every graduating student who has received five years of funding.
As with all changes to program requirements, current students have the choice of either satisfying the requirements that were in place when they entered or the new requirements. In other words, current students still have the option of fulfilling the old two semester TT requirement with no post-doc after graduation, or the new three-semester TT requirement with the option of the post-doc.