if you take a class purely to offer tutoring to less advanced students for the purpose of looking impressive, finding dates, etc., then you are taking advantage of this power dynamic
sure this is different but if the advanced students are engineering situations where they are leading lab sessions then it's not that different
>if you take a class purely to offer tutoring to less advanced students for the purpose of looking impressive, finding dates, etc., then you are taking advantage of this power dynamic
Sure, and if I pay a fast food worker to make me a burger, I'm taking advantage of the "power dynamic" of me having more money than they do.
>sure this is different but if the advanced students are engineering situations where they are leading lab sessions then it's not that different
I think the right response for the professor in this situation is
1. Don't reduce the amount of help that would normally be offered to students in the class. That way there's still someone getting paid to lead lab sessions.
2. Pull aside the seniors and say to them: "I know what you're doing, and I'm ok with it, as long as you help everyone who asks for help, including people you're not interested in. If you're making the students you're not interested in feel terrible, I'm going to announce what you're doing to the entire class."
>dating your student as a TA is questionable
TAs are paid employees who often grade student papers. Seems like a very different situation.