How to Approach Students with Different Expectations on Coding Lab Sessions as a TA
I often get asked, "Why am I taking this course?"


There are some courses that are required regardless of major. Similar questions could be asked of mathematics faculty. However, it turns out that not only math majors are obligated to attend calculus courses.

I come from a institution that is similarly organized, namely, the first year is the same for all engineering students, which afterwards chose their respective major. This common year contains introductory courses: math, physics, computer science and electronics.

The school's curriculum is as it is, it can be good, it can be made better, but neither you or the students are in a position to influence it, let alone change it. So, stop thinking badly about you or your course, there is nothing wrong with either (at least nothing deducible from the question).

My advice to you is to stick to a medium curriculum, i.e. one that upholds the criterium of the course but is of reasonable difficulty for the average student,  and, if required by your TA agreement, make yourself available for (again reasonable) office hours, where struggling students can find help. And by help, I don't mean that you solve the problems for them, but to help them understand the material.

Students that are on a more advanced level can be motivated with additional assignments, projects or literature, while those "dissatisfied" need to provide the bare minimum effort for passing the course or fail. The same as with any other course.

The same approach is applied to cheating. The fact that someone doesn't want to attend a compulsory course does not entitle them to cheat and such behavior should be reported to the proper authorities.

In short: Don't give in to guilt or sympathy, you have a course to TA and nothing to be sorry about. Uphold the institution standards in teaching, grading, helping and maintaining discipline.