Tonya Filz & Regan A.R. Gurung
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
Abstract
As class sizes increase due to stagnating budgets, and as colleges and universities around the nation increase enrollment, more faculty (especially
those without graduate students) are turning to undergraduate teaching assistants (UTA) to aid in course management and help students learn.
We surveyed 142 students enrolled in courses that utilized UTAs to predict student perceptions of UTA helpfulness, accessibility, and perceived
qualifications. We found a significant relationship between many UTA teaching characteristics and these three main target variables. We
recommend ideal UTA characteristics as well as propose a method for designing and implementing training programs for UTAs.
Introduction
Undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) play an essential
role in many classes within academia, particularly in small and
mid-sized universities without graduate programs. Typical UTA
activities include taking attendance, assisting with in class
activities, looking over course material generated by the
instructor, obtaining library materials for the course, and
tutoring. Given the value that UTAs add to courses (e.g.
lightening the professors workload, serving as a sounding
board, etc.) we sought to investigate student perceptions of
UTAs to help train successful future UTAs. Whereas previous
research focused on the benefits to the UTAs themselves, we
explored specific UTA characteristics and how these
characteristics affected student ratings of helpfulness,
accessibility, and how qualified UTAs are for their position. By
specifying these characteristics, the present study will aid
faculty in designing and implementing training programs for
UTAs. Different lines of research converge to suggest that
key teacher characteristics are helpfulness, accessibility, and
being seen as qualified; therefore we used these measures as
main outcome measures. Correspondingly, our goal was to
predict variables contributing to student perceptions of these
three factors in UTAs. Each contribute to overall rapport, and
are associated with a wide realm of positive student outcomes
such as increased student motivation and improved.
Method
Correlations between individual TBC
items and main measures
Mean Student Rating of UTA Characteristics
5
4
3
2
1
0
Helpful
Accessible
Qualified
Results
We conducted three multiple regression analyses to establish the most important
factors contributing to main outcome measures. To control for overlapping
associations among the 18 items in Table 1, we entered all items as a block and
used stepwise extraction. The 18 items adapted from the TBC predicted 14% of
the variance in UTA helpfulness (we entered all items except ‘helpful’). One
characteristic predicted unique variance: rapport, F (1, 137) = 21.94, p < .001,
=.16. The 18 items adapted from the TBC predicted 19% of the variance in UTA
accessibility. Three characteristics predicted unique variance: responsive, F (1,
137) = 23.62, p < .001, =.17, flexible and open-minded, F (2, 136) = 14.33, p
< .05, =.14, and technologically literate, F (3, 135) = 11.92, p < .05, =.02. The
18 items from the TBC predicted 21% of the variance in UTA perceived
qualification. Again, one characteristic predicted unique variance: helpful, F (1,
137) = 37.12, p < .001, =.27.
Undergraduate students enrolled in classes utilizing UTAs participated in this study (N = 142). The majority of participants were women (79.3%).
Participant ages ranged from 18-30 (M = 19.57, SD = 1.85). The majority of participants were first-year students (61.4%). We adapted 18 items
from the Teacher Behavior Checklist (TBC, Keeley et al., 2006) to measure characteristics UTAs may exhibit with responses ranging on a scale of 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). In addition to items from the TBC (Keeley et al., 2006), we used single items to measure UTAs helpfulness and
accessibility. We assessed helpfulness and accessibility on a Likert scale of 1 (Very Helpful) to 6 (Very Unhelpful) and a scale of 1 (Very Accessible) to 5
(Not at all accessible), respectively. Additionally, we asked participants’ to rate how qualified they felt their UTAs were for the TA position, on a scale of
1 (very qualified) to 6 (very unqualified).
Presented at the 2012 American Psychological Association’s Annual Conference. Orlando, FL TEF0003@TIGERMAIL.AUBURN.EDU
Discussion
This study demonstrates crucial UTA characteristics that directly affect student
perceptions of UTA helpfulness, accessibility, and perceived qualification for the
UTA position. These traits can be helpful to keep in mind when recruiting and
training new UTAs. Although we found many UTA characteristics to correlate at
the zero-order level, our regression analyses suggest that when recruiting new
UTAs, it is crucial to seek out UTAs who are helpful, technologically literature,
responsive, flexible, and who will establish rapport with students. As an
alternative, teachers can foster these characteristics when training and
mentoring UTAs.