Appreciating the Journey: How Roles in the Classroom Influence Undergraduate Teaching Assistants’ Perception of Their TA Experience

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain feedback from our undergraduate teaching assistants on the structure of the teaching assistant practicum and the variety of their duties within their assignments, as well as their appreciation of the experience. As part of a larger program evaluation effort, participating undergraduate teaching assistants responded to a series of questions about the courses they assisted with (e.g., delivery format, number of students enrolled in the course), how many hours each week they dedicated to their role as a teaching assistant, the frequency in which they engaged in 10 teaching related tasks,  and their overall appreciation of the teaching assistant experience. The results indicate that there is a wide variety of experiences these students have, from type of course format, how much time is devoted to their teaching assistant work, and activities they engage in as an assistant. The results of the appreciation statements indicated that overall, teaching assistants appreciated the experience, with strongly agreeing as the most common response. Most students strongly agreed that being a teaching assistant has helped them be a better student, and most agreed they enjoyed their experience in this role. We suggest that the current version of our teaching assistant program leads to positive experiences for our more advanced undergraduate students;  however, we also see areas for improvement moving forward