Wheeler, L. B., Maeng, J. L., Chiu, J. L., & Bell, R. L. (2017). Do Teaching Assistants Matter? Investigating Relationships between Teaching Assistants and Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Science Laboratory Classes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(4), 463–492.
This quantitative study examined (i) the impact of inquiry-based TA professional development (PD) on TAs’ content knowledge, beliefs, and confidence; (ii) the use of UTAs in parallel roles to GTAs in inquiry-based laboratories; and (iii) the relationship between TAs content knowledge and student learning outcomes in an inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory context. The authors are from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and Oregan State University, Corvallis. PD supported TAs to lead inquiry-based classes, involving a weeklong workshop and 14 weekly follow-up meetings. Participants included 5 UTAs, 14 GTAs, and their 529 students. Results demonstrate that TAs’ content knowledge improved following PD and teaching, and students’ content knowledge significantly improved across the semester. Further, TAs with higher content knowledge post-PD tended to have students with higher end-of-semester content knowledge. No differences existed between UTAs or GTAs on any TA characteristic or student outcome measure. Student demographics were significant predictors of student post-survey content scores and students’ perceptions of their TA differed based on gender and international TA status.