Evaluating an Innovative, Structured Teaching Assistantship Program: Impacts on Student Success and Career Readiness

在全国范围内，研究生教学助理的培训和准备工作范围从最低限度的支助到主要在部门一级提供的完善的讲习班和指导。最近，摩根州立大学实施了一项高度结构化的、全校范围的、持续评估的助教培训和指导计划（MSTAP）。摩根州立大学获得的美国国家科学基金会研究生教育创新奖（IGE）将寻求一个核心问题的答案：参加结构化的助学金——伴随着基于课程的教学培训、重要的专业发展和训练有素的导师的指导——是增加还是减少了接受者学生成功和职业准备的可能性。研究结果可能为主导的“研究学徒”博士教育模式提供了一种替代方案，这种模式为成功提供了一个特定的定义，贬低了教学（尤其是助教[TA]角色）。这种模式也最大限度地减少了在完成学位后证明是无价的教学培训。这项研究将为全国的助教计划提供指导，并强调教学作为成功和准备的有意义的组成部分的价值。本研究以自我决定理论（SDT）为基础，采用混合方法对助教和非助教进行研究。自决将成为TA项目参与者成功的衡量标准，因为它表明自主、能力和相关性促进了整体的成长和发展。有三种不同的干预措施：1)MSTAP指令；2)导师培训与指导；3)加强专业发展。这三种干预措施将通过观察、调查、访谈和焦点小组技术进行评估，并通过分析得出五个更具体的实证问题：1)MSTAP对保留和完成的影响是什么？2) MSTAP对助教的项目成功和职业准备有何影响？3)对时间到程度的影响是什么？4)对于助教任命对整体准备和成功的作用，态度和看法有何改变？5)本科生如何体验助教的指导？这些问题反过来又为中心问题的定量和定性评估提供了支持数据。该研究涉及来自摩根所有博士学科的大量助教（每年多达180人），包括工程、数学、自然科学、计算机科学、STEM教育和心理测量学，以及社会科学和人文科学。一组非助教（研究助理等）将参与指导和专业发展活动，从而作为比较组，以隔离MSTAP的影响。研究生教育创新（IGE）项目专注于研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试点、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nationally, the training and preparation of Graduate Teaching Assistants ranges from minimal support to well-developed workshops and coaching delivered primarily at the departmental level. Recently, Morgan State University implemented a highly structured, institution-wide, continuously evaluated training and coaching program for TAs (MSTAP). This National Science Foundation Innovations of Graduate Education (IGE) award to Morgan State University will seek to an answer to the central question: whether participating in a structured assistantship— accompanied by course-based instructional training, significant professional development, and mentoring from well-trained mentors—increases or decreases the likelihood of the recipient’s student success and career readiness. The outcomes may suggest an alternative to the dominant “research apprentice” model of doctoral education that provides a specific definition for success that devalues teaching (especially Teaching Assistant [TA] roles). This model also minimizes the training for instruction that proves invaluable upon degree completion. The study will provide guidance to TA programs nationwide and underscore the value of teaching as a meaningful component of success and readiness. The study involves TAs and non-TAs in a mixed methods approach built on Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Self-determination will be the measure of success for TA program participants, as it suggests that autonomy, competence, and relatedness facilitate overall growth and development. There are three distinct interventions: 1) the MSTAP instruction; 2) mentor training and mentoring; and 3) enhanced professional development. These three interventions will be evaluated with observational, survey, interview, and focus group techniques that lead, with analysis, to five more specific empirical questions: 1) What are the effects of MSTAP on retention and completion?; 2) What is the impact of MSTAP on the TAs’ program success and career readiness?; 3) What is the impact on time to degree?; 4) What are the changes in attitude and perception about the role of the TA appointment on overall readiness and success?; and 5) How do undergraduate students experience instruction provided by TAs? These questions, in turn, provide supporting data for quantitative and qualitative assessment of the central question. The study involves students from large cohorts of TAs (up to 180 in any given year) in all Morgan’s doctoral disciplines including engineering, mathematics, natural sciences, computer science, STEM education, and psychometrics, with social science and humanities for comparison. A group of non-TAs (Research Assistants, etc.) will participate in mentoring and professional development activities, thereby serving as a comparison group in order to isolate the effects of MSTAP.The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.