Does Instructor Type Matter? Undergraduate Student Perception of Graduate Teaching Assistants and Professors

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are used extensively as instructors in higher education, yet their status and authority as teachers may be unclear to undergraduates, to administrators, and even to the GTAs themselves. This study explored undergraduate perception of classroom instruction by GTAs and professors to identify factors unique to each type of instructor versus the type of classes they teach. Data collection was via an online survey composed of subscales from two validated instruments, as well as one open-ended question asking students to compare the same class taught by a professor versus a GTA. Quantitative and qualitative results indicated that some student instructional perceptions are specific to instructor type, and not class type. For example, regardless of type of class, professors are perceived as being confident, in control, organized, experienced, knowledgeable, distant, formal, strict, hard, boring, and respected. Conversely, GTAs are perceived as uncertain, hesitant, nervous, relaxed, laid-back, engaging, interactive, relatable, understanding, and able to personalize teaching. Overall, undergraduates seem to perceive professors as having more knowledge and authority over the curriculum, but enjoy the instructional style of GTAs. The results of this study will be used to make recommendations for GTA professional development programs.     

Age as a merit in admission decisions for higher education

Higher Education - This paper uses register data to study how a particular age reward feature affects admission into two highly competitive study programs: medicine and law. The Norwegian admission...     

Inclusive Education for Students with Hearing Impairment in the Regular Secondary Schools in the North-West Region of Cameroon: Initiatives and Challenges

Although some initiatives are implemented in the education of students with hearing impairments in the regular school, challenges are still encountered in their education. This article which is part of the results from an ongoing qualitative study in the North-West region of Cameroon addresses the different initiatives and challenges involved with including students with hearing impairment in regular schools. Interviews, participant observations as well as field notes were the main instruments used in collecting data from the six teachers and six students with hearing impairments who participated in the research. Academic support, classroom placement and the way of working of the sign language interpreters were considered the major initiatives and challenges in the education of the students with hearing impairment in regular schools. It is apparent that adequate adjustments have not been made within the schools to meet the needs of the students with hearing impairments. This hence questions their actual inclusion in the regular school.     

Direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on source-content integration when reading about a socio-scientific issue

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on readers’ ability to integrate...     

Virtual Reality: a Tool for Preservice Science Teachers to Put Theory into Practice

Journal of Science Education and Technology - The purpose of the present study was to investigate, compare, and characterize interactive VR-based preservice science teacher clinical teaching...     

‘Living Values: an educational program’—from initiative to uptake

This article is concerned with the connection between religions and education. It explores the case of one particular values education programme, ‘Living Values: an educational program’, and its link with the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) to show how the programme originated and developed, which individuals and institutions were involved in these processes, how such a programme finds application in British schools and what form such application takes. The article traces a ‘chain of transmission’ from inception to classroom and looks at the reception which a values-based programme finds among teachers, pupils and parents. The article is based on ethnographic and documentary data gathered in a one-year research project (September 2001 to October 2002) in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick.     

‘I wish color had no history’: an exploration of identity through student performance poetry

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on multiracial student experiences using co-created ethnographic data with two students’ spoken word poetry. The students considered their own history, their origins and discovered a complexity – and found that their struggle was not exclusively internal. External expectations of singular categorizations and social understanding of behavior played a role in students’ identity construction. The students exhibited an internalization of expectations, as they reflected on their developing identities in their writing. They also indicated that they found ways to resist the expectations and forms of power. The results further discussions related to the modern understanding of identity fluidity and raises the question of why identity, in the modern context, continues to be seen as fixed. The research enabled students to reflect on the complex nature of identity and present a nuanced picture of their unique identity struggles, and their awareness of the social constructs and expectations of others.     

Visual Narrativity in the Picture Book: Heinrich Hoffmann’s Der Struwwelpeter

This article intervenes in the debate about the pedagogical import of Heinrich Hoffmann’s Der Struwwelpeter. Should this book be regarded as a typical example of black pedagogy or as a form of subversive children’s literature? I argue in favour of the latter point of view, on the basis of a close reading of the interaction between words and pictures in this classic children’s book. Meanwhile, this article aims to further our theoretical insights into the narrative potential of images. Every picture tells a story, but how, exactly? I attempt to give an answer to this question through a detailed case study of Der Struwwelpeter.     

Akute infektiöse Diarrhoe

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