Training Teaching Assistants to Create a Positive Motivational Climate

Problem

Student recruitment and retention in Computer Science (CS) is a well-known challenge, and there are national efforts to increase participation in CS.^1,11 Our research and firsthand experiences indicate that one approach to addressing recruitment and retention is to increase student motivation through improved interactions between students and their Teaching Assistants (TAs). TAs interact directly with students, often in one-on-one situations, and thus, they are on the “frontlines” in motivating students through their communication, course management, grading, and feedback. However, TAs often do not have the teaching experience or knowledge needed to effectively motivate students.

Purpose

We developed a training program to teach TAs the knowledge and skills needed to motivate and engage students in their learning. The main goal was to use evidence-based practices built on current motivation theories to design, implement, and evaluate a training program designed to teach TAs how to create a positive motivational climate when working with students. One of the primary outcomes of the CS TA Training project has been the development of materials that lay the groundwork for expanding the project within the CS department at Virginia Tech and to other institutions.

The purpose of this article is to (a) describe the process we used to train TAs to create a positive motivational climate and (b) explain our evaluation procedures and outcomes.

Guiding Theories

Figure 1. The Five Components of the MUSIC Model of Motivation that Lead to a Positive Motivational Climate (View full size).

We used the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation^5-6 as a guiding theoretical framework in the design and implementation of the CS TA Training program. MUSIC is an acronym for the first sounds of the five important motivational design components that can lead to a positive motivational climate (see Figure 1). We emphasized that they need to empower students by helping them become self-regulated learners that can solve problems by themselves. We noted the need to help students believe that they can succeed if they put forth effort, and understand the usefulness of what they are learning. We also highlighted the importance of caring about students’ learning and well-being, and creating an interesting and enjoyable experience for students.

Context

We conducted the TA training with undergraduate and graduate TAs who were assigned to four core undergraduate CS courses at Virginia Tech. The CS department consists of about 1,500 undergraduate CS majors, 700 graduate students, and 75 faculty members. Each semester, the department hires approximately 110 GTAs (Graduate TAs) and 130 UTAs (Undergraduate TAs). TA responsibilities vary across courses, but standard responsibilities include holding office hours, grading, and leading lab sections. During office hours and labs, TAs typically answer questions about assignments (e.g., debugging code) or upcoming exams.

We trained TAs who were associated with four undergraduate CS courses, with about 500 students in each course. The first semester we conducted the training, it included 18 TAs from one course. The next semester, we administered the training to about 80 TAs from all four courses.

Elements of the Project

The major elements of the TA training are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Timeline of the Elements of the TA Training (view full size).

Prior to the semester

TAs participated in a 7-hour face-to-face training workshop that was divided into two main parts: (1) Role as a TA and (2) Motivational Teaching Strategies. An outline of our entire pre-semester workshop is provided in Table 1. The first part of the workshop (Role as a TA) was conducted by a professor of one of the CS courses included in the project. This part discussed the expectations, policies, and rules related to their position as a TA in the course and department. We used mostly a lecture format; however, there were some topics of discussion, a brief scavenger hunt to find information about their course, and opportunities to ask questions throughout.

The second part of the workshop (Motivational Teaching Strategies) was led by an educational psychology professor and his doctoral student, while the CS professor provided further explanations and specific CS examples. The purpose of this part was to teach the TAs how to create a positive motivational climate. The focus was on the empowerment, success, and caring components of the MUSIC model, and issues related to usefulness and interest were interweaved throughout when appropriate. The instructional formats included scenarios, brief videos, explanations by the instructors, examples, discussions, and practice sessions (see Table 1). An important feature of this section was that it relied heavily on scenarios created by the CS professor and experienced CS TAs. The scenarios were based loosely on examples they had encountered, which made them more interesting and useful to the other TAs. We thought it was important to use examples that related directly to CS so that it was more likely for the TAs to be able to transfer their skills to the real-world.

Week 4

During Week 4 of the 15-week course, the TAs completed an online self-assessment (TA Self-Assessment Check-In) to help the training team ensure that they were on track and completing their duties. The TA training team then reviewed the self-assessments to inform their design of the Week 7 workshop to address areas of need.

Week 7

The TAs participated in a 2-hour, face-to-face workshop (see Table 2 for the outline).

Week 8

Faculty completed a feedback form for each TA. We gave each TA the form and asked them to review the faculty feedback (Faculty Feedback to TAs). The CS students also completed an anonymous feedback survey about their TAs, (Student Feedback for TAs), and we summarized the feedback and gave it to the TAs.

Throughout the semester

We supported the TAs through an online community chat. With the initiation of this program, the online chats for the TA teams for each class seemed to become more popular and active than in prior years. The chats were focused on the specific course and were monitored by the instructors.

Evaluation Measures

The effects of the training program on the TAs and their students were evaluated using a mix of questions created specifically for this project and previously-validated scales. Here are some of the instruments we used:

• Evaluation of TA Training (see Figures 3, 4, 5, and 7)
• Motivation-related scales (see Table 3)
• Examples of articles that use these measures:
  • Connections Between Students’ Perceptions of the Motivational Climate in a Course and their Motivational Beliefs and Academic and Career Goals
  • Designing an Effective Motivational Climate
  • Motivational Climate Predicts Effort and Achievement in a Large Computer Science Course

Outcomes

Figure 3. Usefulness of the TA Training Topics (view full size).

The TAs generally found the training topics (see Figure 3) and activities (see Figure 4) to be useful. They also reported the following: the training workshop was useful in their role as a TA, they were ready for their role as a TA, and the workshop was enjoyable (see Figure 5). As one TA noted on the survey: “The reiteration of scaffolding, rubber ducking and active listening was helpful because those were things I’m not always good at.”

Figure 4. Usefulness of the TA Training Activities (view full size).

Figure 5. TA Training Workshop Feedback from TAs (view full size).

We surveyed TAs at the beginning and end of the semester to determine whether their ratings of four key motivation constructs had changed. Then, we compared the TAs who received the training to those who did not. The training resulted in a statistically significant positive change in their sense of belonging in the CS community at Virginia Tech (see Figure 6). One TA commented on the training survey that “I enjoyed being able to talk to other TAs and learn about their experiences.” However, the training did not have a significant change on their expectancy in CS, identification with CS, or teaching self-efficacy.

Figure 6. TA Ratings on Four Motivation-Related Constructs (view full size).

We compared student survey responses from the semester before TA training was implemented (the control group) to responses from semesters in which the TAs had received the training. When the TAs were trained, students in Course 25 rated these TAs higher on these items: TAs are effective, TAs help me believe I can succeed, and TAs care about me (see Figure 7). Figure 8 shows similar results in another course (labeled Course 21), except that students rated the TAs’ effectiveness the same in both the control and training courses (also, the “TAs care about me” item in Spring 2024 was not higher than the control semester). These findings demonstrate that the training had an overall positive effect on students’ perceptions of their TAs.

Figure 7. Students’ Ratings of TAs in Course 25 (view full size).

Figure 8. Students’ Ratings of TAs in Course 21 (view full size).

We also evaluated students’ grades and found that students earned statistically significantly (p < .05) higher grades in the semesters in which their TAs received the training than in semesters in which their TAs were not trained. This finding was true for both Course 21 and 25, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Students’ Ratings of TAs in Course 21 (view full size).

Conclusions and Challenges

The TAs found the workshop topics and activities useful, they felt ready to be a TA, and enjoyed the workshop. They also had a greater sense of belonging with the university CS community at the end of the semester as compared to untrained TAs. The students reported higher ratings for TAs and earned higher grades in semesters when they were assisted by TAs who had been trained. In sum, the training had a positive effect on the TAs and students.

Challenges that we addressed

• Creating a training schedule (e.g., number of training sessions, number of hours per session) that is reasonable in terms of workload for both the TAs and faculty administering the training.
• Having a CS professor work with an educational psychology professor to connect motivational theories to CS-specific examples.
• Getting department faculty to buy-in to the need for the training by explaining the purpose and demonstrating results of the training.
• Working through the logistical plan with faculty and administrators to ensure everyone understands the expectations and requirements.
• Conveying the expectations and time commitments to the TAs.