Conference Session

Graduate Student Experience

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine E. Winters, Virginia Tech; Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies, Student

choices. In this study, we are concerned with GTAs‟ autonomy inteaching tasks.MethodsBecause little is known about GTAs‟ teaching experiences, this research is exploratory in nature.Moreover, qualitative research methods are most appropriate for answering our researchquestions as we seek to understand GTAs‟ experience in their own words 19. Although there area variety of quantitative instruments for studying SDT none are directly applicable in thissituation and using qualitative methods could help us develop appropriate quantitative methodsfor future use.ParticipantsParticipants were selected from graduate teaching assistants in the College of Engineering at alarge, research intensive, land-grant university in a Mid-Atlantic state. Only graduate