Playing the TA Lottery: A Study of How Teaching Assistants Impact Grades in Engineering Courses

Sean Franey; Anthony Gregerson; Michael T. Braun

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Tricks of the Trade
Tagged Division: Student
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 25.1046.1 - 25.1046.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21803
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21803
Download Count: 359

Paper Authors

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Sean Franey University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Sean Franey is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is currently working in the PHARM research group under Prof. Mikko Lipasti, joining in Sept. 2010. His research interests include improving the performance and efficiency of data movement in multi-node systems, specifically in the GPGPU realm. His path to UW, Madison, lead through four years on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Norfolk, Va., receipt of a B.S. degree from Old Dominion University in computer engineering, and an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from UW, Madison. When not slogging through lines of simulator code, he enjoys brewing award-winning beer.

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Anthony Gregerson University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Anthony Gregerson is a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin, where he recently won the 2012 Exceptional Service Award for teaching assistants. He is a member of the UW's Teaching Academy and the Delta Program in Research, Teaching, and Learning. He has eight years experience teaching as a tutor, Teaching Assistant, and instructor and occasionally writes about testing and assessment for PlusError.com. When not teaching, he designs real-time processing systems for CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

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Michael T. Braun University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Michael T. Braun is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research uses advanced statistical methods to look at interpersonal communication technology use through the lifespan.

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Abstract

The Impact of Individual Teaching Assistants as a Variable in Grade Determinations in Engineering CoursesVery few motivated educators are likely to disagree with the proposition that the individual skillsand passion of an instructor can have a major impact on student learning. Very few students arelikely to disagree with the proposition that it is easier to get a good grade in a given course withsome instructors than with others. With the high-stakes nature of course grades as a factor inscholarships, advancement in higher education, and job opportunities both students anduniversity administrators have taken a keen interest in monitoring the grade distributions handedout by instructors. Less attention thus far has been paid to the graduate students working asteaching assistants (TAs) who, despite typically not being in the position of final arbiter ofstudent grades, are often involved in critical roles in the instruction and grading determinationprocesses. In this work, we set out to explore the question of how much impact teachingassistants have in students’ final grades. To do so, we collected data from approximately 700students in 2 undergraduate engineering courses over the span of 5 semesters. To reduce theimpact of instructors as a variable, we selected courses with large enrollments that had multiplesections with different TAs for each section. We examine the statistical variation in final gradesfor student populations taught by different TAs. Because engineering TAs often serve in one oftwo different roles – as instructional support running discussion sections or as laboratoryinstructors, guiding students through hands-on projects – we include both groups in our study toobserve whether TAs had a greater opportunity to impact student performance in these differentroles. We also separately examine variation in student grades between assignments that wereseparately graded by different TAs and those that were commonly graded by the sameinstructor(s) to look at the role that individual grading standards contribute. To give some insighton how the variation in student grades is related to qualities of the individual TAs, we alsoexamine the statistical links between student grade distribution for the TAs and the number ofsemesters of teaching experience they had. Finally, we provide a qualitative discussion on whatconclusions we may draw from the data and how TAs and instructors may adjust their practicesto create more equitable opportunities for achievement in to students in all TA sections.(Note: We are also hoping to examine the correlation to ratings the TAs received on coursefeedback surveys, but we are still working on obtaining institutional approval and individualconsent to collect this data and cannot guarantee it will be included in the paper.)

Citation
Format

Franey, S., & Gregerson, A., & Braun, M. T. (2012, June), Playing the TA Lottery: A Study of How Teaching Assistants Impact Grades in Engineering Courses Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21803

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -             The Impact of Individual Teaching Assistants as a Variable                   in Grade Determinations in Engineering CoursesVery few motivated educators are likely to disagree with the proposition that the individual skillsand passion of an instructor can have a major impact on student learning. Very few students arelikely to disagree with the proposition that it is easier to get a good grade in a given course withsome instructors than with others. With the high-stakes nature of course grades as a factor inscholarships, advancement in higher education, and job opportunities both students anduniversity administrators have taken a keen interest in monitoring the grade distributions handedout by instructors. Less attention thus far has been paid to the graduate students working asteaching assistants (TAs) who, despite typically not being in the position of final arbiter ofstudent grades, are often involved in critical roles in the instruction and grading determinationprocesses. In this work, we set out to explore the question of how much impact teachingassistants have in students’ final grades. To do so, we collected data from approximately 700students in 2 undergraduate engineering courses over the span of 5 semesters. To reduce theimpact of instructors as a variable, we selected courses with large enrollments that had multiplesections with different TAs for each section. We examine the statistical variation in final gradesfor student populations taught by different TAs. Because engineering TAs often serve in one oftwo different roles – as instructional support running discussion sections or as laboratoryinstructors, guiding students through hands-on projects – we include both groups in our study toobserve whether TAs had a greater opportunity to impact student performance in these differentroles. We also separately examine variation in student grades between assignments that wereseparately graded by different TAs and those that were commonly graded by the sameinstructor(s) to look at the role that individual grading standards contribute. To give some insighton how the variation in student grades is related to qualities of the individual TAs, we alsoexamine the statistical links between student grade distribution for the TAs and the number ofsemesters of teaching experience they had. Finally, we provide a qualitative discussion on whatconclusions we may draw from the data and how TAs and instructors may adjust their practicesto create more equitable opportunities for achievement in to students in all TA sections.(Note: We are also hoping to examine the correlation to ratings the TAs received on coursefeedback surveys, but we are still working on obtaining institutional approval and individualconsent to collect this data and cannot guarantee it will be included in the paper.)
AU  - Sean Franey
AU  - Anthony Gregerson
AU  - Michael T. Braun
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Playing the TA Lottery: A Study of How Teaching Assistants Impact Grades in Engineering Courses
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21803
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21803
ER  -