We surveyed psychology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to obtain information about their training and supervision and examined their sense of self-efficacy toward teaching as a function of these experiences. Results indicated that formal training has a positive, statistically significant effect on GTAs' sense of self-efficacy toward teaching. However, departments of psychology appear to offer GTAs formal training and supervision in an inconsistent manner.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbbottR. D.WulffD. H.SzegoK. (1989). Review of research on TA training. In NyquistJ. D.AbbottR. D.WulffD. H. (Eds.), Teaching assistant training in the 1990s: Number 39. New directions for teaching and learning (pp. 111–124). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
American Psychological Association. (1996). Graduate study in psychology (29th ed.).Washington, DC: Author.
3.
BanduraA. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. New York: Prentice-Hall.
4.
BrayJ. H.HowardG. S. (1980). Methodological considerations in the evaluation of a teacher-training program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 62–70.
5.
DemboM. H.GibsonS. (1985). Teacher's sense of efficacy: An important factor in school improvement. The Elementary School Journal, 86, 173–184.
6.
DenhamC. H.MichaelJ. J. (1981). Teacher sense of efficacy: A definition of the construct and a model for further research. Educational Research Quarterly, 5, 39–61.
7.
FernaldP. S. (1995). Preparing psychology graduate students for the professoriate. American Psychologist, 50, 421–427.
8.
MeyersS. A. (1998, May). Techniques to develop the teaching skills of psychology graduate students and faculty. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.
9.
MeyersS. A.PrietoL. R.FishmanE.RajeckiD. W.QuinaK.MassothN. (1997, August). Teaching assistant training in departments of psychology: A national survey. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.
10.
MuellerA.PerlmanB.McCannL. I.McFaddenS. H. (1997). A faculty perspective on teaching assistant training. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 167–171.
11.
NyquistJ. D.WulffD. H. (1996). Working effectively with graduate assistants.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
12.
PrietoL. R. (1995). Supervising graduate teaching assistants: An adaptation of the Integrated Developmental Model. Journal of Graduate Teaching Assistant Development, 2, 93–105.
13.
PrietoL. R.AltmaierE. M. (1994). The relationship of prior training and previous teaching experience to self-efficacy among graduate teaching assistants. Research in Higher Education, 35, 481–497.
14.
TollerudT. (1990). The perceived self-efficacy of teaching skills of advanced doctoral students and graduates from counselor education programs (Doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 12A.
15.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (1993). 1990 census of population: Social and economic characteristics (United States).Washington, DC: Author.
