Examining the Instructional Concerns, Recommendations, and Perspectives of Kinesiology Graduate Teaching Assistants

Purpose:

This research examined the instructional concerns of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) (N = 504) employed by graduate programs listed in the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (AAKPE) Doctoral program directory. The purpose of this research was three-fold: (a) to determine the demographic characteristics of GTAs; (b) to identify, using McBride's (1993) Teacher Concerns Questionnaire - Physical Education (TCQ-PE) as the framework, their primary instructional concerns; and (c) to examine their recommendations for graduate program administration to alleviate their expressed instructional concerns.

Methods:

A mixed-methods research design was used to obtain and analyzed participant responses. More specifically, data were collected via a web-based questionnaire called the Collegiate Instructional Leadership Questionnaire in Physical Education (CILQ-PE). Descriptive statistics including means, frequency counts, and ratios were derived from questionnaire item responses using SPSS 16.0. Qualitative data, obtained from open-ended questionnaire items, were analyzed, and interpreted with the use of coding categories, constant comparison between responses, analytic induction and theme development.

Analysis/Results:

Participants' demographic characteristics included: (a) 77% were U.S. citizens or permanent residents; (b) 43.4% were physical education teacher education majors; (c) 44.2% and 28.2% percent of respondents taught 4 to 6 and 7 to 10 courses within the academic year of this study; (d) 53.4% and 35.9 % were Ph.D. and Master's of Education, Arts or Science candidates; and (e) 56.2% expressed that becoming a university professor in their respective academic discipline was a primary occupational goal. Analysis of responses to the TCQ-PE indicated the three top GTA instructional concerns were Impact-concerns and focused on the actual extent to which their teaching positively impacted the educational experiences of their students: (a) challenging unmotivated students (m = 3.74); (b) meeting the needs of different kinds of students (m = 3.56); and (c) whether each student is getting what he/she needs (m = 3.26). Qualitatively, the primary instructional concerns were grouped into three themes: (a) motivating unengaged students in the course content/activities; (b) effectively assessing student knowledge/skill acquisition; and (c) balancing role of instructor with other graduate studies responsibilities. Respondents' recommendations for graduate program administration to alleviate the expressed instructional concerns included: (a) implementing faculty mentoring programs; (b) administering an instruction-oriented departmental pre-teaching orientation; and (c) providing meaningful instructional evaluative feedback and consultation.

Conclusions:

In conclusion, it is hoped that by disseminating this information graduate programs can better conceptualize instructional development processes within their respective programs that will assist the GTA in their development as teacher-scholars.