One Stone, Two Birds: A Course-Based UTA-Student Mentoring Program for Student Engagement and Retention in Larger STEM Lectures

Program Abstract: To address student engagement issues commonly seen in large enrollment courses, we developed a comprehensive course-based UTA-student program that incorporates UTAs into classrooms to provide academic and social support for students. This project aims 1) to promote students academic success through heightened persistence and motivation through the UTA-student rapport; and 2) to equip our UTAs with cognitive, intrapersonal, and intrapersonal skill sets as confident leaders and mentors. Data were collected from an introductory biology and an upper-level psychology course in fall 2021. Our results indicated 1) UTAs demonstrated personal growth in their leadership and professional capacities; and 2) the established UTA-student rapport impacted student attitudes toward the courses, promoting student motivation in learning in our large biology and psychology lectures. Such impact was particularly apparent for students who demonstrated moderate levels of student perception and engagement with their UTAs.