Postdoctoral Fellow City University of New York (CUNY) New York, New York, United States
Program Abstract: Despite the increasing body of literature on postsecondary STEM teaching, a significant need exists for empirical evidence demonstrating the experiences of graduate student instructors. Thus, this study quantitatively explores the differences in teaching practices, departmental factors, and teacher identity between graduate teaching assistants and faculty members. A sample of 135 instructors completed an online questionnaire. In addition, independent sample t-tests were performed to determine demographic differences. Confirmatory factor analyses were also run to contribute to the evaluation of the validity of the instruments. Significant differences in organizational factors, leadership, respect for teaching, and resources were found between graduate instructors and the faculty. Graduate student instructors also reported lower teacher identity scores than faculty members. These results further support the idea of the professional culture of science that considers teaching to be lower status than research. Future work includes ongoing research to understand factors affecting instructional improvement.
