Jessica Hill, Utah Valley University
Education
The transition to junior faculty member can be difficult for graduate students (Sorcinelli, 1992). Despite significant teaching requirements for most assistant professor positions, many graduate programs minimize teaching experiences. Due to this climate, the developmental process of novice graduate instructors is poorly understood (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2010). We investigated the utility of the Teacher Behavior Checklist (TBC), a measurement tool developed by studying master teachers (Buskist et al., 2002), as a means to evaluate classroom performance of first-time and novice graduate instructors (GIs).
Undergraduate students (N=274) in classes led by first-time or novice GIs (N=10) completed the TBC at three points (waves) during the semester. Additionally, the GIs were asked to complete the TBC for themselves. Finally, the GIs were filmed and rated using the TBC by six observers at two points during the semester. The results were analyzed using exploratory structural equation modeling in order to test the 1- and 2-factor models proposed by Keeley et al. (2006). The first-time GI results did not support previous models for data from the first two waves, although the model fit statistics improved for each wave. To address whether the fit statistics improved due to increased experience, we examined a small number of GIs (N=3) during their second semester teaching. We found the same pattern of results for the fit statistics, thus we can conclude that the increase in fit statistics is due, in part, to student familiarity with their instructor. A three-factor model (for the third wave of measurements) came closest to fitting the data adequately. In general, these three factors related to “basic teaching skills,” “professional competence,” and “rapport.”
These results have the possibility of informing effective evidence-based changes to graduate programs and assist supervisors in providing meaningful feedback targeting necessary skills for first-time and novice GIs.