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STUDY OF THE ABILITY OF THE GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT TO IMPLEMENT THE TUTORIALS IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE

KOENIG, KATHLEEN MARIE
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1092334240

Abstract Details

2004, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : Interdisciplinary Studies.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the teaching performance of graduate teaching assistants (TAs) influenced student performance through the use of the Tutorials in Introductory Physics (McDermott & Shaffer, 2002) during recitation. The tutorials are a set of conceptual worksheets and homework assignments that help students address common misconceptions while working in a social learning environment. The TA assigned to recitation was instructed not to lecture but to work as a facilitator of knowledge by engaging students in Socratic dialogue to check their conceptual understanding at various points in the material. The study measured the teaching performance of the TAs in implementing the tutorials (including use of Socratic dialogue) for the purpose of comparing the findings to student performance on course exams. The study also examined the relationship between the conceptual knowledge of the TAs and their use of Socratic dialogue. Participants in this study consisted of 350 students enrolled in a calculus-based physics course and the five TAs assigned to them for the recitation part of the course. Data sources included classroom and training meeting observations, pretests, questions from course exams, and a questionnaire. Results of the study were such that I could not distinguish that the ability of the TAs to implement the tutorials significantly affected student performance. Also, the conceptual understanding of the TAs did not seem to be related to their use of Socratic dialogue in recitation. However, because the study focused on an intact physics course, aspects of the design of the study could not be controlled which resulted in a loss of power in the statistical analysis. Therefore, the conclusions of the study should be viewed as tentative and as a step in the design of future studies that control for more of the confounding factors present in educational research.
Dr. Robert Endorf (Advisor)
175 p.
Physics, General
physics education; Socratic dialogue; graduate teaching assistant

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • KOENIG, K. M. (2004). STUDY OF THE ABILITY OF THE GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT TO IMPLEMENT THE TUTORIALS IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1092334240

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • KOENIG, KATHLEEN. STUDY OF THE ABILITY OF THE GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT TO IMPLEMENT THE TUTORIALS IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE. 2004. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1092334240.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • KOENIG, KATHLEEN. "STUDY OF THE ABILITY OF THE GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT TO IMPLEMENT THE TUTORIALS IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1092334240

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2004, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.