New Traditions: Teaching Assistant Interview Protocol

John Moore
Department of Chemistry
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1101 University Ave.
Madison WI  53706
email: jwmoore@chem.wisc.edu
(608) 262-5154

Susan Millar
LEAD Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1402 University Ave.
Madison, WI  53706
email: smillar@engr.wisc.edu
(608) 265-5943

Debby Penberthy
LEAD Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1402 University Ave.
Madison, WI  53706
email: penberth@engr.wisc.edu
(608) 265-5927


Introduction:
In March and April of 1997, LEAD Center researchers interviewed 7 out of the 8 Chem 104 (2nd 
semester general chemistry) Topics Oriented Approach (TAO) teaching assistants (TAs) using this 
open-ended protocol.

Conducting the interviews
These LEAD Center interview protocols were based on specific research questions. The research 
questions generally focused on the effectiveness with which the course professor's learning goals 
were achieved and the nature of the students' learning process. If a potential user of these 
instruments has different research questions, some of the interview questions may not be 
appropriate.

All of the LEAD Center interview protocols included here are open-ended. In contrast to most 
surveys, open-ended interview protocols are designed to allow the respondent to speak freely 
about their experiences without being limited by predetermined response categories. Potential users 
of these instruments should keep in mind that the questions served as a guide to a ÒconversationÓ 
with the interview respondent; the questions were not asked verbatim or in the same order for each 
interview, as the interviewee was allowed to guide the conversation to some degree. 

Interviews were conducted by LEAD Center researchers. In all cases these researchers were 
considered "third party" in that they were not members of the academic departments through which 
the course or program under evaluation was taught. Thus, the identity of student interviewees was 
not revealed to the course instructors, and students were informed that this was the case before 
agreeing to participate. This was important because it allowed the student interviewees to feel that 
their opinions would not affect their relations with their course instructors. In cases where no third 
party evaluator is available or desirable, we recommend that the interviews be conducted by 
someone who has no control over the students' grades. One possibility is for two professors to 
interview each others' students. 


Analyzing the interviews
Results based on the use of LEAD Center interview protocols were obtained by analysis of 
verbatim transcripts of the audio-taped interviews. Although it is not necessary to transcribe the 
interviews, this does allow for more in-depth analysis of subtle themes. It is possible for the 
interviewer simply to take notes during the interviews and base their analysis on these notes. 

The LEAD Center analysis process consists of developing inductive, thematic codes for the 
students' experiences. Generally, the researchers first read all of the transcripts. Then, they 
develop a rough coding scheme based on themes which appear in multiple interviews. Using this 
scheme, each individual transcript is coded. Then, interview excerpts are cut and pasted into an 
analysis document so that statements which are alike can be examined side by side. (Alternatively, 
a commercial qualitative research software package may be used to sort and manage coded 
interview themes.) The coding scheme is gradually refined so that it represents a listing of the 
umbrella themes that capture the range of experiences discussed in the interviews. The analysis 
process is quantitative only in the sense that rough counts of the number of interviewees who 
spoke about a particular type of experience are developed. It differs from the traditional definition 
of quantitative analysis in that it does not tell one how many of the participants had a particular 
experience, but only how many chose to talk about it in the interview. Again, the interviewees are 
engaged in conversation, and therefore, not all issues are touched upon in each interview. Thus, 
though a small number of students may discuss an issue, the issue might be important in the 
experiences of a larger number or percentage of students. 

___________________________________________________________

New Traditions: Teaching Assistant Interview Protocol

Introductions and presentation of the Informed Consent form.

Briefly review points from the Informed Consent. Check that the instructor is comfortable with the 
tape recorder. If not, just take notes.


Background (for TAs who did not complete a pre-survey)

1. Take a few minutes and give me a brief history of yourself - a history that helps me to 
understand how you came to be a TA in this course.
 
2. What, if any, preparation did you receive to be a TA in Chem 104? {Probe for formal and 
informal experiences}
 
3. What were your initial expectations about what it would be like to teach in this course?


Goals (for TAs who did not complete a pre-survey)

4. What are your goals for student learning in Chem 104?
 
5. What are the professor's goals for student learning in Chem 104? How, if at all, do your goals 
differ from the professor's goals?
 
6. When you started this course, how confident were you that it would be successful? {Probe for 
thoughts about groupwork.}


General Questions about 104 (for all TAs)

7. Do you have separate goals for the different course components, such as discussion, lab, and 
workshops? If so, please describe?
 
8. Could you describe what you do as a TA for Chem 104? How, if at all, does this differ from 
what you've done as a TA for other lower level chemistry courses?
 
9. How is the course going, at this point?
 
10. Do you feel that you are meeting your expectations/goals for yourself? Why, or why not? Are 
there things that have hindered your ability to do this?
 
11. What have been the hardest things for these students to learn?  Were there particular things you 
did that seemed to help? Were these new strategies for you?


Lab

12. How would you characterize the labs for this course? How, if at all, are they different from 
other labs you know about?
 
13. To what degree are the lab experiments coordinated and integrated with the lecture part of this 
course? How, if at all, does this affect students' learning?
 
14. How is lab going at this point?
 
15. What do you do in the lab? [Prompt: what role do you play?]
 
16. How much do you feel students are learning in the labs? [Prompt: What kinds of things are 
they getting out of lab (conceptualization of principles, lab technique, etc.)?]
 
17. In your opinion, how do the integrated lab reports affect student learning? {Probe for effects of 
other "unique" elements of lab.}
 
18. How do students relate to each other and to you in the lab?  Is there organized groupwork? 
How effectively do the students seem to work together in lab?
Do the labs help the students to understand the course concepts?


Discussion sections

19. Please describe your discussion sections. What you do in discussion section? What do students 
do?
 
20. How is discussion section going at this point?
What, if anything, do you feel students get out of discussion section? {Probe: How much 
do you feel students are learning in discussion?}


Lecture

21. Do you attend lecture? If so, can you describe what the lecturer is like and the regular features 
of the lectures?
 
22. In your opinion, to what degree does attending the Chem 104 lecture help your students learn 
chemistry? Please explain.
 
23. What is the role of the lecture in this course? What do students gain? Miss?
 
24. How does the lecture shape your role as a TA for this course?


Workshops

25. Describe what happens at the weekly workshops? What are they like? What role do you play? 
How do the students interact?
 
26. From your experience, what, if anything, do you feel students get out of attending?
 
27. How many people usually attend?
a) Is it usually the same group of students?
b) Is there a particular type of student who tends to attend?
c) Do you have any ideas on why the ones who don't attend, don't attend?


TA meetings

28. Can you describe the TA meetings.  What are they like?  What is the purpose of the meetings?
 
29. What, if anything, do you get out of them?
 
30. Can you compare these meetings with TA meetings for other courses you have taught?
 
31. Are student concerns/difficulty with the course discussed at these meetings? Are strategies for 
addressing these problems devised?
 
32. Have you ever worked in the group that works on the problem sets for the workshops? If so, 
what effect, if any, has this had on your ability to facilitate the workshops (probe for 
examples?
 
33. Have you ever worked in the group which develops the quiz questions? Tell me about this 
process, and what, if anything, you and the other TAs gain from it.
 
34. Do you have any suggestions for changes to the TA meetings?
 
35. Having come close to the end of the semester, what is your opinion on the adequacy of TA 
training for this course?
a) Were there aspects for which you felt the TAs could have used more preparation?
b) Aspects which were particularly difficult?
c) Anything else that could have been done to make you as successful as possible?


Closure

36. Are there particular problems that you or the students have experienced in this course that we 
have not already discussed?
 
37. Do you have any other thoughts about the efficacy of particular teaching strategies that you or 
the course professor have been employing?
 
38. We will be interviewing students soon. Do you have issues that you want discussed or specific 
questions you would like the students to discuss?
 
39. Is there anything else you can tell us in order for us to understand Chem 104 better?
 
40. Do you have any questions or comments that you would like to share with me?