The Impact of Instructional Interns from a Faculty Perspective : A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Faculty in various disciplines commonly employ teaching assistants to assist in course delivery. The impact of those teaching assistants on faculty workload and teaching effectiveness has not been studied often and has never been examined in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of instructional interns (undergraduate teaching assistants) on faculty perceptions within the CSD department. The instructional interns are present in class and assist the students with questions about content or assignments. In addition, they help with preliminary grading and are available for students to meet for additional support outside of class. Faculty within the CSD department participated in a focus group regarding the impact of IIs within their classrooms. The focus group transcript was analyzed qualitatively. Preliminary results have shown many benefits for faculty, including mentoring, bridging the faculty- student gap, and pedagogy.