2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Graduate students who receive teaching assistantships are often new to both teaching roles and the responsibilities that come with them. While training is typically provided, its scope and length vary by department. In engineering, training often includes an overview of expectations, class policies, and content. Although this provides a general understanding of their duties, there is often a lack of formal training in the instructional and assessment skills required for their role. In lab courses, this gap frequently leads to inconsistent grading practices. Lab Reports are a common form of assessment in these courses. Despite the use of a rubric, the subjective nature of writing means that grading and giving feedback can vary significantly from one GTA to another. As a result, maintaining consistency in GTA performance can be challenging.

To address this issue, this study aims to answer two questions on the efficacy of formal training on grading and giving feedback. Our first question asks whether formal training enhances consistency in grading and giving feedback across GTAs. Our second question asks whether formal training increases the GTAs' confidence in their ability to grade and give feedback.

To explore these questions, our population consisted of eight GTAs assigned to a mechanical engineering lab course. The eight participants attended a two-hour formal training course consisting of a presentation on proper grading and feedback practices and hands-on experience of grading sample reports. During one semester, eight participants answered three surveys and graded two example reports. The first two surveys and both example reports were given to participants at the beginning of the semester, one prior to the training and one following it, to assess the initial effects of the formal training. After the second survey and example report, a review of key concepts and a summary of consistency were presented to the participants to reinforce the formal training course topics. The third survey was given at the end of the semester to understand the effectiveness of formal training compared to a semester of experience.

Survey responses were used to assess changes in GTA confidence over the semester. The surveys given to the participants collected demographic information and measured their confidence in performing their responsibilities as GTAs. Additional questions were added to tailor the survey to the specific instructional roles of the GTAs in this study. For consistency and analysis, the Instructor of Record chose sample reports that included a range of common mistakes and areas for subjectivity. Each report was graded and commented on by the lead researcher to create a graded model. The Instructor of Record then reviewed the grades and comments for validation. The graded example reports were analyzed for consistency across GTAs and the model.

This study will analyze the impact of formal training on GTA confidence and grading consistency by comparing survey responses and grading outcomes before and after the intervention. The results will help determine whether formal training can improve overall course instruction. Future work will explore how training can be adapted to better support engineering GTAs.