Abstract:
University faculty members have been challenged with increased teaching and research responsibilities. As a result, universities have employed graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to serve undergraduate students. This study used a qualitative approach in order to explore the perceptions of the quality of education received from PhD GTAs. Four in–depth interviews were conducted with preservice agricultural teachers and domain analysis was conducted to identify the preservice teacher’s feelings regarding the quality of education received from PhD GTAs. Three domains were delineated from the findings and revealed that the four participant’s felt that PhD GTAs served a vital role in their education and provided a quality education. The findings from this study should be used to improve instructional capabilities of PhD GTAs in order for preservice agricultural teachers to continue to receive a high quality education.