A comparative study of the assessment practices utilized by full -time faculty and adjunct instructors in preservice teacher education courses

Students in preservice teacher preparation courses are instructed, assessed, and graded by either regular full-time faculty members or adjunct part-time instructors. The assessment practices utilized by individuals from these two different instructor levels may be inconsistent and differ significantly, thereby affecting the thorough preparation and training of preservice teacher credential students. There was a two-fold purpose for this study. The first was to determine what the assessment practices of regular faculty and adjunct instructors are in preservice teacher education courses. Specifically, the study did so by administering a survey to determine the course assessment practices; i.e. class attendance, class participation, quizzes, other written papers or assignments during a course, final exams (written in class, take home, oral, or none at all), utilized by the two different instructor levels. The second purpose for the study was to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the assessment practices of regular instructors compared to adjunct faculty members. The subjects chosen for this study were the entire preservice teacher education full-time faculty or regular instructors, a total of 40 individuals, and 97 preservice course teaching adjunct or part-time instructors (selected at random) from a private university. Together this constituted a total sample population of 137 individuals that were included in the survey utilized for this study. The results of this study showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the utilization of 3 (or 15%) out of 20 assessment practices (Class Attendance, Portfolios, and Final Exam: Oral) between regular and adjunct instructors in preservice teacher education programs. Since the possible effects of differences in the utilization of assessment practices or teaching between full-time and part-time instructors has not been conducted at the higher education level, research in this area may make an important contribution to the future preparation of preservice teacher education students