Mental Health Matters: Evaluating the Efficacy of Two Pedagogical Modules for Teaching Assistants on Supporting Student Mental Health

Grant Recipients

Kristin Brown, Centre for Teaching Excellence

Kristen Archbell, Centre for Teaching Excellence

Linda Sosa-Hernandez, Psychology

(Project Timeline: May 2021 - April 2022)

Description

It is critical for teaching assistants (TAs) to be equipped with strategies and resources to support student mental health, as they are often in direct communication with students and in a position to notice signs of student distress. To address this, we developed two modules to provide TAs with knowledge and strategies to support student mental health, while taking into consideration their own wellbeing. The overarching goal of this research is twofold:

(1) compare awareness, intentions, and attitudes about mental health among module participants from pre to post-module; and

(2) compare awareness, intentions, and attitudes about student mental health of module participants versus TAs who did not complete the modules

We aim to investigate whether the modules increase TA awareness and intentions towards supporting student wellbeing, with the goal of ultimately altering pedagogical approaches, subsequently impacting the learning, comfort, and wellbeing of students across UW.

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