Science and engineering students as teaching assistants in high schools: The "Educational Clinic" program

The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has initiated a unique program called "Educational Clinic", which trains science and engineering students as teaching assistants in high schools. At the end of the training phase, the students integrate into the schools and help high school pupils with mathematics and science. Thirteen students took part in the first class of the program which lasts for one academic year. The study described in this paper used qualitative tools in order to examine the students' attitudes towards the program throughout the year. The findings indicate very positive attitudes towards the program. Alongside a fixed high level of extrinsic motivational factors, which express student satisfaction of improving their teaching skills, a notable increase was found in the
level of intrinsic motivational factors, which reflect the students' interest in the program. These findings are explained in light of the self-determination theory.