scholarly journals Finding a Balance: Characterizing Teaching and Research Anxieties in Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda M. Chen Musgrove ◽  
Kate Petrie ◽  
Alyssa Cooley ◽  
Elisabeth E. Schussler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTGraduate students in the United States are reporting increased anxiety, affecting their mental health and attrition in graduate programs. Yet we are only beginning to understand what contributes to graduate student anxiety. Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) have simultaneous roles as teachers, researchers, students, and employees, and factors associated with these tasks may contribute to anxieties in graduate school, particularly in relation to teaching and research responsibilities. To explore factors related to GTA teaching and research anxieties, and guided by social cognitive career theory, we interviewed 23 Biology GTAs at a research-intensive southeastern university. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed five major factors related to GTA anxieties: negative impact on self, negative impact on others, lack of self-efficacy, role tension, and personal anxieties. Lack of self-efficacy was most prevalent for research anxieties, compared to teaching anxieties, where the impact on others (e.g. students) was most prevalent. In research contexts, GTAs with academic career aspirations expressed less anxiety about role tensions compared to GTAs with non-academic career goals. By investigating GTA anxieties, this work can inform professional development or mental health interventions for GTAs and encourage greater awareness and dialogue about mental health issues in academia.

scholarly journals The Ph.D. Panic: Examining the relationships among teaching anxiety, teaching self-efficacy, and coping in Biology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda M. Chen Musgrove ◽  
Elisabeth E. Schussler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Teaching Anxiety ◽  
And Coping

ABSTRACTAnxiety among graduate students in the United States has increased over the last several decades, affecting not only their overall mental health but also reducing retention in graduate programs. Teachers with high teaching anxiety can negatively impact student learning, yet the impacts of teaching anxiety on graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) is not well studied. Biology GTAs teach most introductory Biology labs and discussions nationally, thus broadly influencing the quality of undergraduate education. In Fall 2016, we investigated Biology GTA teaching anxiety at a large research-intensive southeastern university by (1) measuring teaching anxiety of Biology GTAs, and (2) exploring the relationships among teaching anxiety, self-efficacy, and coping. Using multiple linear regressions, we found that greater teaching self-efficacy is related to lower teaching anxiety in Biology GTAs (R2adi =0.65, p<0.001). Coping strategies and frequencies did not significantly contribute to teaching anxiety in our models. We found similar levels of teaching anxiety across genders, ethnicities, student citizenship status (domestic vs. international) and teaching experience level. However, there were significant differences among student subgroups in teaching self-efficacy and coping strategies. Effective coping may contribute to the lack of anxiety differences among some of the student subgroups. These results can inform teaching professional development for GTAs, and encourage greater awareness and dialogue about the impacts of mental health issues in academia.

scholarly journals Training Preservice Mental Health Counselors for Suicide Assessment: A Multiple Baseline Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teal Bohrer ◽  
Cass Dykeman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multiple Baseline ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Suicide Assessment ◽  
The Impact

Rates of death by suicide continue to increase across the United States. Mental health clinicians often have contact with individuals expressing suicidal ideation, but research suggests clinicians may not be appropriately prepared to assess a client’s suicide risk. Numerous models and theories explain and assess suicidal ideation. In 2009, Thomas Joiner and his colleagues proposed the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide (IPT), which focused on three main factors strongly supported by research over the preceding decade. The present study utilized a nonconcurrent, multiple-baseline, multiple-probe design as well as a one-group pretest–posttest design to examine the impact of an IPT-based training model. Participants were preservice mental health clinicians currently enrolled in Master’s degree programs. Participants completed assessments on IPT knowledge and suicide-assessment self-efficacy, and results from this study indicated a significant increase in knowledge after completion of the training, as well as a slight decrease in self-efficacy. This study suggests that suicide-assessment training, even when done remotely, can increase suicide-assessment knowledge. Future research should explore preservice mental health clinicians’ self-efficacy as well as those factors influencing the confidence these professionals feel in their assessments of risk.

Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Experiences Teaching Physical Education at a Youth Development Center

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Cory E. Dixon ◽  
Jared A. Russell ◽  
Peter A. Hastie
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Development Center

Purpose: This study examined the pedagogical experiences of former graduate teaching assistants following their teaching experiences at a youth development center. Method: A case study approach was utilized to investigate each participant case while a phenomenological approach was employed to analyze each case. The participants, Malik, Dante, and Ray, previously taught physical education at a youth development center as graduate teaching assistants. Results: The results of this study are presented as three cases centered on the participants and their experiences. The first case, “developing people from where they are, not where you want them to be . . .” (Malik) highlights the participants’ appreciation of their students’ culture and context. The second case, “resiliency to teach well regardless of circumstance or situation . . .” (Dante) features the participants’ ability to teach diverse learners. The third case, “uphill battles . . . you cannot learn this in a textbook . . .” (Ray) features the challenges faced while teaching at the youth development center. Discussion: Consistencies across participants’ experiences, the impact on their current careers, and implications for introducing culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies via nontraditional settings are discussed.

scholarly journals Evaluating the impact of a classroom simulator training on graduate teaching assistants’ instructional practices and undergraduate student learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tong Wan ◽  
Constance M. Doty ◽  
Ashley A. Geraets ◽  
Christopher A. Nix ◽  
Erin K. H. Saitta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Simulator Training ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
The Impact

Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Experiences Using Digital Media Pedagogies in University Physical Activity Courses

2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dannon Cox ◽  
Jennifer Krause
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Document Collection ◽  
Multiple Variables

Many college and universities in the United States provide physical activity courses (PAC) for students to earn credit toward graduation. Institutions vary in PACs, as physical activity programs are affected by administrative goals and needs. Although PACs can vary by institution, it is important to examine how PACs can contemporarily address the cultural changes in education and physical activity. This study employed a case study research design and investigated the lived experiences of eight graduate teaching assistants working as PAC instructors at one university. Interview, observational, document collection, and technology journal data were collected throughout a 16-week semester. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of multiple variables, attitudes and beliefs, and pedagogical implementations resulted in four recurrent themes regarding the use of digital media in PACs: (a) experimenting with student engagement, (b) finding meaningful resources, (c) learning Canvas, and (d) valuing video and audio media. This article also provides future considerations around digital resources and professional development opportunities. Subscribe to TPE

scholarly journals GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS’ STATISTICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF SAMPLING

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-74
Author(s):  
JENNIFER NOLL
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Statistics Education ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Undergraduate Statistics

Research investigating graduate teaching assistants’ (TAs’) knowledge of fundamental statistics concepts is sparse at best; yet at many universities, TAs play a substantial role in the teaching of undergraduate statistics courses. This paper provides a framework for characterizing TAs’ content knowledge in a sampling context and endeavors to raise new questions about TAs’ content knowledge and its potential impact on the teaching of undergraduate statistics. The participants in this study were sixty-eight TAs from 18 universities across the United States. These TAs demonstrated considerable knowledge of theoretical probability distributions. However, they experienced tensions when attempting to quantify expected statistical variability in an empirical sampling situation and had difficulty explaining conceptual ideas of variability. First published November 2011 at Statistics Education Research Journal: Archives

scholarly journals STATISTICS GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS’ BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND PREPARATION FOR TEACHING INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 294-319
Author(s):  
NICOLA JUSTICE ◽  
ANDREW ZIEFFLER ◽  
JOAN GARFIELD
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Statistics Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Introductory Statistics ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Research Journal

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are responsible for the instruction of many statistics courses offered at the university level, yet little is known about these students’ preparation for teaching, their beliefs about how introductory statistics should be taught, or the pedagogical practices of the courses they teach. An online survey to examine these characteristics was developed and administered as part of an NSF-funded project. The results, based on responses from 213 GTAs representing 38 Ph.D.–granting statistics departments in the United States, suggest that many GTAs have not experienced the types of professional development related to teaching supported in the literature. Evidence was also found to suggest that, in general, GTAs teach in ways that are not aligned with their own beliefs. Furthermore, their teaching practices are not aligned with professionally-endorsed recommendations for teaching and learning statistics. First published May 2017 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives

scholarly journals Modeling Sources of Teaching Self-Efficacy for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. ar32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Ellen DeChenne ◽  
Natalie Koziol ◽  
Mark Needham ◽  
Larry Enochs
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
K 12

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have a large impact on undergraduate instruction but are often poorly prepared to teach. Teaching self-efficacy, an instructor’s belief in his or her ability to teach specific student populations a specific subject, is an important predictor of teaching skill and student achievement. A model of sources of teaching self-efficacy is developed from the GTA literature. This model indicates that teaching experience, departmental teaching climate (including peer and supervisor relationships), and GTA professional development (PD) can act as sources of teaching self-efficacy. The model is pilot tested with 128 GTAs from nine different STEM departments at a midsized research university. Structural equation modeling reveals that K–12 teaching experience, hours and perceived quality of GTA PD, and perception of the departmental facilitating environment are significant factors that explain 32% of the variance in the teaching self-efficacy of STEM GTAs. This model highlights the important contributions of the departmental environment and GTA PD in the development of teaching self-efficacy for STEM GTAs.

scholarly journals Effects of Training and Supervision on the Self-Efficacy of Psychology Graduate Teaching Assistants

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 264-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loreto R. Prieto ◽  
Steven A. Meyers
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
The Self ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Training And Supervision
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