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 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.

Professionals’ Identification Within and Across Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fields

2020 ◽  
pp. 089484532091311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber Simpson ◽  
Jose Morales Collazo ◽  
John Zilvinskis ◽  
Adam Maltese
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Positive Direct ◽  
Specific Identity

Professional identity, for many, is a substantial component of their career choices and development. In this study, we utilized data from an online survey completed by 1,867 participants living across the United States to consider the extent to which an individual working in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) field identifies with each discipline, and how this may be associated with recognition, competence, and sense of belonging. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that participants’ STEM field had a positive, direct impact on their discipline-specific identity but a negative, direct impact on other discipline identities. Furthermore, recognition and competence had significant direct and indirect effects on participants’ STEM identity, which was not consistent by STEM field. Alternatively, sense of belonging and self-identifying as a woman had limited effects in our model. Our findings raise questions as to the possibility (or not) of STEM as an interdisciplinary identity for professionals with a career in STEM.

scholarly journals The Effects of Practice-Based Training on Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Classroom Practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. ar58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin A. Becker ◽  
Erin J. Easlon ◽  
Sarah C. Potter ◽  
Alberto Guzman-Alvarez ◽  
Jensen M. Spear ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Training Program ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Video Footage ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Complex Skill ◽  
K 12

Evidence-based teaching is a highly complex skill, requiring repeated cycles of deliberate practice and feedback to master. Despite existing well-characterized frameworks for practice-based training in K–12 teacher education, the major principles of these frameworks have not yet been transferred to instructor development in higher educational contexts, including training of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). We sought to determine whether a practice-based training program could help GTAs learn and use evidence-based teaching methods in their classrooms. We implemented a weekly training program for introductory biology GTAs that included structured drills of techniques selected to enhance student practice, logic development, and accountability and reduce apprehension. These elements were selected based on their previous characterization as dimensions of active learning. GTAs received regular performance feedback based on classroom observations. To quantify use of target techniques and levels of student participation, we collected and coded 160 h of video footage. We investigated the relationship between frequency of GTA implementation of target techniques and student exam scores; however, we observed no significant relationship. Although GTAs adopted and used many of the target techniques with high frequency, techniques that enforced student participation were not stably adopted, and their use was unresponsive to formal feedback. We also found that techniques discussed in training, but not practiced, were not used at quantifiable frequencies, further supporting the importance of practice-based training for influencing instructional practices.

scholarly journals Enhancing Diversity in Undergraduate Science: Self-Efficacy Drives Performance Gains with Active Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. ar56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cissy J. Ballen ◽  
Carl Wieman ◽  
Shima Salehi ◽  
Jeremy B. Searle ◽  
Kelly R. Zamudio
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Social Belonging ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Undergraduate Science ◽  
Performance Gains

Efforts to retain underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have shown only limited success in higher education, due in part to a persistent achievement gap between students from historically underrepresented and well-represented backgrounds. To test the hypothesis that active learning disproportionately benefits URM students, we quantified the effects of traditional versus active learning on student academic performance, science self-efficacy, and sense of social belonging in a large (more than 250 students) introductory STEM course. A transition to active learning closed the gap in learning gains between non-URM and URM students and led to an increase in science self-efficacy for all students. Sense of social belonging also increased significantly with active learning, but only for non-URM students. Through structural equation modeling, we demonstrate that, for URM students, the increase in self-efficacy mediated the positive effect of active-learning pedagogy on two metrics of student performance. Our results add to a growing body of research that supports varied and inclusive teaching as one pathway to a diversified STEM workforce.

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