scholarly journals Professional development of graduate teaching assistants in faculty-like positions: Fostering reflective practices through reflective teaching journals

2014 ◽  
pp. 96-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Gallego
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Reflective Teaching ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Different Levels

This study explores the outcomes of reflective journaling among novice Graduate Teaching Assistants during the initial stages of their professional development. It seeks to establish whether there were common concerns addressed in their journals and if different levels of reflection were achieved. By means of content analysis of 177 entries, nine common themes were identified. Among these,  “methodology” and “classroom management” were the most prevalent. Three degrees of reflection were used to categorize the entries. Slightly over half of the entries achieved high levels of reflection, whereas 49% of the entries did not. Recommendations for teacher educators and facilitators of the professional development of graduate students are provided.  

Teaching Politics: Graduate Students as Tutors

Politics ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hayton
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
The Way

Seminars form a key part of undergraduate politics teaching in Britain, and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are often at the forefront of this delivery. This article explores the attitudes and understandings of GTAs towards teaching and learning in the Department of Politics at Sheffield. Interviews were conducted with 16 GTAs, covering not only their approach to teaching and learning, but how this manifested itself, for example in the way they organise their seminars. Related issues such as the training and development of GTAs were also discussed. Based on these findings, some initial recommendations for training and mentoring of GTAs are offered in the conclusion.

scholarly journals From neophyte to experienced facilitator: An interactive blended-learning course for graduate teaching assistants in Hong Kong

2011 ◽  
pp. 153-169
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Faculty Training ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Reflective Practices ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Graduate Teaching

Faculty training in tertiary institutions around the world is receiving increasing attention as it plays a significant role to ensure high quality learning and teaching practices in constantly changing multi-cultural education backgrounds. In the case of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), designing an effective training course to help them deliver content interactively, using student-centered strategies and approaches in a second language (in this case English), becomes critical. Rather than training GTAs in procedural and declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and processes), a shift in emphasis to functioning knowledge, e.g., classroom management techniques, course design, formative and summative peer review, presentation skills, is the focus of this intensive course, which is heavily supported by two educational e-technologies, Echo360 Lecture Capturing System and an asynchronous Discussion Board, hosted under the Blackboard (Bb) Course Management System. Adopting an ethnographic approach in which all the researchers have co-taught this course for at least two years, this paper chronicles the effort of using Echo360 and Bb Discussion Board to support the delivery of course content and assessment tasks that yields reflective practices. Achievement of learning outcomes is evaluated through the use of multiple measures: reflections of course attendees, researchers’ direct observation, and statistics provided by the Learning Management System. Results are very encouraging in terms of significant improvement of graduate students’ presentation skills and self-reflective practices facilitated by Echo360 and Discussion Board.

Professional Development with Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) Teaching Online

2012 ◽  
pp. 26-42
Author(s):  
Denice Ward Hood ◽  
Wen-Hao David Huang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Online Course Development

As the number of online courses offered continues to increase, teaching online will become a standard expectation and responsibility for graduate teaching assistants (TAs). For TAs who will seek faculty positions, experience and self-efficacy teaching online are critical to their future career. The current and future university landscape and the higher education world these TAs will embody will require qualified individuals to be well trained in online course development and delivery. Of equal importance is the quality of teaching TAs provide for the large number of online undergraduate courses for which they have sole responsibility or provide instructional support. Colleges and universities need to develop professional development for TAs that reflects best practices in online teaching and learning and engages TAs in the instructional design as well as delivery process. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the literature on teaching assistant professional development and the implications for TAs teaching online.

Professional Development with Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) Teaching Online

2014 ◽  
pp. 212-228
Author(s):  
Denice Ward Hood ◽  
Wen-Hao David Huang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Online Course Development

As the number of online courses offered continues to increase, teaching online will become a standard expectation and responsibility for graduate teaching assistants (TAs). For TAs who will seek faculty positions, experience and self-efficacy teaching online are critical to their future career. The current and future university landscape and the higher education world these TAs will embody will require qualified individuals to be well trained in online course development and delivery. Of equal importance is the quality of teaching TAs provide for the large number of online undergraduate courses for which they have sole responsibility or provide instructional support. Colleges and universities need to develop professional development for TAs that reflects best practices in online teaching and learning and engages TAs in the instructional design as well as delivery process. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the literature on teaching assistant professional development and the implications for TAs teaching online.

Graduate Teaching Assistants' Enactment of Reasoning-and-Proving Tasks in a Content Course for Elementary Teachers

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Cervello Rogers ◽  
Michael D. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Elementary Teachers ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Mathematical Tasks ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Elementary Preservice Teachers

Graduate teaching assistants serve as instructors of record for numerous undergraduate courses every semester, including serving as teachers for mathematics content courses for elementary preservice teachers. In this study, we examine 6 teaching assistants' teaching practices in the context of a geometry content course for preservice teachers by focusing on their enactment of reasoning-and-proving tasks. Results indicate that teaching assistants engaged preservice teachers in a variety of reasoning-and-proving activities. For 42 of 82 tasks observed, preservice teachers' engagement in reasoningand-proving processes decreased relative to the potential for reasoning and proving in mathematical tasks. This investigation into teaching assistants' teaching practices identifies factors associated with their enactment of reasoning-and-proving tasks (e.g., generating student participation). This research has implications for professional development to support college mathematics instructors' teaching.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Pedagogy Course on the Teaching Beliefs of Inexperienced Graduate Teaching Assistants

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. ar5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Star W. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Concept Maps ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Beliefs ◽  
Secondary School Education ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
The Impact

There has been little attention given to teaching beliefs of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), even though they represent the primary teaching workforce for undergraduate students in discussion and laboratory sections at many research universities. Secondary school education studies have shown that teaching beliefs are malleable and can be shaped by professional development, particularly for inexperienced teachers. This study characterized inexperienced GTAs’ teaching beliefs about student learning and how they change with a science-specific pedagogy course that emphasized student learning. GTA teaching beliefs were characterized as traditional (providing information to students), instructive (providing activities for students), and transitional (focusing on student–teacher relationships). At the start of the course, traditional, instructive, and transitional beliefs were emphasized comparably in the concept maps and presentations of inexperienced GTAs. At the end of the course, although GTAs’ beliefs remained mostly teacher focused, they were more instructive than traditional or transitional. GTAs included teaching strategies and jargon from the course in their concept maps but provided minimal explanations about how opportunities for active student engagement would impact student learning. These results suggest there is a need to provide ongoing discipline-specific professional development to inexperienced GTAs as they develop and strengthen their teaching beliefs about student learning.

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