scholarly journals Good Teaching Starts Here: Applied Learning at the Graduate Teaching Assistant Institute

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-110
Author(s):  
Michele A. Parker ◽  
Diana Ashe ◽  
Jess Boersma ◽  
Robert Hicks ◽  
Victoria Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Applied Learning ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistant ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
The University

Increasingly, graduate teaching assistants serve as the primary instructors in undergraduate courses, yet research has shown that training and development for these teaching assistants is often lacking in programs throughout the United States and Canada. Providing mentoring and skill development opportunities for graduate teaching assistants is vital, as many will become the next generation of faculty. This paper discusses the literature on effective training programs, which underscores the importance of consistent feedback from mentors, intrinsic motivation, and practical applications. Afterwards, we examine an existing training program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Specifically, we focus on an institute for teaching assistants that helps graduate students understand applied learning as an effective pedagogical modality and helps them implement applied learning lesson plans tailored to their disciplines. Suggestions for strengthening training programs are discussed.   

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.

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 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 A Graduate Teaching Assistant Workshop in a Faculty of Science

1969 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Dik Harris ◽  
Laura April McEwen
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Assistant ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistant ◽  
Teaching Fellows ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Canadian Research

This article describes the design and implementation of a workshop on teaching and learning for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in a Faculty of Science at a major Canadian research-intensive university. The approach borrows heavily from an existing successful workshop for faculty but is tailored specifically to the needs of GTAs in science in an environment where departmental resources are largely absent. Thus, the workshop is unusual in that it finds a midpoint between centrally administered, discipline-neutral programs and those that are discipline specific. Equally, it is unusual because it was conceived, implemented, and continues to evolve through the active involvement of teaching fellows, themselves GTAs, who receive particular preparation for their role. The approach is discussed in relation to other approaches found in the literature.  

scholarly journals Developing a Model of Graduate Teaching Assistant Teacher Efficacy: How Do High and Low Teacher Efficacy Teaching Assistants Compare?

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. ar2
Author(s):  
Cody R. Smith ◽  
Cesar Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Assistant ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Vicarious Experience ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistant ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Mastery Experience

This study identifies factors that influence the development of teacher efficacy in STEM graduate teaching assistants over the course of one semester. Those with high teacher efficacy draw upon mastery experience, vicarious experience, and verbal and social persuasions from reliable sources, such as professors and accomplished peers.

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 Utilising graduate teaching assistants to implement active learning at university level

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Read ◽  
Stephen Michael Barnes ◽  
Charles Kenneth Harrison ◽  
Rachel Koramoah ◽  
Iveta Ivanova
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Small Group Teaching ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
University Courses ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Year

Active learning is recognised as a crucial component of university courses in enhancing performance and retention. However, universities face numerous challenges in broadening the provision of active learning, including time constraints, and a lack of staff training and confidence to develop appropriate activities.  This article outlines an approach taken at the University of Southampton to engage a team of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in the process of developing, delivering, and evaluating active learning resources to support small-group teaching in chemistry on a Science Foundation Year programme.  A team of four GTAs developed nine activities during the 2015/16 academic year, with evaluation supporting their enhancement for 2016/17.  The article outlines the progress of this work over two academic years, providing evidence of a positive impact on students and teachers alike.Keywords: Active learning; peer-assisted learning; GTAs

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