scholarly journals Impact of the Lead TA Program on the Perceived Disciplinary Instructional Competence of Graduate Teaching Assistants

Author(s):  
Aisha Haque ◽  
Ken N. Meadows

Graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training initiatives such as the Lead TA Program seek to enhance the instructional competence of GTAs at a disciplinary level. This paper outlines the results of a mixed-method study conducted to evaluate the perceived impact of the Lead TA Program on GTAs during a two-year pilot implementation stage at a large, research-intensive Canadian university. As a result of participating in programming offered by Lead TAs, GTAs reported overall gains in their confidence as an instructor as well as increased disciplinary instructional competence. GTAs’ perceived benefits in relation to disciplinary instructional competence included: (a) increased knowledge of the TA role in the context of their department, (b) gains in pedagogical content knowledge, and (c) increased classroom management skills when facilitating disciplinary tasks or discussions. The study points to the potential for the Lead TA Program to enhance the general, domain, and topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge of GTAs. Unique challenges of implementing discipline-specific programming are addressed and recommendations are offered for establishing similar programs at other universities.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1263-1280
Author(s):  
Fulden Guler-Nalbantoglu ◽  
Meral Aksu

The purpose of the present study was to investigate pre-service science teachers’ perceptions of science teaching. To this end the participants’ perceptions of their pedagogical knowledge (PK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) were examined. Furthermore, it was aimed to investigate how pre-service science teachers’ perceptions were differed according to their level of achievement regarding PK and PCK. 176 fourth year pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The design of the study was planned as a survey and three scales were given to the participants to collect data. The data obtained from the scales were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the study revealed that pre-service science teachers perceived themselves as competent in terms of both PK and PCK. When components of PK were examined, participants’ perceptions were high regarding classroom management, learners and learning, lesson planning and assessment. With respect to components of PCK, participants perceived that they had high level knowledge of science instructional strategies, knowledge of science learners, knowledge of science misconceptions, knowledge of science curriculum and knowledge of science assessment. Moreover, it was observed that level of achievement did not show any differences on pre-service science teachers’ perceptions of PK and PCK.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Yousef Mai ◽  
Mahizer Hamzah

The integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in classrooms has been a challenge for the educational systems that aim to cope with the needs and the demands of the 21st century. The TPACK framework represents the knowledge needed by teachers bringing together content knowledge, technological knowledge and pedagogical knowledge with the aim of integrating ICTs into teaching-learning processes. The aim of this study is to determine the primary science teachers’ perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) addressing teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of technology application in instruction. A total of 133 prımary science teachers in Malaysia were surveyed (Female= 67, Male= 66). Data were collected through “Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge” (TPACK) scale. The questionnaire consisted of 47 questions about TPACK and is based on the survey instrument developed by Schmidt et al. (2009). TPACK involving the seven factors of technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), content knowledge (CK), technological content knowledge (TCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), as well as synthesized knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content (TPC). The findings indicate that primary science teachers perceive higher self-confidence in pedagogical knowledge in general. Further, no differences between science teachers’ perceptions according to thier gender, while there are diferences between the teachers perceptions of PK, CK, and PCK accordıng to their age


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