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. 

Rapidly eroding financial support and tuition increases that outpace inflation threaten the viability of an education that considers civic engagement as foundational. Simultaneously, institutions of higher education are increasingly perceived by the public as market-driven entities existing for the economic benefit of the individual, the upward mobility of a social class, and in turn the further sedimentation of racial and class differences. Now, more than ever, our nation is in need of deliberate attempts to fashion common understandings, ways to navigate inevitable disagreements, and reasonable paths forward. Higher education is positioned to respond to these civic needs but requires a commitment to be bold and remain dedicated to our shared civic mission in the face of alarming polarization and vacated institutional trust. One way institutions of higher education can return to their shared sense of civic mission is with the integration of debate across the curriculum through innovative partnerships and collaborative design. Debate across the curriculum utilizes intentional course redesign to offer active learning experiences that combine public speaking, evidence-based reasoning, collaborative learning, and argumentation into various advocacy simulations. The debate for civic learning model has faculty partnered across multiple institutions to design, integrate, and assess debate-based pedagogy to positively impact student civic learning. Students and faculty across disciplines have reported that debate-based pedagogy helped improve classroom engagement, critical problem solving, perspective taking, empathy, and advocacy skills. This mixed-method research provides insights not only into debate-based course design and learning improvement strategies but also into how faculty, students, and administrators can partner between institutions to demonstrate a shared commitment to the civic mission of higher education and democratic promise of our nation.

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Purpose This study sought to better understand how to support and plan for a collaborative effort that brought educators together from three universities in the United States and Pakistan. This project sough to foster collaborative relationships between the two countries by expanding knowledge, collaboration, and capacity in middle schools in the Punjab region of Pakistan with a particular focus on underrepresented students and middle grades STEM instruction. Design/methodology/approach This study was informed through the use of formative survey data gathered from the workshop participants throughout the course of the week. The researchers conducted pre and post surveys of 22 participants using Likert scale items. Findings This project provided insights regarding curriculum alignment, engaging communication, teacher-centered formative data. These findings offered insights on how to grow as reflective practitioners and researchers, and how to form a robust multi-national professional learning community. Research limitations/implications The survey data were gathered from participants who willingly sought professional development in one region of Pakistan. The sample was small (four participating middle schools and one local university) and thus the findings cannot be necessarily generalized to a greater population. Practical implications This project provides practical insights of how teams can work together in regard to building a professional learning community. Teams can plan with intentionality, foster various modes of discussion, and empower both teachers and students to inquire, solve problems, and share their insights. Social implications The STEM topics in this study are important across continents. Navigating time constraints and distance is feasible through communication, attention to objectives and clarity in goals, and a desire to learn outside of one’s usual comfort zones. Originality/value This project was unique in the time and space in which it was designed and implemented, yet it offers value in fostering ongoing collaboration through various modalities and in being intentional in the planning process.

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