Characterizing Instructional Practices in the Laboratory: The Laboratory Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM

Abstract

Chemistry laboratories play an essential role in the education of undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM students. The extent of student learning in any educational environment depends largely on the effectiveness of the instructors. In chemistry laboratories at large universities, the instructors of record are typically graduate or undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs). Despite the importance of their role in the education of undergraduate students, TAs' instructional practices have been largely understudied outside specific reform efforts. In this study, we developed a segmented observation protocol, the Laboratory Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (LOPUS), in order to characterize TAs' instructional styles in a General Chemistry laboratory curriculum. LOPUS captures both students' and TAs' behaviors every 2 min as well as initiators of verbal interactions and the nature of these verbal interactions (e.g., data analysis, explanation of concepts). Analyses of 19 videos collected from 15 TAs resulted in the identification of four instructional styles: the waiters, the busy bees, the observers, and the guides on-the-side. We found that students' behaviors were independent of these styles and limited to performing the laboratory activities, initiating conversation with TAs, and asking TAs questions. Interestingly, students rather than TAs were initiators of most verbal interactions, regardless of TAs' instructional styles. Finally, we found that the nature of TA−student verbal interactions was related to the nature of the laboratory activity (e.g., only following step-by-step instructions versus carrying out extensive data analysis). Implications of these findings for future research investigations and TA training are discussed.

Roles matter: Graduate student perceptions of active learning in the STEM courses they take and those they teach

“…As such, they still must complete coursework, conduct novel research, and in many cases teach at the undergraduate level. Many graduate students in STEM disciplines teach; for example, in biology, 70-90% of laboratory courses in large research universities are taught by TAs (21,22) and TAs primarily teach introductory level lab courses (23). Previous work suggests that graduate students, particularly TAs, can feel out of place – that they are neither “fish nor fowl” – while navigating their roles as student, teacher, and researcher (24).…”

Understanding interactions in face-to-face and remote undergraduate science laboratories: a literature review

“…Initially, data obtained from the observation instruments were only analysed to capture behaviours (Kyle et al, 1979;Lehman, 1990), while in the later years, results from the instruments were connected with other data to understand the impacts of interactions (Hilosky et al, 1998), or with the investigation of student engagement (Sadler et al, 2011;Stang & Roll, 2014). The studies were also improved by the integration of more theories as guidance (Velasco et al, 2016).…”

“…The Internet also improved efficiency in communication and information exchange between different institutions. Based on the theory developed by Cohen and Ball (1999) that interactions between students, instructor, and materials each influence instructional capacities, Velasco et al (2016) developed an observation instrument -the Laboratory Observation Protocol for the Undergraduate STEM (LOPUS) -to investigate the TAs' instructional practices. It was found that students' behaviours were independent of TAs' instructional characteristics, and the TA initiated fewer verbal conversations than did the students.…”

Resource Letter RBAI-2: Research-based assessment instruments: Beyond physics topics

“…Observation protocols can provide data that illustrate what happened in the class, which can be useful for self-reflection and professional development. You can use observation protocols once as stand-alone activity, or to track your own improvement.Observational protocols can be conducted using segmented, continuous, and holistic procedures 61. Segmented protocols are those in which the class period is broken up into shorter periods of time, two-minute intervals for example, and then observers notewhether they see certain behaviors during that interval or not.…”