Preparing Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants for Their Roles as Instructors: An Assessment of Institutional Approaches

Schussler, Elisabeth E.; Read, Quentin D.; Marbach‐Ad, Gili; Miller, Kristen; Ferzli, Miriam

doi:10.1187/cbe.14-11-0196

Cited by 88 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The first tension is that training as a scientist promotes the development of a professional identity as a researcher, but not as a college teacher (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). Despite the fact that about half of students in STEM start and end doctoral training interested in teaching undergraduates (Connolly, Savoy, Lee, & Hill, 2016), many programs provide little or no training in pedagogy and evidence-based teaching to graduate teaching assistants, or offer only voluntary training in these areas (Schussler, Read, Marbach-Ad, Miller & Ferzli, 2015). The second tension is that scientists, including doctoral students, may be afraid to "come out" as teachers because they fear they will not be taken seriously by the larger scientific community (Connolly, 2010;Brownell & Tanner, 2012).…”

Section: Guiding Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A model of the factors influencing teaching identity among life sciences doctoral students

et al. 2018

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One barrier to the adoption of evidenced‐based teaching practices may be that faculty do not see teaching as an important part of their identities as professionals. Graduate school is a key time for professional identity development, and currently we know little about how doctoral students develop identities as college teachers. In this qualitative study, we aim to characterize the factors that promote and hinder teaching identity among 33 life sciences doctoral students with diverse career interests at one research university. We collected data using semi‐structured interviews and analyzed it using qualitative analysis closely aligned with grounded theory. Our analysis involved iteratively and collaboratively analyzing interview transcripts while considering existing literature about socialization and professional identity and remaining open to novel ideas in the data. From this analysis, we developed a mechanistic model of the factors that influenced teaching identity in our participants. Independent teaching experiences, teaching professional development, and teaching mentors contributed to salient and stable teaching identities among doctoral students. Being recognized by faculty as a teacher was also important, but rare. The professional culture that doctoral students perceived acted like a blizzard that they had to navigate through to develop a teaching identity. This culture strongly valued research over teaching, resulting in a sometimes cold and isolating environment for students interested in teaching. The culture also made it harder to see existing opportunities for teaching development and made it more challenging to move toward these opportunities, much like the deep snow and driving winds of a blizzard. The mechanistic model described in this work is an important first step in understanding how doctoral training influences teaching identity. This model serves as a hypothesis that should be tested and refined through additional empirical work across contexts.

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Section: Guiding Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A model of the factors influencing teaching identity among life sciences doctoral students

et al. 2018

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The format and content coverage of GTA trainings varies widely (3,4,5), but training rarely occurs concurrently with the course that GTAs are teaching. The most frequent type of GTA training includes one-time training at the beginning of the semester, typically limited to a few hours (5). This type of training has limited benefits as GTAs are less likely to transfer the concepts and practices they learn into their own teaching over the long term (3,6,7).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating case studies into graduate teaching assistant training to improve instruction in biology laboratory courses

Kraft

Walck-Shannon

Reilly

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Today's biology laboratory courses are primarily instructed by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) working toward their own graduate degrees in a science field. Even though GTAs are the driving instructional force in biology laboratories, they receive little to no training in pedagogical principles and applications. Here, we present the GTAs' self-reported unmet training needs with respect to teaching biology laboratory courses. To address these needs, we developed three training cases along with instructions for implementation in online and in-person GTA trainings. We piloted our training materials for GTA training in person at Iowa State University and in a Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning three-part online workshop. Upon completion of these training sessions, GTAs reported an increase in both their confidence and knowledge of student-centered instructional approaches. Furthermore, examination of the online workshop participants' lesson plans demonstrated that GTAs were able to implement effective teaching practices in their own lesson plans. For brief training sessions, these are positive outcomes suggesting these cases are effective tools that could be incorporated into a variety of GTA training programs to improve instruction in biology laboratory courses. 1

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“…One of the most effective ways to cultivate a culture of effective undergraduate education in STEM is to provide pedagogically‐focused professional development for graduate student and postdoctoral fellows throughout their training . However, the resources for such pedagogical training are not available at many institutions, leaving numerous prefaculty members, especially postdoctoral fellows, without access to appropriate teacher training . To overcome this issue, we designed and implemented a single day, low‐cost, and course‐based teaching boot camp for GTAs and postdoctoral teaching assistants (PTAs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 However, the resources for such pedagogical training are not available at many institutions, leaving numerous prefaculty members, especially postdoctoral fellows, without access to appropriate teacher training. 6 To overcome this issue, we designed and implemented a single day, low-cost, and course-based teaching boot camp for GTAs and postdoctoral teaching assistants (PTAs). This boot camp was peer-led by STEM Graduate Student Fellows at Yale University's Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Course‐based prefaculty training program introduces instructional methods, increases instructor self‐efficacy, and promotes professional development

Bowman

Culhane

Park

et al. 2019

Biochem Molecular Bio Educ

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Graduate student and postdoctoral teaching assistants receive highly variable preparation for instructional methods because providing such training is often expensive. Therefore, we conducted an intensive, pedagogical boot camp followed by classroom observations, structured professional development discussions about leveraging the experience on the job market, individual exit interviews, and a letter of recommendation. Our data show the participants implemented new pedagogical techniques in their classrooms, showed increased self‐efficacy, and reported appreciation for the training experience. Using a clustering analysis of instructional methods, most participants' classrooms were characterized as peer‐led collaborative work as opposed to more traditional instructor‐led pedagogies. We believe that this low‐cost, prefaculty training leads to demonstrable short‐term outcomes and is a viable option for institutions with limited resources or personnel.

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Preparing Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants for Their Roles as Instructors: An Assessment of Institutional Approaches

Cited by 88 publications

References 33 publications

A model of the factors influencing teaching identity among life sciences doctoral students

A model of the factors influencing teaching identity among life sciences doctoral students

Integrating case studies into graduate teaching assistant training to improve instruction in biology laboratory courses

Course‐based prefaculty training program introduces instructional methods, increases instructor self‐efficacy, and promotes professional development

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