Transforming a Traditional Laboratory to an Inquiry-Based Course: Importance of Training TAs when Redesigning a Curriculum

Abstract

Laboratory course redesign and effective implementation of an inquiry-based curriculum can be challenging, particularly when teaching assistants (TAs) are responsible for instruction. Our multiyear redesign of a traditional general chemistry laboratory course has included transitioning to a project based guided inquiry (PBGI) curriculum that emphasizes chemical lab techniques, self-driven experiments, and development of scientific writing skills as well as development of an intensive, inquiry-based training for TAs. The purpose of this article is to describe our inquiry-based laboratory curriculum and TA training, discuss the benefits of an immersive week-long training process for both undergraduate TAs (UTAs) and graduate TAs (GTAs), provide evidence of efficacy of our program, and offer suggestions on ways to develop a similar model in other university contexts. By providing extended training for all TAs that covers teaching theory, pedagogy, and practical aspects of lab, this course now allows students to master chemical concepts while learning to think and act like scientists.

A Professional Development Activity to Help Teaching Assistants Work as a Team to Assess Lab Reports in a General Chemistry Course

“…Others have recognized the need for professional development for graduate TAs in the context of transforming programs that rely on traditional lab experiments to include more inquiry‐based experiments . We have found that differences in scoring become more significant upon moving from confirmatory lab experiments, where for example students may fill out data sheets, to student‐centered inquiry‐based approaches where students write lab reports that typically require a greater degree of complexity and diversity of student analysis.…”

Building Excellence in Scientific Teaching: How Important Is the Evidence for Evidence-Based Teaching when Training STEM TAs?

“…Some previous work has explored the important components of TAPD workshops. Based on the literature, Wheeler et al ( 18 , 46 ) asserted that presenting evidence for EBTP, observing the lab coordinator/facilitator or experienced TA demonstrate teaching practices, and learning theory and pedagogy are important components of TAPD. However, these researchers were unable to demonstrate that their presemester workshop and weekly in-prep meeting TAPD positively influenced TA confidence, self-efficacy, or teaching beliefs ( 18 ).…”

Autonomous Titration for Chemistry Classrooms: Preparing Students for Digitized Chemistry Laboratories

“…Inquiry-based practices are emerging as an alternative approach to conventional pedagogical methods to teach laboratory practice. [25][26][27][28] As a matter of fact, it has been demonstrated that inquiry-based learning with platforms such as RoboGen offers great opportunities to teach multidisciplinary skills. 29,30 NMRviewers designed with Matlab have been introduced to promote complex data analyses and modeling, 31 and 3D printing has recently been introduced to classrooms to prepare intuitive visualizations of the physical and chemical properties of the elements in the periodic table.…”