In the past decade, there has been limited longitudinal qualitative research examining the effects of training programs on graduate students’ teaching performance. One gap in this research is a discussion of Teaching Assistants (TAs) who resist such programs and an examination of strategies for overcoming this resistance. This action research study attempts to fill that gap by evaluating the relationship between TAs’ participation in one university’s Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) program and their resistance to its pedagogical strategies. The study defines the types of resistance and analyzes the reasons behind it. Findings address ways to more effectively reach resisting TAs and improve our own teaching practices.
Tag: ta
Pedagogical Practices of Teaching Assistants in Polysynchronous Classrooms: The Role of Professional Autonomy
Polysynchronous learning involves the use of educational technologies to enable remote and face-to-face students to simultaneously participate in live classes. This article uses teaching observation and focus group data to explore the perspectives and instructional practices employed by teaching assistants tasked with facilitating polysynchronous classes. This study’s findings suggest that without a sufficient knowledge base, community, and structure to facilitate a teaching environment that extended beyond lecturing, the assistants adopted a knowledge transmission perspective. Based on these findings we discuss teaching practices that could be addressed to train and support instruction in polysynchronous environments.
Mentoring International Teaching Assistants: A Case Study of Improving Teaching Practices
While there exists a considerable body of research focusing on international teaching assistants’ (ITAs’) linguistic, sociocultural, and instructional challenges, less is known about the successful developmental trajectories of this group of international educators of American students. This research aims to fulfill this research gap using a case study approach (Yin, 2003). The study involved ITAs from STEM majors in six collaborative mentoring sessions prior and upon video recording of three lessons taught by the ITAs to undergraduate students. The mentoring sessions were designed to facilitate ITAs’ reflections on their teaching with the use of structured protocols to help guide the discussions. All the collected data were analyzed using content analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The results highlight the incidents of professional growth exhibited by the participating ITAs during their actual teaching. This study also tracks the ITAs’ reflections on teaching through the mediational dialogues (Vygotsky, 1978) with the mentor. Finally, the paper discusses lessons learned through launching a mentoring project with a group of ITAs.