Teaching Assistant Professional Development in Biology: Designed for and Driven by Multidimensional Data

Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are increasingly responsible for instruction in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Various professional development (PD) programs have been developed and implemented to prepare TAs for this role, but data about effective...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CBE life sciences education Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 212
Main Authors: Wyse, Sara A, Long, Tammy M, Ebert-May, Diane
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.06.2014
Subjects:
Biology - education
Education, Professional
Learning
Models, Educational
Teaching
ISSN:1931-7913, 1931-7913
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are increasingly responsible for instruction in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Various professional development (PD) programs have been developed and implemented to prepare TAs for this role, but data about effectiveness are lacking and are derived almost exclusively from self-reported surveys. In this study, we describe the design of a reformed PD (RPD) model and apply Kirkpatrick's Evaluation Framework to evaluate multiple outcomes of TA PD before, during, and after implementing RPD. This framework allows evaluation that includes both direct measures and self-reported data. In RPD, TAs created and aligned learning objectives and assessments and incorporated more learner-centered instructional practices in their teaching. However, these data are inconsistent with TAs' self-reported perceptions about RPD and suggest that single measures are insufficient to evaluate TA PD programs.
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ISSN:1931-7913
1931-7913
DOI:10.1187/cbe.13-06-0106