Author(s):
Need: Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in the Mathematical Sciences are often responsible for teaching a significant portion of the entry-level undergraduate instruction at doctoral-granting universities in the United States. Because most graduate students have little to no prior teaching experience, there is a need for professional training programs, in order to enhance GTAs teaching abilities, with the ultimate aim of improving the learning experiences of undergraduate students. This work is especially crucial since early mathematics coursework impacts the persistence and degree completion for STEM majors. Guiding Question: This project is a multi-part, three institution research study intended to investigate the impact of a multi-component instructional and pedagogical training program on GTAs and the undergraduates they teach. The project refines and employs several components previously developed by one of the institutions and replicated at two additional institutions, providing the GTAs with: (1) practical training, grounded in relevant literature, regarding issues in undergraduate mathematical sciences instruction; (2) opportunities to mentor and be mentored by peers; (3) outreach opportunities to gain an understanding of the student pipeline and (4) participation in a cross-institutional Critical Issues in Undergraduate STEM Education/Learning (CIUSE) seminar series. All project components emphasize equity and inclusive pedagogy in the classroom. Outcomes: Due to the COVID-19 pandemics’ impact on institutional policy and instructional format in the early project years, assessment of outcomes heavily relied on GTA’s written reflections, focus groups on teaching and mentoring, and online surveys. For example, in end-of-year surveys, GTAs rated how beneficial each program component was to them. Results varied across universities and academic years. Although the significant impact of peer mentoring on mentee success in the classroom was noted by the mentees (in both quant and qual data), our peer mentors didn’t see themselves as being as much of an “authority” as they would like to be in their new roles and often rated themselves lower than their mentee in terms of their impact. The construction of longitudinal case study data and followup interviews with recent program graduates, who are now employed in academic positions, are now ongoing in the final year of the project. Broader Impacts: The diverse institutional contexts at the training institutions will provide the opportunity for rich comparisons and greater insight into mechanisms that can facilitate broader adoption nationally. While we believe that benefits we are beginning to see are due to the comprehensive nature of the PSUM-GTT program, our initial results were influenced by the shift to remote learning, virtual GTA and mentor training, and predominantly online peer interactions during the pandemic. However, we believe that there are elements of distinct program components that could be useful on their own for strengthening mathematical sciences GTAs’ teaching skills. Those components could be modified to work within other disciplines.
Coauthors
Melinda Lanius, Auburn University, Auburn, AL; Michael Jacobson, UC Denver, Denver, CO; Gary Olson, UC Denver, Denver, CO; Scotty Houston, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN; Josias Gomes, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN; Justine Piontek, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN;
