Development and evaluation of a prep course for chemistry graduate teaching assistants at a research university

• Autores: Gili Marbach-Ad, Kathryn L. Schaefer, Bryna C. Kumi, Lee A. Friedman, Katerina V. Thompson, Michael P. Doyle
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 89, Nº 7, 2012, págs. 865-872
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study describes the development and evaluation of a prep course for chemistry graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). The course was developed around three major goals: (i) building a community for new GTAs and socializing them into the department; (ii) modeling teaching with well-documented, innovative teaching and learning techniques; and (iii) helping GTAs to understand their roles within the department and their specific course. The program consisted of a team-taught, six-week course, which was mandatory for first-year GTAs. It was first offered in Fall 2009 (46 students), and then taught again in Fall 2010 (33 students). The course covered multiple topics including student-GTA communication, student assessment, and teaching strategies. End-of-semester surveys, student evaluations of teaching, and interviews with GTAs were used to evaluate the course. Overall, feedback from the course was very positive. GTAs reported that the course benefited them immediately and even more so after they had taught for several semesters. Student evaluations of teaching showed that, on average, first-year GTAs that had completed the prep course in Fall 2009 and Fall 2010 received significantly higher scores than the previous cohort of new GTAs (who had not completed a prep course) on measures such as effective teaching, respecting students, and being prepared.