A Qualitative Investigation of the Interactions of Students with Graduate and Undergraduate TAs in General Chemistry Laboratories

Angela Thien Huong Nguyen,Charles T Cox,Xavier D Antoine-Goeas,Muhammad Sulman,Ozcan Gulacar,Linh Le Vuong Tra

doi:10.3390/educsci11100655

Angela Thien Huong Nguyen, Charles T Cox + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100655

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Abstract

A new teaching assistant model was adopted and qualitatively assessed for the general chemistry laboratory, in which both an undergraduate and a graduate teaching assistant provided instruction to students during the lab. Verbal interactions between graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants were recorded, transcribed, and coded using the modified Laboratory Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (LOPUS). The codes were applied to capture how discussions, questioning, and explanations were conducted. In addition, the content discussed was coded to identify specific areas that pose challenges for students. Sizable differences were not observed between the number of interactions of the initiation, explanation, and questioning codes between graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants. Of the interactions, 77% focused on questions and discussions regarding the experimental setup. Discussions on the implications with regards to the effective use of undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants in chemistry laboratories are included.

Highlights

Best practices for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math, collectively known as STEM, have been widely researched to improve students’ performance, satisfaction, and retention in STEM courses and majors
The first secIn order to analyze the differences in this category, first, the total number of interaction presents the findings and the relevant discussion related to the interaction differences tions between both groups of TAs and students, regardless of their nature, were combetween UTAs and graduate teaching assistant (GTA) with students
These research findings provide support for using UTAs to help supplement GTAs in the laboratory. This conclusion is evidenced by the type and number of interactions observed between students and GTAs versus UTAs as well as by the GTAs’ positive feedback on the UTAs’ overall performance in laboratory

Summary

Introduction

Best practices for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math, collectively known as STEM, have been widely researched to improve students’ performance, satisfaction, and retention in STEM courses and majors. New pedagogies have been developed using evidence-based research for improving lecture and laboratory instruction. Chemistry is a visual and hands-on science, which implies that much of the actual learning often occurs outside of the usual lecture classroom setting [1]. Recitations are incorporated with general and organic chemistry to supplement lectures and reinforce problem solving, and lab instruction is incorporated to provide effective hands-on experience for students to engage in the content [2]. Learning in the lab gives students a different perspective on the material by introducing ways to apply concepts in practice [3] and discover concepts. Because the laboratory component provides an additional layer for promoting learning and resonates strongly with various learning styles [4], instruction in laboratories has been proven to increase students’ understanding of chemistry concepts [5]

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