Assessment of the Utility of a Pedagogy Interest Workgroup for Graduate Teaching Assistants

Abstract

Nearly 95% of doctoral students teach or mentor undergraduate students during their graduate programs. However, institutional emphasis remains squarely on research development and productivity, often at the expense of pedagogical training. While a graduate student's research skills are developed and evaluated through lab rotations, field‐specific course work, and thesis or dissertation projects, there are rarely any requirements for instructor or graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training, evaluation, or supervisory feedback. This trend is particularly concerning as GTAs are commonly used in large introductory and lower‐level classes to teach the smaller laboratory and recitation sections, as it often gives GTAs more direct contact with students than the professor. To address this deficit, graduate students from the Cell Biology and Anatomy and Anthropology Departments of Augusta University and Pennsylvania State University, respectively, have created a Pedagogy Interest Workgroup (PIW) to create an opportunity for students to come together and discuss educational topics, such as developing a teaching philosophy, student motivation, and types of teaching methods. Participation in the PIW is voluntary, with meetings occurring every other week. The purpose of this study is to assess perceptions and benefits of participation in the PIW. Graduate students and faculty at Augusta University, Pennsylvania State University, and Augustana College who have participated in the PIW will be included in the study (n = ~30). Perceptions and potential benefits of participation in the PIW will be evaluated through pre‐ and post‐participation surveys, semi‐structured focus groups, and interviews with PIW participants, covering teaching experience, self‐evaluations of teaching efficacy and self‐confidence, and opinions and recommendations for future PIW curricula. Pre‐PIW survey data has already been collected. Post‐PIW surveys, focus groups, and interviews will be completed after the first semester of the PIW concludes in late November 2018. Data are being acquired and analyzed under IRB protocols approved at Augusta University (IRB No. 1302688‐1). A comparison of means will be used to assess the relationships between variables for survey questions answered via a Likert‐type scale. Thematic analyses will be utilized for narrative responses from surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Data analysis will directly reflect which aspects of the PIW provide beneficial pedagogical training to graduate students. The data gathered will further be utilized to refine the curriculum for future cohorts in order to better provide pedagogical education and training for GTAs and future career academics.Support or Funding InformationN/AThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.