Training TAs in scientific teaching for the human physiology and anatomy laboratory

Abstract

SCIENTIFIC TEACHING (ST) is a method developed nearly a decade ago by Handelsman and colleagues (2) in which instructional practice in undergraduate science is based on current educational research findings and established best practices. The ST approach uses a process in which all students, especially those in courses with large enrollments, are more actively engaged in learning compared with traditional lecture-based courses. Unique to ST is an active learning and inquiry-based framework that aims to ensure that the needs of students with diverse learning styles and backgrounds are addressed. Furthermore, students’ ongoing progress toward achieving the course learning goals can be assessed dynamically (e.g., via in-class responses while students are engaged in the process of learning) and at higher cognitive levels (e.g., beyond rote memorization), as demonstrated by Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains (1). When integrated into a curriculum, ST methods have been shown to improve student knowledge retention because participation in these structured activities and group discussions has been shown to facilitate the identification of misconceptions, construction of new knowledge, and development of critical-thinking skills (9). Implementation of a variety of structured activities also appeals to a broader variety of learning styles (9). In 2010, we incorporated the ST approach into the lecture portion of our Enhanced Human Anatomy and Physiology course at the University of Connecticut. Because this approach is particularly well suited to the laboratory classroom setting where an interactive approach is much more easily implemented, in 2011 we also adopted the ST approach into the laboratory component of our course. To facilitate this process as well as to extend the impact of an individual instructor, we trained a cohort of graduate teaching assistants (TAs) to use this teaching approach in multiple sections of inquiry-based laboratory and regular laboratory settings. Despite a few articles that address student-centered TA training in chemistry laboratory courses (3, 4), there are no published reports evaluating the application of ST to graduate student TA training in physiology. What follows is an examination of the effects that training TAs in ST had on student attitudes about 1) their perceived laboratory learning experience and 2) their perceived integration of what is learned in the laboratory to their overall understanding of course content.