Teaching Assistants Research Articles

Analysis of the Effectiveness of Implementation of Inclusion Education Program at Lebak Bulus 2 Primary School, South Jakarta

Inclusive Education was born as a response to increasingly exclusive educational needs. Inclusive education is an educational program that aims to provide opportunities for all students, both normal and those with physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, and social and economic disabilities (ABK) to learn together in one class and school without discrimination or treatment. bullying. The aim of this research is to provide recommendations and information to stakeholders of the inclusive education program regarding the process of successful implementation of the program in the field, as well as developing social competency modules and social competency instruments to be used as teaching materials in inclusive schools. This research uses qualitative research with a case study approach. The case study research focuses on case studies regarding inclusive education at SDN Lebak Bulus 02 Pagi. Data collection used in this research was interviews, observation and documentation. The results of this research obtained information that; The implementation of the inclusion program at SDN Lebak Bulus 02 is still experiencing obstacles, especially special educators or special assistant teachers (GPK) who are not yet available, in addition to that, supporting facilities for children with special needs are not yet available optimally, thus hampering the learning process for students with special needs.

Maximizing the role of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) to match signature pedagogies in leadership education

PurposeThe purpose of the current application paper is to integrate previous literature with recent results from practitioners on effective practices for utilizing small groups in the leadership classroom.Design/methodology/approachWe use these integrated findings to innovate practice on maximizing the role of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) by matching their tasks to signature pedagogies in leadership education.FindingsThe integrated findings revealed three practice themes: (1) match UTAs to pedagogical approach, (2) create small groups by design and (3) providing training and reflection practice for UTAs.Originality/valueIn sum, leadership education can and should challenge historical practices in higher education whereby UTAs are used purely for grading and course logistics management.

ON THE NECESSITY OF ADOPTING THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR OVERCOMING THE EDUCATIONAL LOSSES AND EDUCATIONAL GAPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The article presents the problems of overcoming of educational losses through the prism of normative regulation and planning of the post-war development of higher education in Ukraine. It is noted that in the conditions of hostilities, the problem of moving a significant number of participants of educational process to safer regions within Ukraine and abroad has become urgent. It is noted that the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine provides regulatory and legal support for the functioning of education and science system and issues orders on the securement of safe educational environment, the organization of education, the educational process, etc., which are not regulated by law during martial law, emergency or state of emergency (special period). The article proposes the development of the National Program for Overcoming the Educational Losses and Educational Gaps, which will be effective both during the period of martial law (special period) and after its end and will provide for the improvement of legislation, the definition of the terms “educational losses” and “educational gaps”, will establish the obligation of monitoring the quality of higher education, analysis and introduction of security components for higher education, in particular in the field of distance learning and components of psychological assistance for students, teachers and staff.

Promoting relational thinking in preschoolers (ages 3–5) through participatory science learning: insights from RMTS with Roma children

The study examined the development of relational thinking in children aged 3–5 years within a Roma community using the relational matching-to-sample task. Following a four-month period of participatory science learning, there was a twofold increase in the proportion of relational choices made by the children. The teachers and assistant teachers deliberately encouraged child participation in science activities, while adhering to the established state curriculum. This emphasis on child involvement in science activities was discussed as a potential factor contributing to a domain-general shift in relational thinking, an effect not observed in the control group of children from the same community.

The Development of Augmented Reality As English Learning Media in Junior High School

The existence of learning media on various platforms provides variety and assistance for teachers in delivering learning materials. Not much has been developed in educational media compared to entertainment media such as gaming, films, songs, dance, and music. Educational media need to be packaged in a simple, effective, and efficient manner and respond to the needs of today’s students. In the context of the world of learning English at the junior high school level, learning media is needed as an effort to provide real experience in terms of honing English communication skills. Augmented Reality is one of the media that is able to bridge the needs of students, namely making abstract learning experiences feel concrete. Therefore, this research aims to design learning media for junior high school English on the basis of Augmented Reality with content containing stories from North Sumatra. The research method applied in this study is Research & Development. Data acquisition techniques used were documentation, questionnaires, interviews, and tests which were applied in accordance with nine research stages, namely: (1) identification and analysis of media needs; (2) collection of media materials and tools; (3) development of media prototype designs; (4) implementation media prototype; (5) media prototype validation; (6) media prototype revision; (7) media trial on junior high school students; (8) final revision; and (9) media prototype that has been tested. The final result of this study contains AR in the form of flash cards. AR markers are printed on cards and students only focus their smartphone cameras on markers that have been printed in card form. After the camera has successfully scanned the marker, a learning video will appear. There are five cards (markers) in this study, and each card will play a different learning video.
 Keywords: augmented reality, media, English, junior high school

Investigating the effects of discipline and first-language backgrounds on ITAs’ instructional discourse patterns

Using a multidimensional analysis (MDA), this study aimed to increase the understanding of international teaching assistants’ (ITAs’) instructional language use by analyzing co-occurring linguistic features during their mock-teaching presentations in ITA assessment. With this purpose, the study examined the effects of ITAs’ proficiency levels, disciplines, and first-language backgrounds on their discourse patterns. The data comprised a corpus of 165 prospective ITAs’ mock-teaching presentations in ITA assessment. Based on the two dimensions of the twenty-six linguistic features found prevalent in university classroom talk (Csomay, 2005), an additive MDA was performed. Overall, the mock-teaching presentations of more proficient ITAs involved more contextual, directive, and personalized framing discourse features, with interaction effects for the ITAs’ disciplines and first-language backgrounds. The study discusses the implications for ITA training and assessment and directions for future studies. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Using senior undergraduate students as coaches in an introductory chemical engineering design course

Senior undergraduate students were hired as Teaching Assistants (TAs) in CHBE 221, an introductory bioprocess design course offered in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of British Columbia, and the roles were recast from traditional course support, to being coaches and mentors to a small number of teams working on term-spanning design projects. This was done as a means to provide more personalized support to students working on realistic design problems early in their training, leverage the benefits of peer learning strategies, and provide professional and leadership development opportunities to the TAs ahead of graduation. At the end of the course in which this was implemented, surveys were sent to students asking them to comment on their experience with this mentorship model, and the TAs of the course were interviewed to better understand theirs. This paper presents the results of these surveys and interviews, highlights the benefits and challenges of this approach, and provides recommendations for future implementations of this student support model

The Implementation of AI-powered Teaching Assistants and the Reconstruction of Teacher Roles in English Lan-guage Education

The rapid development of artifcial intelligence(AI) has brought about signifcant changes in various felds, including educa-tion. This study aims to explore the implementation of AI-powered teaching assistants (TAs)in English language education and the recon-struction of teacher roles in the context of AI. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis, this paper examines the potential benefts and challenges of integrating AI-powered TAs into English language classrooms, as well as the transformation of teacher roles in terms of pedagogy, classroom management, and student engagement. The fndings suggest that AI-powered TAs can facilitate personalized learning experiences, enhance instructional effectiveness, and promote teacher-student interaction. However, there are also potential draw-backs, such as the replacement of human interaction and the ethical concerns surrounding data privacy. This study offers insights into how AI-powered TAs can be utilized to foster innovative teaching practices and promote the development of 21st-century skills among English language learners.

Instructors’ Understanding of Teaching First-Year Engineering Teaming: Characterization and Redirection

Teaming is increasingly important to teach well in undergraduate engineering education. Teams composed of both majority and minoritized students have an increased risk of majority members harassing minoritized members. Instructors of large classes have a difficult time identifying in which teams such harassment is taking place, and knowing what to do to interrupt it. This paper, part of a bigger project grounded in microaggression theory and selective incivility theory, specifically considers what instructors currently do, and indeed whether it is their job to address teammate harassment. We undertook a rough thematic analysis of interviews with instructors of a large first-year engineering course at a large American research-extensive majority-white university in the Midwest. We found instructors adopted an individual-centric model of teaming, intervened mainly in severe instances, and their interventions tended to be subtle. We offer an early version of an alternative model to structure forthcoming training sessions with instructors, graduate teaching assistants, and peer teachers.

Speech analysis of teaching assistant interventions in small group collaborative problem solving with undergraduate engineering students

AbstractThis descriptive study focuses on using voice activity detection (VAD) algorithms to extract student speech data in order to better understand the collaboration of small group work and the impact of teaching assistant (TA) interventions in undergraduate engineering discussion sections. Audio data were recorded from individual students wearing head‐mounted noise‐cancelling microphones. Video data of each student group were manually coded for collaborative behaviours (eg, group task relatedness, group verbal interaction and group talk content) of students and TA–student interactions. The analysis includes information about the turn taking, overall speech duration patterns and amounts of overlapping speech observed both when TAs were intervening with groups and when they were not. We found that TAs very rarely provided explicit support regarding collaboration. Key speech metrics, such as amount of turn overlap and maximum turn duration, revealed important information about the nature of student small group discussions and TA interventions. TA interactions during small group collaboration are complex and require nuanced treatments when considering the design of supportive tools. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Student turn taking can provide information about the nature of student discussions and collaboration. Real classroom audio data of small groups typically have lots of background noise and present challenges for audio analysis. TAs have little training in how to productively intervene with students about collaborative skills. What this paper adds TA interaction with groups primarily focused on task progress and understanding of concepts with negligible explicit support on building collaborative skills. TAs intervened with the groups often which gave the students little time for uptake of their suggestions or deeper discussion. Student turn overlap was higher without the presence of TAs. Maximum turn duration can be an important real‐time turn metric to identify the least verbally active student participant in a group. Implications for practice and/or policy TA training should include information about how to monitor groups for collaborative behaviours and when and how they should intervene to provide feedback and support. TA feedback systems should keep track of previous interventions by TAs (especially in contexts where there are multiple TAs facilitating) and the duration since previous intervention to ensure that TAs do not intervene with a group too frequently with little time for student uptake. Maximum turn duration could be used as a real‐time metric to identify the least verbally active student in a group so that support could be provided to them by the TAs.

Developing Critical Skills and Design Thinking via Practical Classes in Higher Education

This article explores the importance of developing critical and design thinking skills in university education. With the growing demand for creative and innovative professionals in various industries, it is essential for universities to provide students with the opportunity to develop these competencies through hands-on activities. The authors argue that a hands-on learning approach, such as project assignments, case studies, business games, model and systems design tasks, can help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills needed in today's rapidly changing job market. Design thinking is also becoming a core competency, capable of helping students effectively solve complex problems, develop innovative solutions, and make creative decisions. The article presents various methods of teaching practical classes for economic specialties and discusses the benefits of including such classes in the learning process. By highlighting the benefits of hands-on learning for student development and career growth, this article aims to encourage higher education institutions to adopt a more hands-on approach to education, helping students become well-rounded and employable graduates. The authors emphasize the importance of teacher assistance, acting as mentors and coaches, to contribute to the development of creative thinking and innovative approaches in students. Based on the study's results, recommendations were developed to create conditions for the development of students' critical and design thinking. Compliance with these conditions will enable universities to improve the quality of education in terms of forming competencies and enhancing graduates' competitiveness in the labor market.

Research on the Innovative Application and Effectiveness of AI Intelligence in Intelligent Assisted Teaching System for University Yoga Classroom

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, there is growing interest in its application in university settings, particularly in enhancing teaching methodologies. This study investigates the innovative application and effectiveness of AI in intelligent assisted teaching systems for university yoga classrooms. Using a comparative analysis approach, various AI-based teaching systems are assessed for their impact on personalized learning support, real-time feedback mechanisms, and optimization of educational resources. The findings highlight significant improvements in student engagement, learning outcomes, and overall yoga instruction quality. Ultimately, this research underscores the transformative potential of AI in revolutionizing educational practices within university yoga classrooms.

Graduate instructors navigating the AI frontier: The role of ChatGPT in higher education

This research study explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in undergraduate assessments, specifically focusing on the ability of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to identify AI-generated assessments and the performance of ChatGPT, an AI model, in producing high-quality work. The study examines four guiding research questions and hypotheses related to the accuracy of GTA identification, the achievement of AI-generated work compared to student marks, the impact of GTA characteristics on identification accuracy, and the variation in identification and assessment across different subject areas. The study incorporates ten AI-generated assessments across seven classes taught by five GTAs. The findings reveal that ChatGPT consistently excelled the average student in all classes receiving 10 scores of A or higher out of 11 and receiving the top mark in 8 of the ten classes. GTAs accurately identified 50 % of the AI-generated assessments, with results suggesting a potential connection between class size and GTA accuracy in identifying AI-generated work. GTAs with prior experience and familiarity with ChatGPT demonstrated higher accuracy in identifying AI-generated assessments. However, further research is needed to explore this comprehensively. This study also reviews the effectiveness of TurnItin's new AI detector, highlighting an accuracy of 92 % across the ten assessments. The study highlights the adaptability of ChatGPT across different subject areas and assessment types, producing assessments that align with diverse educational contexts.In conclusion, this research study contributes to understanding the effectiveness and adaptability of AI in undergraduate assessments. It underscores the need to further explore and develop AI technologies in education.

Exploring Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants’ pedagogical growth in United States universities

Exploring Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants’ pedagogical growth in United States universities

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION: CASES OF USING CHATGPT 3.5

Formulation of the problem. This research explores the possibilities and peculiarities of employing artificial intelligence in general secondary education. A retrospective analysis of human utilization of artificial intelligence is conducted. Emphasis is placed on the relevance and significance of aligning the education system with contemporary demands and implementing new technological solutions. The focus is on the correctness of queries to systems and the necessity of analyzing work outcomes. Materials and methods. Data collection and processing were conducted during professional development courses for education professionals in the Chernihiv region (Ukraine) through pedagogical observation of course participants and their work with AI. Throughout the study, 34 training sessions were conducted, involving 748 teachers teaching various subjects. Among the showcased cases of AI usage, the most demanded queries among teachers are presented. Results. Examples of text analysis using the generative system ChatGPT 3.5 are provided. The obtained results are analyzed. The findings emphasized the necessity of clearly formulating queries and providing comprehensive input data and complete texts for analysis. In such cases, the artificial intelligence system can provide more accurate responses. This study demonstrated that the system handles this task quite successfully when providing the text of a program code and requesting commentary. However, solving mathematical problems poses specific difficulties, and obtaining the correct answer is only sometimes achievable. That reiterates the critical approach toward the system's obtained work outcomes. Conclusions. ChatGPT 3.5 can correctly analyze well-known facts and provide accurate information about them, but if the facts are local, the system cannot cope with the task. Simple math problems and tasks are performed correctly, but more complex ones already cause difficulties. It is essential not only to write prompts correctly but also to present input data. Such tasks as paraphrasing, translation, and changing the text's tone demonstrate modern AI systems' capabilities. ChatGPT 3.5 can become a good teacher's assistant or assistant for preparing various documentation. Requests for help in writing lesson plans, preparation of educational activities, formation of project topics, and technological maps of projects are carried out by the system at a high level.

Evaluation of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model in an Alternative Educational Setting

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) intervention in an alternative educational setting for students with behavioural problems. The effect of the CPS intervention on students’ off-task behaviour was studied using a single-subject experimental design that included two students with behavioural problems via systematic direct observations and direct behaviour ratings. The usability of the CPS intervention was investigated through questionnaires and interviews with the participating students and teacher assistant. The results revealed no significant effects of the CPS intervention on students’ off-task behaviour. The students and teacher assistant viewed the CPS intervention as acceptable but the teacher assistant’s ratings of the feasibility of the intervention were lower, together with the ratings of the extent to which the intervention matched the socio-political climate of the educational setting.

Professional Development of Preschool Teacher Assistants in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a professional development (PD) program on preschool teacher assistants’ (TAs) attitudes toward multilingualism and self-efficacy in working with linguistically and culturally diverse children (LCDC) and their parents. The study was conducted in a northern peripheral city in Israel that reflects the country’s multicultural, multilingual mosaic. Recently, as part of reforms in the city, PD for TAs was introduced to enrich the participants’ practical knowledge about the development and education of linguistically and culturally diverse children. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 59 TAs before and after PD. Questionnaires focused on TAs’ self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms, as well as on their attitudes toward multilingualism. In addition, participants reflected on an event in their preschool with a child whose home language was other than Hebrew—the societally dominant language—focusing on the TAs’ emotional and behavioral responses. The qualitative and the quantitative data point to the impact of this PD program. Dependent variables t-test analysis revealed significant increase in TAs’ self-efficacy to work with LCDC and with parents, thus supporting classroom multilingualism. Mixed-method analysis of the qualitative data showed a decrease in negative feelings such as anxiety, disappointment, low self-esteem, and unpreparedness for handling LCDC, and an increase in positive feelings such as happiness, pride, satisfaction, achievement, and self-efficacy. The discussion addresses three issues: the importance of multicultural, multilingual professional development for TAs, self-efficacy as a central characteristic of TAs’ functioning, and the importance of TAs’ relationships with parents.

English Teaching Assistance Employing the Multiple Intelligences Theory to Kasih Bangsa Elementary School Students

Considering that English is not the main language in Indonesia, an effective teaching method at school is crucial to students' ability to speak English fluently. However, in reality, many teachers still depend on conventional teaching methods. Therefore, this teaching assistance aims to facilitate Kasih Bangsa Elementary School students with a method that considers students' overall intelligence adapted from the Multiple Intelligences theory proposed by Howard Gardner, who argues that a person can have more than one intelligence. Furthermore, this teaching assistance is based on the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) method, which focuses on the collaboration between researchers and communities. The program consists of three main processes: an interview with teachers of Kasih Bangsa Elementary School, a workshop on Multiple Intelligences Theory for the teachers, and a teaching demonstration by some of the students of the English Department, Maranatha Christian University. From this teaching assistance, the Multiple Intelligences theory is proven to improve the learning quality and boost students' motivation effectively.

Teaching assistant roles in supporting students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Chinese primary classrooms: divergent expectations among general education teachers and teaching assistants

Objectives Clarifying the roles of teaching assistants (TAs) is crucial for enhancing their support effectiveness. This study aimed to explore the differences in expectations regarding the roles of TAs between general education teachers and TAs in Chinese primary classrooms as well as the factors associated with these differences. Methods A sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach was employed. A total of 465 general education teachers and 400 TAs were surveyed to provide quantitative data, while five teachers and five TAs were interviewed to provide qualitative data. Results The quantitative survey revealed significant differences between teachers and TAs in terms of their overall expectations regarding TA roles as well as differences in the dimensions of personal care and classroom support. In particular, teachers scored significantly higher than TAs with regard to personal support; however, they scored significantly lower than TAs with respect to overall expectations and classroom support. The qualitative investigation revealed that these differences in role expectations were associated with internal (i.e., perceptions of the purpose of TA support and knowledge of student abilities) and external factors (i.e., professional training from schools and communication between teachers and TAs). Conclusions This study enriches the international literature on the role expectations of TAs in an inclusive education context and has important implications for their role clarification.

Collaborative working between speech and language therapists and teaching staff in mainstream UK primary schools: A scoping review

Support for school-age children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) usually takes place within the school setting. Successful outcomes for children with SLCN rely on effective collaborative working between speech and language therapists (SLTs), school staff and families. We need to understand the current evidence regarding the joint working practices, relationships and collaboration experiences of SLT and teaching staff within mainstream primary schools, in order to identify whether sufficient research exists for a systematic review within this field, and to inform practice. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify what research currently exists regarding collaboration, roles and relationships of SLTs and teaching staff within mainstream UK primary schools, and clarify the nature, participants and concepts described within this literature. A scoping review framework was used, consisting of identification of the review objectives, identification of relevant studies, study selection and iterative searches, data charting and reporting of the results. Information regarding research question, participants, data collection and analysis and terms used for key concepts was extracted. This scoping review identified 14 papers, however, collaboration was the primary focus of only 5 of these. Clarity and perceptions of roles were key themes within six of the papers. Whilst facilitators and barriers to collaboration are discussed in all 14 papers, only 4 studies aimed to investigate barriers and facilitators. Teaching assistant (TA) views are underrepresented within the research. Drawing conclusions from the body of research is challenging due to the varied ways in which the key concept ‘collaboration’ is used. Currently, there is insufficient literature to carry out a systematic review. This scoping review highlights the need for research that considers collaboration within the complex social network of school staff (including TAs) and SLTs, in order to ensure that future guidance is rooted in research.