Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) teach many undergraduates in introductory science courses in the USA. Previous literature suggests that GTAs would prefer more context-dependent opportunities to learn to teach more effectively. This study explores the impact of participation in a lesson study cycle with GTAs responsible for an undergraduate introductory course in Earth Science. Data were analyzed via a theoretical perspective of situated cognition and lesson study. Findings indicate GTAs felt limited by current contexts in the degree to which they could change the laboratory, their talk about teaching largely focused on logistical issues, yet via the lesson study process they began to discuss the learner in their seminars. Implications are presented that explore the applicability of lesson study in this context, the role of a science educator as a facilitator for reform in college science teaching, and the potential impact of this process on GTAs’ relationships with other faculty.

Exploring and developing graduate teaching assistants' pedagogies via lesson study

Background
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) play critical roles in undergraduate education. Past studies have examined various programs developed for GTAs, but little work exists that examines GTAs' personal experiences and perceptions in engineering education. To develop teaching environments and training programs that foster positive motivation in GTAs for teaching and improve the quality of their teaching, we need to better understand the factors that motivate them.

Purpose
Situated in self-determination theory (SDT), the purpose of our study was to examine graduate students' motivation to teach by answering the research question, “What factors contribute to GTAs' competence, autonomy, and relatedness with regard to teaching?” We scoped the study broadly to include perceptions of events, occurrences, people, institutional structures, and demographics as potential factors.

Design/Method
We employed exploratory interview methods influenced by critical realism to understand GTAs' experiences. Our sample contained 12 participants from five different universities. We used a combination of a priori codes and open coding to determine the factors.

Results
We identified five factors that affect the needs posited by SDT: training, previous experience, appointment structure, students, and teaching colleagues. Each factor uniquely contributed to a GTA's teaching motivation.

Conclusions
GTAs are teachers, but they are also students. We recommend that faculty and administrators consider the five factors we identified and their unique individualized effects on GTAs as students and teachers when designing teaching experiences. This focus will lead to increased motivation in teaching and, with time, increases in the quality of teaching in engineering.

Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness as Motivators of Graduate Teaching Assistants

This study explores the relationship between teaching assistants (TAs) and student learning in undergraduate science laboratory classes. TAs typically instruct laboratory courses, yet little, if any, research examines professional development (PD) for TAs or relationships between instructors and students in laboratory settings. The use of undergraduate TAs (UTAs) in the same manner as graduate TAs (GTAs) in inquiry-based lab settings has yet to be explored. This quantitative study explored how TAs’ content knowledge, beliefs about teaching, and teaching confidence change as a result of PD and how TAs’ prior experience, UTA/GTA status, content knowledge, beliefs, and teaching confidence relates to students’ content knowledge learning in an inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory. Participants included 14 GTAs, 5 UTAs, and their 529 students at a public university. PD supported TAs to lead inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory classes, involving a week-long workshop and 14 weekly follow-up meetings. Results demonstrate that TAs’ content knowledge improved following PD and teaching, t(18) = −3.62, p = 0.002, and students’ content knowledge significantly improved across the semester, t(528) = −36.27, p = 0.000, dCohen = 1.3. Further, TAs with higher content knowledge post-PD tended to have students with higher end-of-semester content (r = 0.517, p = 0.000). No differences existed between UTAs or GTAs on any TA characteristic or student outcome measure. Using a hierarchical linear regression model, student post-semester content knowledge was predicted by student demographics; however, no TA characteristics or demographics were significant predictors of student content knowledge. Students who perceived their TA as more supportive also believed they learned more content (r = 0.280, p =0.000). Thus, UTAs can be used in lieu of GTAs in our inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory context and could be a possible alternative for TA instructors at other universities. Continued work examining TA PD, TA characteristics, TA practice, and student learning in inquiry-based laboratory contexts is warranted. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 463–492, 2017

Do teaching assistants matter? Investigating relationships between teaching assistants and student outcomes in undergraduate science laboratory classes

The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to better understand teaching assistants' (TAs') perceptions of training in a guided inquiry undergraduate general chemistry laboratory context. The training was developed using existing TA training literature and informed by situated learning theory. TAs engaged in training prior to teaching (∼25 hours) and attended weekly meetings throughout the year (∼60 hours). Assessment of training utilized a constructivist framework to understand TAs' perceptions of training in supporting their implementation of guided inquiry in the laboratory. Participants included 20 graduate TAs and 8 undergraduate TAs of varying teaching experience. Data collection included three open-ended surveys across the academic year and two semi-structured interviews with a purposefully sampled subset of TAs. Data were analyzed using systematic data analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Results indicated different aspects of the training were helpful for different subgroups of participants. For example, going over logistics and completing the experiments were most helpful for TAs with no previous teaching experience while discussing learning theory was least helpful for TAs whose future career goals were research-focused. Analyzing participants' experiences and perceptions through a situated learning theory lens suggested TAs with little prior teaching experience appreciated the authentic experiences (e.g., experiments and grading) provided by the training. The results of the study suggest TA training should address prior experiences, particularly language and teaching, as well as the larger context of research and future careers. Future research will focus on examining how TAs learn within a situated training and how that impacts TA beliefs, practices, and student learning.

Teaching assistants' perceptions of a training to support an inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory course

The purpose of this investigation was to explore changes in undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants’ (TAs’) content knowledge and beliefs about teaching within the context of an inquiry-based laboratory course. TAs received professional development (PD), which was informed by the TA training literature base and was designed for TAs implementing a guided inquiry approach to general chemistry laboratory instruction. TAs engaged in ∼20 h of presemester PD and ∼30 h of weekly follow-up PD during the semester. The study utilized a multiple-methods approach within a social constructivist framework to assess changes in the TAs. Participants included eight graduate TAs and five undergraduate TAs. Data collection included TA pre-PD, post-PD, and semester-end surveys and two interviews of a subset of participants. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and nonparametric statistics, and the qualitative data were analyzed using systematic data analysis. The results indicate that TAs’ content kno...

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Characterizing Teaching Assistants’ Knowledge and Beliefs Following Professional Development Activities within an Inquiry-Based General Chemistry Context

Four-year colleges and universities are principally responsible for providing the basic knowledge and skills that students require to succeed in civil engineering practice ASCE 1995 . Over the last thirty years and in particular the last decade, appropriations for higher education have declined in nearly every state PEO 2002; Seligo 2003; Gose 2003; Zemsky 2003 . The subsequent impact on availability of resources and a need to maintain enrollment numbers have forced many educational programs, particularly those at larger institutions, to rely more on graduate teaching assistants GTAs in meeting programmatic goals. This reliance has grown significantly over the last fifteen years Luo et al. 2000 . Nyquist et al. 1991 indicated that the proportion of undergraduate education assigned to GTAs is between 25 and 38%. At some universities, the figures rise rapidly; for example, the same proportion at Yale University is roughly 53% Luo et al. 2000 . Based on these figures, it is fair to say that without GTAs, many of the nation’s leading institutions would have difficulty in achieving their respective missions. With respect to the engineering disciplines, the role of a GTA and his or her influence on student learning vary between institutions. GTAs may fulfill a direct instructional need in a classroom or laboratory or serve as a course or laboratory aide or grader. Unfortunately, many GTAs are not adequately prepared for their responsibilities, nor are they fully aware of the influence they have over undergraduate learning Alford 1997 . In most cases, this does not imply a disinterest in improving teaching skills; rather it is a consequence of having only several days to prepare for their teaching duties. Moreover, GTAs are entrenched in their own degree program and may be more concerned with selfsurvival issues—this is primarily a problem for new GTAs Nyquist and Wulff 1996 . Thus, teaching performance and the valuable experience GITAs receive as educators may not always be at the forefront of their agenda. The dichotomy between levels of GTA preparedness and increased reliance on their services is an issue that institutions must effectively address if educational program goals are to be met. This paper describes the organization and implementation of a new GTA training program in the Department of Civil and Envi-

Shashi S. Marikunte

Papers

Balancing Pedagogical and Professional Practice Skills in the Training of Graduate Teaching Assistants

Benefits And Challenges Of Training Teaching Assistants