Teaching Assistant (teaching + assistant)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The Effects of Instructional Training on University Teaching Assistants

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2003
Patricia L. Hardré
ABSTRACT This study addressed the need for empirical tests of the global instructional design (ID) model as a toolkit for classroom teachers in authentic settings; and the performance improvement challenge of finding effective, efficient methods of professional development for preparing graduate assistants to teach. Participants were eighteen teaching assistants (TAs) with primary instructional responsibilities at a large Midwestern university. Twelve were given a training intervention in instructional design, while the other six served as a control group. The intervention was based on the iterative, five-phase ADDIE model, and principles from educational psychology. Dependent measures were TAs' ID knowledge, teaching self-efficacy, satisfaction with knowledge and strategies, perceived teaching competence, teaching performance and teaching effectiveness, and their students' engagement and perceived learning. All of the study's seven hypothesized relationships were found statistically significant. The intervention, though brief, measurably increased the ID knowledge of participating TAs, along with their teaching-related self-perceptions, and student outcomes. Instructional design emerges as a potentially powerful training tool for organizing teachers' and trainers' knowledge related to the complex practice of classroom instruction. [source]


Predicting curriculum and test performance at age 11 years from pupil background, baseline skills and phonological awareness at age 5 years

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 7 2007
Robert Savage
Background:, Phonological awareness tests are amongst the best predictors of literacy and predict outcomes of Key Stage 1 assessment of the National Curriculum in England at age 7. However, it is unknown whether their ability to predict National Curricular outcomes extends to Key Stage 2 assessments given at age 11, or also whether the predictive power of such tests is independent of letter-knowledge. We explored the unique predictive validity of phonological awareness and early literacy measures, and other pupil background measures taken at age 5 in the prediction of English, Maths, and Science performance at age 11. Method:, Three hundred and eighty-two children from 21 primary schools in one Local Educational Authority were assessed at age 5 and followed to age 11 (Key Stage 2 assessment). Teaching assistants (TAs) administered phonological awareness tasks and early literacy measures. Baseline and Key Stage 2 performance measures were collected by teachers. Results:, Phonological awareness was a significant unique predictor of all nine outcome measures after baseline assessment and pupil background measures were first controlled in regression analyses, and continued to be a significant predictor of reading, maths, and science performance, and teacher assessments after early literacy skill and letter-knowledge was controlled. Gender predicted performance in writing, the English test, and English teacher assessment, with girls outperforming boys. Conclusions:, Phonological awareness is a unique predictor of general curricular attainment independent of pupil background, early reading ability and letter-knowledge. Practically, screening of phonological awareness and basic reading skills by school staff in year 1 significantly enhances the capacity of schools to predict curricular outcomes in year 6. [source]


Learning to teach physics through inquiry: The lived experience of a graduate teaching assistant

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 6 2004
Mark J. Volkmann
This investigation examines the difficulties encountered by one graduate teaching assistant as she taught Physics for Elementary Education, a large-enrollment, inquiry-based science course taught at a public Midwestern university. The methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology served as the lens to investigate the research question, "What is the lived experience of a graduate teaching assistant as she learned to teach physics through inquiry to elementary education students?" We summarize the findings in terms of the blending of two conceptual frameworks: orientations to science teaching and professional identity. We learned that fundamental beliefs about the nature of science support certain orientations, and if those beliefs remain unchallenged, then the orientation is unlikely to change. Finally, we discuss implications for strategies that may assist college-level instructors with changing their orientation to teaching science. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 584,602, 2004 [source]


The permeable and impermeable wall of expectations

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 110 2007
Mary Fong
This chapter presents an autoethnography of a Chinese American woman's twenty-five years of experience in higher education at universities in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest. Her career is discussed in four stages: master's teaching assistant and student, part-time instructor, doctoral teaching assistant and student, and professor. [source]


Learning gains associated with annotation and communication software designed for large undergraduate classes

JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2007
T. L. Wentling
Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of annotation and communication software (eFuzion) developed for the improvement of students' learning and to determine the effectiveness of the software. eFuzion is designed to be useful in a significantly large classroom by allowing instructors and teaching assistants to provide immediate responses to students' questions and to provide a broader array of options for the lucid presentation of complex concepts. To determine the effectiveness of the software, two groups that took the same course were compared in terms of their learning scores, one group having used the software, the other having not used it. In the three measures of learning, the students who used the software showed significantly higher learning scores than students who did not use it. In addition, students indicated that they felt closer to the instructor and that their understanding of the lecture material was increased by using the software. The results imply that the software has great potential for improving students' learning when it is appropriately used and free of technical difficulties. [source]


The Effects of Instructional Training on University Teaching Assistants

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2003
Patricia L. Hardré
ABSTRACT This study addressed the need for empirical tests of the global instructional design (ID) model as a toolkit for classroom teachers in authentic settings; and the performance improvement challenge of finding effective, efficient methods of professional development for preparing graduate assistants to teach. Participants were eighteen teaching assistants (TAs) with primary instructional responsibilities at a large Midwestern university. Twelve were given a training intervention in instructional design, while the other six served as a control group. The intervention was based on the iterative, five-phase ADDIE model, and principles from educational psychology. Dependent measures were TAs' ID knowledge, teaching self-efficacy, satisfaction with knowledge and strategies, perceived teaching competence, teaching performance and teaching effectiveness, and their students' engagement and perceived learning. All of the study's seven hypothesized relationships were found statistically significant. The intervention, though brief, measurably increased the ID knowledge of participating TAs, along with their teaching-related self-perceptions, and student outcomes. Instructional design emerges as a potentially powerful training tool for organizing teachers' and trainers' knowledge related to the complex practice of classroom instruction. [source]