Master Graduate Teaching Fellows: A Pilot to Improve Science Teaching
By documenting and tracking the professional development of the MGTFs over the 12
months of the program, there was evidence of changes in their teaching, as well as in
their understanding of student learning and how that understanding affects their teaching.
Evidence for these conclusions can be found in the MGTFs' initial fellowship applications,
periodic reflective writing, participation in regular MGTF meetings, course work in
UNIV798a, evaluation interviews, and the summative report that each completed at the end
of the program. The positive changes in their instruction, and their increased interest in
the scholarship of teaching and learning, has been recognized beyond the MGTF program and
VIP K-16 grant. For example, three of the six MGTFs applied for and won competitive,
university-wide grants to continue to work on their teaching and curricular
tools.
Interviews with TAs who were mentored by MGTFs and interviews with
course coordinators show that the MGTFs were considered very helpful and supportive
mentors. In addition to face-to-face help in individual and group settings (weekly lab
meetings), MGTFs supported TAs by creating grading rubrics for lab reports, revising lab
manuals, and writing grant proposals for additional course improvements. Each of these
support mechanisms was initiated by the MGTFs themselves. In interviews and surveys,
experienced TAs mentioned being particularly appreciative of the resources and supports
provided by the MGTFs that had not been present during their prior teaching experiences.
Experienced TAs also mentioned that the MGTFs were effective role models for peer
mentoring and helped them in their own work supporting fellow TAs, particularly novice
TAs. Perhaps most importantly, several of the TA interviewees mentioned that the MGTFs had
helped to create a more positive climate for STEM teaching-it wasn't just something to
"endure" or check off the list of things to do on their degree plan-as the MGTFs provided
a degree of encouragement and support (and practical resources) that they did not
necessarily receive from their advisor or other faculty in their department.
As documented in several evaluation sources, MGTFs had a particularly substantial
impact on the mentoring and support of TAs. A recurrent theme was that novice TAs tend to
lack confidence in the classroom and need extra reassurance, which they often do not
normally get. Through having the MGTFs available to observe their teaching, answer their
questions, and provide tips and resources, TAs became more confident in their roles over
the course of the semester and also realized that they were not "in this all alone."
Several of the MGTFs were able to describe specific mentoring situations in which they had
worked with a novice TA on a specific issue (or set of issues) over time. It appears that
their role was particularly important in supporting international TAs for whom English was
not a first language.
In general, MGTF observations confirmed that TAs improved
their teaching in several key areas over time, although since this was not set up as a
control-comparison evaluation, it is difficult to separate out the effect of the MGTFs
versus the normal maturation of the TAs as they gained teaching experience over time. At
the same time, the TAs who were surveyed and interviewed were overwhelmingly positive
about the impact of the MGTF program and felt supported in their role, and the MGTFs were
positive about the changes they saw in the novice TAs whom they mentored.
In
their interviews and final reports, several MGTFs mentioned the STEM TA workshops as one
of the weaker aspects of the fellowship program-not from a planning and content
standpoint, but because they were voluntary and poorly attended by the TAs. While there
was agreement among the MGTFs that developing the workshop concepts and activities had
been a beneficial experience for them professionally, it was disappointing that more TAs
did not take advantage of this opportunity. Among those TAs who did attend the
professional development workshops, the feedback was positive. These findings suggest that
a more formal professional development structure may be needed to effectively reach
graduate STEM TAs, such as UNIV 798a (the weekly teaching and learning seminar in which
the MGTFs participated).
