Master Graduate Teaching Fellows: A Pilot to Improve Science Teaching
5. Conclusions
Peer mentoring with regard to teaching proficiency was seen as beneficial by both MGTF
mentors and those TAs being mentored, and these data add to what was previously known
about the impact of various sorts of mentoring relationships. In terms of limitations for
the current study, the lack of consistent objective data on improvement of classroom
techniques was problematic for the evaluation of the program as a whole, but conforms to
expectations of such programs given the difficulties of using student evaluations,
confounded in the development of instruments that are both precise and valid, and the
problems inherent in self-reports. In general, MGTF observations confirmed that TAs
improved their teaching in several key areas over time, although since this was not
established as a control-comparison evaluation, it was difficult to separate out the
effect of the MGTFs versus the normal maturation of the TAs as they gained teaching
experience.
