GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT PEDAGOGICAL PREPARATION IN THE GEOSCIENCES: COMMUNITY VALUES AND PRIORITIES, GUIDING RESEARCH, AND NEXT STEPS

Effective undergraduate instruction at many institutions is directly dependent on the effectiveness of GTAs, who serve as instructors of record in lab and lecture sections and make independent decisions about instruction and assessment. In-department professional development can provide an introduction to teaching approaches grounded in geoscience education research (GER) and signal that teaching is a valued activity within the departmental culture. However, our national survey of 113 geoscience departments with graduate programs showed that only about 40% require GTAs to complete such training, typically consisting of only a few hours prior to the start of the semester or weekly review of upcoming lab content.

Despite the limited amount of pedagogical training currently required within most geoscience departments, the majority of the 120 faculty survey respondents indicated that GTA pedagogical training was important to very important. These results may be related to prior findings showing that, in the absence of pedagogical training sufficient to develop both their beliefs and instructional practices, GTAs are likely to teach using the traditional teacher-centered practices most of them experienced as undergraduates. These practices do not align with what is known about best practices in GER or other discipline-based education research. In addition to reformed teaching practices, a round table session on the topic of GTA teaching capacity at the 2017 Earth Educators Rendezvous revealed a wide range of skills, beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge of value to the community, and a strong desire to learn more about best practices in GTA pedagogical training.

A literature review of empirical research on GTA training programs across STEM disciplines revealed a wide range of potential models for pedagogical training, as well as a breadth of evaluation approaches and measures of effectiveness that could be adapted to GTA training in the geosciences. This presentation will synthesize the results of the survey, round table, and literature review, and provide concrete next steps in advancing research and practice around GTA pedagogical preparation in the geosciences.