Barron Hillary A, Patrick Lorelei E, Brown Julie C, Cotner Sehoya
Department of Biology, School of Sustainability and Life Sciences, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota, USA.
Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas, USA.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2025 Aug 21;26(2):e0022624. doi: 10.1128/jmbe.00226-24. Epub 2025 Jun 5.
Undergraduate students in science classes are more engaged and demonstrate increased performance when instructional methods include authentic science practices and active learning strategies. Non-majors students (i.e., those enrolled in science classes to fulfill a degree requirement) typically receive instruction that is more lecture-based and prescribed, however, which contributes to disinterest, diminished self-expectations, and lower performance. Teaching assistants (TAs) often interact with undergraduate students more closely in science classes than faculty and thus could potentially have far-reaching impacts on these students. Therefore, understanding how TAs think about their science teaching and the concerns they have about their methods can lead to designing more effective TA professional development (PD). In this qualitative study, we explored TA written reflections and employed first- and second-cycle analysis techniques to identify themes reflecting TAs' perceptions of their science teaching and concerns for improvement. We found that TAs' concerns about their teaching centered on three themes: , , and . Further, these concerns changed over time and varied across TA experience level. We offer insight into how TAs' teaching concerns evolve and discuss the implications of these insights for TA PD.
当教学方法包括真实的科学实践和主动学习策略时，理科课程的本科生会更投入并表现出成绩提高。然而，非专业学生（即那些选修理科课程以满足学位要求的学生）通常接受的教学更多是以讲座为主且规定性较强，这导致他们缺乏兴趣、自我期望降低以及成绩较差。在理科课程中，助教（TAs）与本科生的互动往往比教师更为密切，因此可能对这些学生产生深远影响。所以，了解助教如何看待他们的理科教学以及他们对教学方法的担忧，有助于设计更有效的助教专业发展（PD）。在这项定性研究中，我们探讨了助教的书面反思，并运用一阶和二阶分析技术来识别反映助教对其理科教学的认知以及改进担忧的主题。我们发现，助教对教学的担忧集中在三个主题上： ， ，以及 。此外，这些担忧会随着时间变化，并且因助教的经验水平而异。我们深入探讨了助教的教学担忧是如何演变的，并讨论了这些见解对助教专业发展的启示。
