The Nov. 22 issue of "Inside Higher Ed" <http://insidehighered.com/>
contains a report by Scott Jaschik titled "TA's as the Key to Science
Teaching."
Jaschik wrote in part [bracketed by lines "JJJJJJ. . . ."; inserts by
Hake at ". . . [insert]. . ."]; my CAPS]:
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In 1997, Elaine Seymour was one of the authors of "Talking About
Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences" . . . . [Seymour &
Hewitt (2000)]. . . She found that a reason cited by student after
student - at a range of institutions - was poor teaching. And at many
institutions, teaching assistants were a major part of the problem.
Since then, she has been convinced that efforts to reform science
education - while they deal with many issues besides TA's - will
falter unless teaching assistants are given real professional
education on how to teach and how to handle the issues they face in
the classroom. A new book of which she is the lead author provides
evidence for that thesis "Partners in Innovation: Teaching Assistants
in College Science Courses" . . . [Seymour et al. (2005)]. . .
reviews three national efforts to reform science education - one in
astronomy and two in chemistry - and examines the role of TA's in
making reforms either take or fail.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seymour stresses that all types of colleges and universities need to
examine these issues. While many liberal arts colleges like to say
that they provide better science teaching than do research
universities, Seymour says she saw the same problems in both sectors.
The difference, she says, is that at liberal arts colleges, the TA
may be an undergraduate, not that the TA has been better prepared or
backed up. (WHILE HER BOOK ONLY EXAMINED SCIENCE TA'S, SEYMOUR SAYS
THAT SHE SUSPECTS PROBLEMS ARE SIMILAR IN OTHER DISCIPLINES.)
The bottom line, she says, is that HELPING TA'S DOESN'T JUST HELP
THEIR CURRENT STUDENTS, BUT THOSE WHO WILL BE LEARNING FROM THEM FOR
DECADES AFTER THE TA'S HAVE FINISHED THEIR DOCTORATES AND TAKEN ON
FULL-TIME FACULTY JOBS. "If you don't do something to more adequately
educate graduate students, they will go on to be the same kinds of
teachers as their teachers are, and they will have no clue and
perpetuate the cycle," Seymour says.
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I think Seymour has addressed a crucial but often neglected area in
undergraduate education reform, and that the last paragraph in the
above quote is especially important.
In footnote 61 of "Interactive-engagement vs traditional methods: A
six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory
physics courses" [Hake (1998a)], I wrote [bracketed by lines
"HHHHHHH. . . .":
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I have found top-notch undergraduate physics majors, *after suitable
apprenticeships*, to be among the best "Interactive Engagement"
instructors, evidently because their minds are closer to those of the
students and they have only recently struggled to understand
introductory physics concepts themselves. Thus they can better
appreciate the nature and magnitude of the intellectual hurdles and
ways to overcome them. Undergraduates have the further advantage that
they are relatively inexpensive to employ. Post-doctoral students
have also volunteered to serve as lab instructors, since they are
often motivated to seek experience with advanced educational methods
in order to better qualify themselves for job opportunities in the
expanding market for educationally effective teachers. AS FUTURE
PROFESSIONALS, THE UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND POST-DOCTORAL STUDENT
INSTRUCTORS ALL PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEED
INTERACTIVE-ENGAGEMENT METHODS INTO SCIENCE EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS."
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
For an excellent resource on the education of physics (and other)
teaching assistants see the Len Jossem's masterful "Resource Letter
EPGA-1: The education of physics graduate assistants" [Jossem
(2000)].
Jossem, E.L. 2000. "Resource Letter EPGA-1: The education of physics
graduate assistants," Am. J. Phys. 68(6): 502-512; online at
<http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~jossem/REF/TOC.htm> / College and
University Faculty, GTA's" / "The Education of Physics Graduate
Assistants: Resource Letter EPGA-1", where "/" means "click on." A
less scenic and rewarding route is to go directly to the pdf download
at <http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~jossem/REF/15.pdf> (108kB).