Fostering the facilitation of collaboration: Inquiry into Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) professional development associated Collaborative Introductory Laboratory Activities (CILA)

CHED 1444

Bridget A. Brennan, bridgetb@udel.edu, Mathematics & Science Education Resource Center, and School of Education, University of Delaware, 105 Pearson Hall, Newark, DE 19716 and James Wingrave, wingrave@udel.edu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, 237 Brown Lab, Newark, DE 19716.
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are a crucial part of undergraduate education at research universities, yet there is little research on programs designed to prepare GTAs for their pedagogical duties. This study is a qualitative inquiry into the GTA professional development associated with Collaborative Introductory Laboratory Activities (CILA), a program designed to enhance student preparation for traditional general chemistry laboratory experiments using small-group activities to create a collaborative learning environment. Our primary research question is: How do the teaching practices of GTAs evolve during participation in the CILA project? A case study approach is utilized to evaluate the impact of the project on GTA instructional practices; data include interviews and observations and are analyzed using the constant comparative method with an initial coding scheme grounded in the literature. The impact of both the enacted professional development and the curriculum on the evolution of GTA instructional practices is discussed.
 

Chemistry Education Research
8:30 AM-11:55 AM, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- HEC A, Oral

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008