scholarly journals Partners in Innovation: Teaching Assistants in College Science Courses (Seymour, Elaine; Melton, Ginger; Wiese, Douglas J.; Pedersen-Gallegos, Liane)

2006 ◽  
Vol 83 (12) ◽  
pp. 1762
Author(s):  
Norbert J. Pienta
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
College Science

A plan to eliminate the overlapping in high-school and college science courses

1936 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred G. Anibal ◽  
Philip A. Leighton
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
College Science

scholarly journals Supports: A Key Factor in Faculty Implementation of Evidence-Based Teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. ar22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan E. Bathgate ◽  
Oriana R. Aragón ◽  
Andrew J. Cavanagh ◽  
Jennifer Frederick ◽  
Mark J. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
College Science ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Departmental Support ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Curricular Resources

Evidence-based teaching (EBT), such as active learning and formative assessment, benefits student learning but is not present in many college science classrooms. The choices faculty make about how to teach their science courses are influenced by their personal beliefs and motivations, as well as their departmental structures and institutional cultures. With data from 584 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty trained in EBT, we compare which of the following factors most relate to faculty’s use of EBT: 1) faculty’s personal motivations (e.g., teaching value, confidence, beliefs about intelligence); and 2) their experiences with their institutional teaching environments (e.g., departmental support, student enthusiasm). Faculty’s perceived supports in their teaching environments (e.g., having supportive colleagues, being able to access curricular resources) were by far most predictive of their use of EBT. Faculty’s personal motivations had little to no relationship when supports were included in these models. The effects were robust, even when controlling for faculty gender, minority status, and teaching experience. Much of the literature has focused on perceived barriers to EBT implementation (e.g., lack of time, constrained teaching space). The current data indicate that a focus on building supports for faculty may have the greatest impact on increasing the presence of EBT in college STEM courses.

scholarly journals Evolving Impressions: Undergraduate Perceptions of Graduate Teaching Assistants and Faculty Members over a Semester

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Denise Kendall ◽  
Elisabeth E. Schussler
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Student Perception ◽  
Graduate Teaching Assistants ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Gateway Courses ◽  
Lower Division

Undergraduate experiences in lower-division science courses are important factors in student retention in science majors. These courses often include a lecture taught by faculty, supplemented by smaller sections, such as discussions and laboratories, taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). Given that portions of these courses are taught by different instructor types, this study explored student ratings of instruction by GTAs and faculty members to see whether perceptions differed by instructor type, whether they changed over a semester, and whether certain instructor traits were associated with student perceptions of their instructors’ teaching effectiveness or how much students learned from their instructors. Students rated their faculty instructors and GTAs for 13 instructor descriptors at the beginning and near the end of the semester in eight biology classes. Analyses of these data identified differences between instructor types; moreover, student perception changed over the semester. Specifically, GTA ratings increased in perception of positive instructional descriptors, while faculty ratings declined for positive instructional descriptors. The relationship of these perception changes with student experience and retention should be further explored, but the findings also suggest the need to differentiate professional development by the different instructor types teaching lower-division science courses to optimize teaching effectiveness and student learning in these important gateway courses.

scholarly journals Science Instructors' Views of Science and Nature of Science

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Karakas
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Science Faculty ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
College Science ◽  
Science Instructors ◽  
Undergraduate Science

This qualitative study examined how college science faculty who teach introductory level undergraduate science courses including the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, and earth science, understand and define science and nature of science (NOS). Participants were seventeen science instructors from five different institutions in the northeastern U.S. and all of them were interviewed. Consistent with previous research, the findings revealed that the participants in this study held sophisticated and complex conceptions of NOS. In some instances their views were in line with the views promoted by science philosophers, and in other instances their views were more mixed and naive. Findings show that engaging in scientific inquiry is not enough to ensure informed conceptions of NOS.

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