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Chemistry Graduate Student Teaching Workshops for Increased Teaching Competence

Introduction. During graduate school, chemistry graduate students generally focus on three

aspects during their first year: research, classes, and teaching. Although these three aspects are all

important, many times research and classes become a higher priority than teaching.1 Additionally,

teaching competence is an important skill for graduate students interested in both academic and

industry careers, and acquiring teaching skills is necessary during college before beginning a

career. Due to the time constraint that is inherently a part of graduate school, many times graduate

students need to have already obtained teaching competence skills before graduate school.1,2 As a

way to remedy this problem, past studies have revealed the positive benefits of having long-term

teaching workshops for graduate employees (GEs) on both teaching effectiveness and graduate

students’ teaching competence.3 Additionally, one study found that GEs who attended teaching

workshops allocated more classroom time for student-student discussion and spent less time

lecturing, displaying an increased confidence in their teaching methods.4 Workshop attendees

overall indicated that they had a clearer idea of how to teach effectively. Furthermore, teaching

skills are becoming increasingly recognized in academia as a complement to research skills, as

these skills are important when presenting and during mentorships.5 This exemplifies that

workshops aimed at increasing teaching skills would benefit all graduate students regardless of

their end career goal.

Currently the University of Oregon (UO) does not have any chemistry-specific teaching

workshops available for graduate students, and graduate students interested in refining their

teaching skills have to outsource or independently study to improve their skills. Because of this

gap in resources, I propose the creation of a New Teaching Assistant (TA) Workshop. This

workshop will not only provide information on teaching techniques, but it will also provide a space

for self-reflection on personal approaches towards teaching. This self-reflection aspect stemming

from group discussions will act to further develop graduate students’ personal teaching philosophy

and provide new perspectives on various topics.6

Organization of New TA Workshops. The general organization of these weekly workshops

will be 20 minutes of course-based discussions followed by 40 minutes of teaching-based

discussions. For the course-based discussions, attendants will be split into groups depending on

what course they are currently teaching or have previously taught. This is done in order to

encourage communication on things that worked well and things that did not during the previous

week of the course. During these discussions, older graduate students will write down notes from

the discussion to keep as record for coming years. For the teaching-based discussions, a graduate

student module leader will give a short presentation on a teaching subject followed by both small

and large group discussions. The focus of this proposal will be largely on the second, teaching-

based portion of these New TA Workshops whereas the first, course-based portion of these

workshops will be focused on by my colleague and fellow graduate student, Hannah Hashimoto.

Aim 1: Learning Teaching Techniques and Methods. The main goal of these workshops is

to provide a weekly 40-minute educational module on various teaching topics or techniques.

Workshops will be led by a different graduate student each week. These graduate students, referred

to as module leaders, will be chosen based off of past positive teaching impact as well as their

passion for teaching. It is important to note that many first-year graduate students start graduate

school with little experience teaching in a classroom setting, so these modules will function to

support and provide more information for these new graduate students. These workshops will

especially be helpful for new GEs teaching general chemistry labs, as those labs are taught using

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an inquiry-based teaching approach that many students have not used previously.

Aim 2: Reflection on Teaching Topics for Personal Teaching Styles. While learning about

teaching techniques and methods, the interlaced discussion aspect of these educational modules

`m , supports reflection by graduate students on their own teaching styles and how to integrate

learned topics into their teaching method. The combination of learning and reflecting that is an

active part of these modules provides a platform for graduate students of all years to increase their

teaching competence and confidence, as teaching is a skill that always can be further developed.

Aim 3: Connection Between New and Older Graduate Students. These teaching workshops

will work to foster connections between the new, incoming graduate students and the older

graduate students of all chemistry divisions. Even though chemistry lab groups may be separated

physically by buildings or systemically according to their specialized field of chemistry, all

graduate students have a commonality when it comes to teaching. This allows connections to be

formed between students that would not normally cross paths. Additionally, the creation of lectures

by module leaders will also function to pass teaching knowledge and tips from the older, more

experienced students down to the new incoming students.7

Materials and Methods. During this time no physical materials will be needed to support

these workshops since they will be held remotely over Zoom. Materials such as supporting

documents and presentations for modules will be created by the module leaders and workshop

leaders (examples in S1-S9). To determine

module leaders, an informal poll will be

given to both chemistry undergraduates

and graduate students to determine

graduate teaching assistants that have

excelled in the realm of teaching. The

workshops will be a 9-week program

available during the fall quarter. A

proposed calendar of module topics is

shown in Figure 1, but the topics can be

changed yearly depending on interest of

workshop participants and module leaders.

Assessment of Success. The impact

and success of the New TA Workshops will be assessed through two methods. First, through

personal recounts such as attendance count, reception to discussions, repeat attendance, and

general feedback throughout the course of the quarter. Second, a survey will be sent out after the

full 9-week program has been completed to collect feedback from both first-year graduate students

and older graduate students. Taken together, these two methods will provide an accurate

assessment of the level of success of these New TA Workshops.

Broader Impacts. In the future, we plan to hold these New TA Workshops every year

during fall quarter as a way to support first year graduate students’ transitions to teaching courses,

to provide learning and reflection upon teaching techniques, and to foster an open community

among chemistry graduate students. Moving forward we plan to partner with other resources on

campus, such as the University of Oregon Science Literacy Program, and open up the teaching-

based modules to other disciples at UO for increased interdisciplinary discussions. Overall, these

New TA Workshops will increase teaching awareness and improve teaching competence of

chemistry graduate students in many realms, as these topics are applicable not only in a classroom

or mentorship situation, but also when presenting or when working with a team.3

Week Module Topic

1 Communicating with Class Instructors

2 Professionalism and Office Hours

3 Guided Inquiry-Based Learning

4 Active Learning in a Remote Setting

5 Engaging Students

6 Teaching as a Mentor

7 Question-Based Learning

8 Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

9 Professor Spotlight

Figure 1: Weekly plan of module topics.

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References

(1) Shannon, D.; Twale, D.; Moore, M. TA Teaching Effectiveness: The Impact of Training

and Teaching Experience. The Journal of Higher Education 1998, 69(4), 440-466.

(2) Blouin, D.; Moss, A. Graduate Student Teacher Training: Still Relevant (And Missing?)

20 Years Later. Teaching Sociology 2015, 43(2), 126-136.

(3) Gafney, L.; Varma-Nelson, P. Evaluating Peer-Led Team Learning: A Study of Long-

Term Effects on Former Workshop Peer Leaders. Journal of Chemical Education 2007,

84(3), 535-539

(4) White, P.; Syncox, D.; Heppleston, A.; Isaac, S.; Alters, B. Putting Research into

Practice: Pedagogy Development Workshops Change the Teaching Philosophy of

Graduate Students. Canadian Journal of Higher Education 2012, 42(1), 98-111.

(5) Boman, J. Graduate Student Teaching Development: Evaluating the Effectiveness of

Training in Relation to Graduate Student Characteristics. Canadian Journal of Higher

Education 2013, 43(1), 100-113.

(6) Troop, M.; Wallar, L.; Aspenlieder, E. Developing Graduate Students’ Self-Efficacy with

Learner-Centered Lecturing. Canadian Journal of Higher Education 2015, 45(3), 15-33.

(7) Dik, H.; McEwen, L. A Graduate Teaching Assistant Workshop in a Faculty of Science.

Canadian Journal of Higher Education 2009, 39(2), 101-120.

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Chemistry Graduate Student Teaching Workshops for Increased Teaching Competence

Kaylin Fosnacht

BICE Proposal Supplemental Information

Table of Contents Page Number

I. Example module preparatory information S2

II. Example module presentation S5

III. Screenshot from a typical meeting S9

S2

I. Example module preparatory information

Week 2: Professionalism and Office Hours

Readings:

Professionalism document

Discussion:

- How to facilitate conversations in Office Hours.

- How to manage time/balance students.

- How to set boundaries with students/why it is important.

Professionalism as it applies to TAing:

Three important things to remember:

1. Be prepared and expect the same of your students…and in order to expect students to be

prepared requires that you:

2. Make your expectations clear. As a TA, student expectations are essentially taken care of

through the course instructor, but that means that you should know and enforce the expectations

of the instructor.

3. Treat everyone with respect. As a TA you are at an interesting level somewhere between

the students and the instructor, and it is important that you have respect for both.

1. Being prepared: -This means get to lab and OH on time (aka early) and lead by example. Show students that you are

prepared and that you expect the same.

-More importantly this means putting in the work to ensure that you know the material so that you can

help students to understand it.

-Look over the material ahead of time so that you know what kinds of calculations students will be

asked to do/what questions they may ask and how you will help them to find the answer. If you don’t

know the material yourself it is difficult to help students understand it. -This also means being open to

complaints or criticisms, as well as remaining being honest when you are unsure of an answer. You may

not always know how to answer a student’s question, or you may sometimes make an error, but owning

up to those mistakes and working through them is important to ensuring that everyone can get the

most out of their education.

Anecdote: As head TA I worked with an teaching assistant that did not care for

teaching… and while I appreciate that not everyone likes teaching, it is important not

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only because it is what you are paid for during your first year, but also consider: how

you would feel if the education you were paying thousands of dollars to get was in the

hands of someone that didn’t care?... This TA did not prepare for his classes which

resulted, on more than one occasion, in his giving students incorrect answers. This

became a substantial problem, because students began seeking out his OH, as he was

known to simply give answers instead of helping students to find answers. This meant

that his incorrect answers propagated through the class, costing students points, but

more importantly, costing them a real understanding of the material they were

supposed to learn, undermining their education.

2. Making your expectations clear: -While the expectations for students are laid out by the instructor, it is important that as an

assistant to the teacher you are enforcing those expectations.

-Know how you should handle students arriving late or handing in late assignments, etc.

Which leads me to, IMO the most important idea:

3. Treating everyone with respect, which includes setting boundaries:

-treat others how you expect to be treated…This applies to not only the students you work with,

but other TAs and the course instructors:

-It is important that you treat your instructor with respect and to not undermine their authority

with students. Even if you don’t like how an instructor runs a course, it is not your place to

suggest that to students. This is also true of your fellow TAs.

-Treating students with respect creates a positive environment for learning where students

should not ever need to feel ridiculed when they are trying to learn. It is allowed and

encouraged to make the lab environment enjoyable and positive, but you should always

remember you are in a position of authority and beware of how little jokes or lighthearted

sarcasm can make students feel.

-Further: resist the temptation to try and be friends with your students. It is a common

mistake amongst TAs to try to win students over by being their friend. Especially when

you are so similar in age with the students you are teaching it can be tough to make sure

you retain a professional relationship with students, but is important to do so.

-Avoid becoming social media friends with your students (at least while you are

responsible for their education.)

-Do not EVER discuss students with or in front of other students. Not only can this cause

students to lose respect for you as an educator but it can quickly become a FERPA

violation.

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-Finally, as a TA, by treating everyone you work with respect, you foster an environment of

respect. Show students how they are expected to treat you, other TAs and other students by

maintaining a professional, respectful attitude.

Another anecdote: I had a student who was really struggling with her course load. She came to

my OH and would talk about her personal drama while I was trying to help other students. She

clearly did not respect the other students’ time or my boundaries as a TA.

A few tips for OH specifically:

-get students involved in helping other students - if you are asked a question you can ask if

anyone else thinks they know the answer, this gets the students really involved in the material

and can foster a positive environment between students

-especially when answering more involved questions announce to everyone what you will be

discussing so you can avoid having students ask you the same question over and over -move

around, don’t just sit at the head of the table and allow students to come to you, move between

students, make sure everyone is understanding and able to ask you questions comfortably, not

all students are comfortable with the room’s attention on them

Discussion Questions/Scenarios:

-Have you had experiences with someone you felt lacked professionalism? How did that affect

your opinion of that person or their job performance?

-If a student shows up 20 minutes late to lab, missing the safety discussion. The course

instructor has a rule that states that students who miss the prelab discussion should not be

allowed to participate in lab. What do you do?

-A student asks to discuss the homework you have just returned to him during lab, loudly

insisting that he deserves more points for his answer because another TA gave him that answer.

How do you handle this?

-During a well attended office hour a student loudly tells you that you are wrong about the

material you have just presented. How do you proceed?

-A student continually attends your office hours with the intention of just having you tell them

the answers. What should you do?

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II. Example module presentation

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III. Screenshot from a typical meeting