instructional supports for graduate teaching assistant at the...

University ofNebraska-

Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting

InstructionalSupports

TeachingApprenticeship

CloseCoordination

Active LearningModel

PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Instructional Supports for Graduate TeachingAssistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nathan WakefieldAllan Donsig

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

[email protected]@unl.edu

January 8, 2016

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Overview

1 The Setting

2 Instructional Supports

Teaching Apprenticeship

Close Coordination

Active Learning Model

Pedagogical Training

3 The Results

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

The University

Large Public Land-Grant University: ≈ 25, 000 students,70% acceptance rate

Mandatory in-house math placement exam for courses upto Calculus I.

Two-thirds of incoming freshman take a math course andone-third take some form of pre-calculus (≈ 1, 500students).

Four Pre-calculus courses: Intermediate Algebra, CollegeAlgebra, College Trigonometry, or CollegeAlgebra andTrigonometry.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

The GTA’s

About 80 graduate students in program, mostly doctoral;first year students lead Calculus recitations

Starting in second year, they typically teach 3 courses ayear

GTA-taught courses: precalculus, contemporary math,courses for teachers, and some advanced courses

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

The Goals

Our overarching goal for GTA’s is to make them informed,reflective, and effective teachers.

In particular, they should master a student-centeredactive-learning model.

This is hard to measure and we do not have much data(especially longitudinal data).

Nonetheless, the department sees this effort as having asubstantial payoff for both undergraduate instruction atUNL and the placement of our doctoral graduates.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Teaching Apprenticeship

In second year, GTAs teach only 2 courses: eitherIntermediate Algebra or College Algebra.

Time for pedagogy course and mastering teachingmethods.

GTAs are observed (by Director, Associate Convenor, orfaculty) and mentored.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Close Coordination

Course Meetings

Common Lesson Plans

Common Course Worksheet Packets

Commonly Graded Common Exams

Faculty Classroom Observations

Common Online Homework (WeBWorK)

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The Results

The Classroom

Figure : Active Learning Classroom8 / 16


Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

The Classroom

Everything we do in the classroom pushes the students todiscuss mathematics with their peers and instructors.

In addition to the GTA, there is an undergraduate(learning assistant) who works with the students.There is an early formative assessment to engage studentsat the start of the course and encourage groupaccountability.Team homework encourages students to work together.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Our Pedagogy Course

This is a three-credit graduate level course entitledTeaching and Learning at the Post-Secondary Level.

This is not just about organizing the pre-calculus courses,or a support group, but a course in education theory,literature, and practice.

Students observe classes, read and discuss papers, andwrite analyses of student work (action-research).

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Sample Readings

Carraher, T. N., Carraher, D. W., and Schliemann, A. D.(1985). Mathematics in the streets and in schools. Britishjournal of developmental psychology, 3(1):21-29.

Erlwanger, S. H. (1973). Benny’s conception of rules andanswers in ipi mathematics. Journal of Children’sMathematical Behavior, 1(2):7-26.

Lage, A. and Gaisman, M. (2006). An analysis ofstudents’ ideas about transformations of functions.Proceedings of the 28th annual meeting of the NorthAmerican Chapter of the International Group for thePsychology of Mathematics Education. Mrida, Mxico:Universidad Pedaggica Nacional, pages 23-30.

Steffe, L. P. and Kieren, T. (1994). Radical constructivismand mathematics education. Journal for Research inMathematics Education, pages 711-733.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Sample Assignment

After a few weeks of reading and discussing constructivismas a learning theory GTA’s complete their first paper:

Write a 3-5 page paper. In this paper you should detailyour own view of how learning occurs, how it applies toyour classroom, and how it compares with constructivism.At a minimum your paper should address issues such as:How do students in your class learn? How can youevaluate when a student has learned a topic? In your viewof learning, what can you do to improve student learning?If a constructivist visited your class, how would they saythat learning was occurring?

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Sample Assignment

By the middle of the semester GTA’s work together tobegin applying what they have learned to their ownclassrooms:

Your project is to work with two others to incorporate theideas we have talked about so far to reflect on how yourstudents are doing. Your task is to administer ateam-quiz/group-quiz in one of the courses, analyze thestudent work, and try to identify an area of studentmisunderstanding. Once you have identified themisunderstanding, you should then develop a shortintervention activity that you could do in office hours, orextra class time to try and help students better understandtheir misunderstanding.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

GTA Development

GTA’s, in their first semester teaching at UNL, arebeginning to act as reflective practitioners.

One GTA wrote “While it may be tempting to simplyauthoritatively state the correct order in which to performhorizontal transformations, doing so effectively removesownership of knowledge from students, and encouragesthem to view mathematics as a set of arbitrary rules to beapplied blindly. By removing ownership from students, weultimately discourage students from building their ownbase of knowledge surrounding the topic.”Another GTA referenced a well known article, “I’mreminded of another article we read, about Brazilianschoolchildren who easily solved math problems whenselling produce on the streets, but were unable to solve theexact same problems when presented with them in aclassroom setting. Using students’ existing knowledge anmathematical intuition as a base off of which to build thetheory would promote deeper understanding, I think.”14 / 16


Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Student Success

More students are succeeding than ever before!

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Math 100A 63% 64% 70% 61% 63% 68% 77%Math 101 60% 68% 60% 59% 80% 80% 80%

Table : Fall Semester Success Rates(

C or betterEnrollment after 1 week

)

Students are doing just as well in subsequent courses asthose who tested into the subsequent course.

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Lincoln

NathanWakefield

Allan Donsig

The Setting



CloseCoordination


PedagogicalTraining

The Results

Thank You

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