2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

TA Training at Two R1 Institutions: A Comparative Analysis

Presented at Faculty Development Division (FDD) Technical Session 5

This paper seeks to compare models of engineering graduate teaching assistant (TA) training developed by two research-intensive higher education institutions, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Imperial College London. This paper seeks to highlight best practices and identify shared and individual lessons learned related to training: how it is structured, how participants are motivated to engage, how and what content is delivered, and foundationally, what informs those decisions. As institutions worldwide are seeking to increase their enrollment in STEM programs, TAs have become even more essential in providing direct instruction, supporting student wellness, managing grading and assessment, and more. Hosting and continually supporting TA training that is proactive, engaging, and based on evidence- based practices is vital to ensuring that the student experience is consistent across semesters, departments, and courses. Furthermore, it has become clear that TA training serves as the foundation for graduate student careers as they advance into faculty positions where they will be expected to have knowledge in basic pedagogy. In this paper, staff responsible for designing and delivering training critically reflect upon the models of practice they employ to compare their utility. The models and lessons offered in this paper will serve as guidance for practitioners who hope to develop or revise their own training programs. This paper will also describe the rationale behind different training approaches taken by the authors at the two institutions grounded in the unique needs and contexts. Future research opportunities exist to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of these training programs for both graduate students participating in the trainings as well as undergraduate students who are the beneficiaries of improved instruction.

Authors

Ms. Haley Briel University of Wisconsin, Madison [biography]

Haley Briel is an instructional design consultant with the Collaboratory for Engineering Education and Teaching Excellence (CEETE) within the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE) at UW - Madison's College of Engineering. Her work focuses on promoting inclusive, evidence-based best practices in teaching for instructional staff and faculty. She is particularly passionate about teaching assistant training as a foundation for graduate students as they begin careers in academia.
Dr. Deesha Chadha [biography]

I currently work as a senior teaching fellow in the department of chemical engineering at Imperial College London having previously worked in academic development for a number of years at King's College London
Chris Dakes University of Wisconsin, Madison
Erica Jean Hagen University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dr. James Iain Campbell http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0978-0483 Imperial College London [biography]

Currently a Teaching fellow at Imperial College London, Chemical Engineering Department
Dr. Umang Vinubhai Shah [biography]

Umang received his Masters in Chemical Engineering from Gujarat University, India and worked as a Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at L.D. College of Engineering for 5 years before pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London. Umang has developed surface preferential approaches for nucleation and crystallisation of biological and complex organic molecules. More recently, he has worked as a Research Associate investigating the role of surface properties on particle-particle interaction and developed approaches for decoupling contribution of different surface attributes on powder cohesion. In 2012, as recognition to his contributions to Undergraduate laboratory teaching, he was been nominated for the Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards for the Faculty of Engineering. Umang currently has a role in leading the operation and innovation of the teaching laboratories and he manages Graduate Teaching Assistants for the Department of Chemical Engineering.

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