Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) instructional choices are influenced by a variety of factors, including the messages they receive from others. One source of information and influence is professional development, PD, which traditionally focuses on GTAs or faculty and rarely approaches multiple audiences at one time in a cross-tiered approach. Messages intended to be sent through GTA professional development can get muddled, reinforced, or threatened based on the other stakeholders involved in the process. This is problematic considering that active learning strategies are often implemented in large introductory courses which involve collaboration between faculty and teaching assistants who play different roles in instruction. This project looks at a professional development approach intended to assist graduate teaching assistants and their supervising faculty member to integrate active learning into a large enrollment course. Specifically we are interested in the GTAs’ perceptions of what was expected of them from the lenses of the multiple influencers involved. A worksheet based on ten codes from the real-time instructor observation tool (RIOT) was used to solicit self-reported perceptions of expectations from influencers including their department, their faculty, and their undergraduate students. RIOT profiles from the GTAs, the supervising faculty, and the professional development team were compared to gain insight into how messages were exchanged and to identify where and why any misalignment occurred. Findings from this research have direct implications for anyone interested in implementing professional development in courses that require buy-in from GTAs and supervising faculty.<br/>

Mixed messages: GTA perceptions of instructional expectations influenced by cross-tiered professional development

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.