A Review of Research on the Professional Development of Statistics - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A Review of Research on the � Professional Development of � Statistics Graduate Teaching Assistants Nicola Parker Justice Joint Statistical Meetings August 9, 2015 Quantitative Methods in Education Educational Psychology

Overview • Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and their role teaching statistics • Statistics GTAs’ Preparation for Teaching • Research related to GTA professional development • Discussion and Recommendations

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) Typically serve in four roles: • Instructors of a (usually small) section of a course • Lab facilitators • Discussion section leaders • Clerical workers / paper graders

Statistics GTAs …are responsible for the instruction of 25% of introductory statistics courses in United States Ph.D.-granting statistics departments (Blair, Kirkman & Maxwell, 2013)

Statistics GTA Preparation for Teaching • Descriptive articles • Rumsey (1998); Garfield & Everson (2009) • Special section of The American Statistician (2005) – Courses & Seminars – Weekly meetings – “Immersion in a departmental culture” – Gradual assignment of responsibilities

David Moore’s Recommendations (2005) • Assign responsibilities appropriately • Observe and provide feedback • Offer mentoring • Foster relationships between GTAs • Prepare international GTAs for cultural norms

Empirical Studies of Statistics GTAs Statistics GTAs • lack important content knowledge for teaching (Noll, 2011) • feel unprepared for teaching (Green, 2010) • sense a lack of faculty support for teaching (Green, 2010) • are not familiar with current recommendations for teaching introductory statistics (Parker et al., 2014) • often hold beliefs unaligned with their teaching practices (Parker et al., 2014)

Empirical Studies of Statistics GTAs Teaching practices are NOT aligned with GAISE recommendations (Parker et al., 2014) • 92% use lecture (primarily) to present content • 67% do NOT encourage students to discover ideas on their own. • 53% do NOT frequently require students to work in small groups • 76% require students to do a lot of practice of procedures using formulas (do NOT stress concepts)

Empirical Studies of GTAs in Other Disciplines: Mentoring Associated with • changes in teaching beliefs (Gilmore, Maher, Feldon, & Timmerman, 2013; Volkmann & Zgagacz, 2004) • reduction in teaching anxiety & improved self efficacy (Williams, 1991, when coupled with observations…) Doesn’t need to be faculty (Williams, 1991) High GTA satisfaction (Jones, 1993)

Teaching Observations Associated with • changes in teaching behaviors (Bray & Howard, 1980) • reduction in GTA teaching anxiety (Williams, 1991) Use video or microteaching (Boman, 2013; Dalgaard, 1982) Can be conducted by senior GTAs; doesn’t need to be faculty (Williams, 1991) High GTA satisfaction (Dalgaard, 1982)

Peer Interactions • Rated as most helpful by GTAs (Darling & Dewey, 1990; Myers, 1994) • Rated as most accessible by GTAs (Darling & Dewey, 1990) • In K-12 education, teacher professional development groups are associated with: - Successful adoption of reformed curriculae (e.g., Blumenfeld et al., 2000) - More student-centered teaching * (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008) - Higher percentages of students achieving proficiency on standardized tests * (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008) * when discussion is focused on “student–learning”

International GTAs (ITAs) • ITAs are more likely to use “authoritarian” teaching styles (Luo, Grady, and Bellows, 2001) • Culturally relevant teaching styles have been shown to ameliorate linguistic insufficiency, but not vice versa (Hoekje & Williams, 1992) • Authoritarian styles can have more negative effects than lack of English proficiency (Hoekje & Williams, 1992)

Courses and Seminars • Large Variation in Courses and Seminars Offered • Variables: – Duration (1-2 day workshop vs. semester– or year–long course) – Clientele (many disciplines vs. single department) – Scope (teaching, generally vs. preparation for a specific course) – Components (lectures vs. discussion & microteaching) – Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered focus

Courses and Seminars • Typical goals: – changed teaching beliefs – changed teaching practices – greater self-efficacy – reduced anxiety • Some studies suggest they can be effective (e.g., Boman 2011) • Other studies suggest they aren’t effective (e.g., Luft et al., 2004)

Courses and Seminars Gilmore et al., (2013) • Studied correlations between GTAs’ beliefs about teaching and four factors, including training programs. • Training program experience (often weekly meetings) had no significant relationship with increase in student- centered teaching beliefs ( p =.341) • Mentoring experience had far stronger associations with student-centered beliefs than all other factors.

Courses and Seminars Bray and Howard (1980) • Conducted a controlled randomized study • Found no significant differences between - GTAs who received video consultations - GTAs who received video consultations in addition to seminar on teaching ( p = .589) The authors conclude that the video consultation was the key component of the training program

Courses and Seminars Wyse (2010) • Studied changes in GTAs’ beliefs • GTAs participated in a rigorous training program • After 1 semester: no significant changes in beliefs • After 2 semesters: significant changes detectable

Recommendations for GTA Professional Development Related to Teaching • Offer Mentoring (Moore, 2005; Gilmore et al., 2013; Williams, 1991) Use senior GTAs if necessary • Conduct Teaching Observations (Williams, 1991) Use peers & senior GTAs if necessary • Encourage Peer Interactions (Myers, 1994) Promote opportunities to discuss “student learning.” • Focus on Cultural Norms (for International GTAs) English Proficiency is not as important (Hoekje & Williams, 1992)

Recommendations for GTA Professional Development Related to Teaching Courses & Seminars should: • Include reflection on GAISE recommendations (Garfield & Everson, 2009; Parker et al., 2014) • Include research on how students learn statistics (Garfield & Everson, 2009; Parker et al., 2014) • Include microteaching / Observations with feedback (Bray & Howard, 1980) • Capitalize on rich opportunities for discussions among GTAs about student learning (Moore, 2005; Vescio et al., 2008) • Have duration longer than one semester (Wyse, 2010)

Key References Darling, A., & Dewey, M. (1990). Teaching assistant socialization: Communication with Peer Leaders About Teaching and Learning. Teaching and Teacher Education , 6 (4), 315 – 326. Green, J. L. (2010). Teaching Highs and Lows: Exploring University Teaching Assistants’ Experiences. Statistics Education Research Journal , 9 (2), 108–122. Hoekje, B., & Williams, J. (1992). Communicative Competence and the Dillema of International Teaching Assistant Education. TESOL Quarterly , 26 (2), 243–269. Noll, J. A. (2011). Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Statistical Content Knowledge of Sampling. Statistics Education Research Journal , 10 (2), 48–74. Parker, N., Fry, E., Garfield, J., & Zieffler, A. (2014). Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Beliefs, Practices, and Preparation for Teaching Introductory Statistics. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Teaching Statisitcs (Vol. 9, pp. 1–4). Flagstaff, Arizona, USA: International Statistical Institute. Wyse, S. (2010). Breaking the Mold: Preparing Graduate Teaching Assistants to Teach as they are Taught to Teach . Michigan State University. parke675@umn.edu

More References Boman, J. S. (2013). Graduate Student Teaching Development ‰ : Evaluating the Effectiveness of Training in Relation to Graduate Student Characteristics. Canadian Journal of Higher Education , 43 (1), 100–114. Bray, J. H., & Howard, G. S. (1980). Methodological considerations in the evaluation of a teacher-training program. Journal of Educational Psychology , 72 (1), 62–70. Dalgaard, K. A. (1982). Some Effects of Training on Teaching Effectiveness of Untrained University Teaching Assistants. Research in Higher Education , 17 (1), 39–50. Darling, A. L. (1987). TA socialization: A communication perspective. In N. V. N. Chism (Ed.), Institutional responsibilities and responses in the employment and education of teaching assistants: Readings from a national conference. (pp. 91–94). Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Center for Teaching Excellence. Gilmore, J. A., Maher, M. A., Feldon, D. F., & Timmerman, B. E. (2013). Exploration of factors related to the development of science, technology, engineering and matematics gradate teaching assistants’ teaching orientations. Studies in Higher Education , 1–19. Luo, J., Grady, M. L., & Bellows, L. H. (2001). Instructional Issues for Teaching Assistants. Innovative Higher Education , 25 (3), 209–230. Moore, D. (2005). Preparing Graduate Students to Teach Statistics: Introduction. The American Statistician , 59 (1), 1–3. Williams, L. S. (1991). The effects of a comprehensive teaching assistant training program on teaching anxiety and effectiveness. Research in Higher Education , 32 (5), 585–598. parke675@umn.edu

parke675@umn.edu Nicola Parker Justice Joint Statistical Meetings August 9, 2015 Quantitative Methods in Education Educational Psychology