This article examines the ways in which the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) can be integrated into graduate education in the humanities to support future faculty preparation in teaching. Drawing on data from a multi-year project at a research-1 institution in the United States, and theories from postmodern geography and postcolonial…

This article provides insight into the skill-development activities of graduate students at U.S. institutions providing graduate education in economics. The authors document the extent of student participation in and preparation for teaching-related activities while in graduate school, finding that more than 50 percent of students are involved in…

Recent reforms in statistics education have initiated the need to prepare graduate teaching assistants (TAs) for these changes. A focus group study explored the experiences and perceptions of University of Nebraska-Lincoln TAs. The results reinforced the idea that content, pedagogy, and technology are central aspects for teaching an introductory…

Development of a more scholarly approach to teaching at university may expose the novice university teacher to an apparent conflict in belief systems about teaching and learning (i.e. epistemological beliefs). Educational research is explicit in its recognition of a constructivist framework, whilst other academic research is often embedded more…

This research study was designed to determine graduate teaching assistants' (GTAs) perspective on their preparation to teach First Year Composition (FYC) in a multicultural teaching context and to determine the relevance of culturally responsive teaching to this experience. The study utilized the qualitative research methodology Portraiture and…

Teachers often test course materials by using them in class. Usability testing provides an alternative: teachers receive student feedback and revise materials "before" teaching a class. Case studies based on interviews and observations with two teaching assistants who usability tested materials before teaching introductory technical writing…

In the early 1990s, Pennsylvania State University's IDP (Instructional Development Program) Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching provided separate programs for training teaching assistants (TAs) and faculty development. Neither program appeared to meet the needs of its intended audience. In the fll of 1992, the Center began offering the…

The paper examines issues of teaching quality at the university level and offers recommendations concerning training of teaching assistants, the role of the graduate dean, and the role of the chief academic officer. Although both teaching competence and scholarly expertise are commonly recognized as necessary for faculty competence, discrepancies…

This book offers successful teaching approaches based on college surveys and interviews with 30 professors who have received awards for teaching excellence. Chapter 1 is an overview of the challenges of college teaching. Chapters 2 and 3 consider agents for change, institutional inertia, and an historical evaluation of faculty development.…

Implicit theories held by graduate teaching assistants were investigated. Information related to their theories-of-action was elicited through interview questions about what they mean by teaching, about how they respond to everyday classroom events, and about assumptions they make regarding those events. (MLW)

A small service firm approach to assist instructors and departments improve the quality of instruction at the University of Washington is discussed. Attention is directed to basic assumptions underlying the instructional development program at the University's Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR). One assumption is that an…

As concern about the role and performance of teaching assistants grows, universities find themselves initiating training programs. Issues to be considered include: who should provide training, relationships between the different providers, program requirements and curricula, length of the program, follow-up activities, preparation for…

An instructional module designed to help prepare college-level teaching assistants (TAs) for their duties in second language instruction is presented. The purpose of this module is to assist TAs in integrating what they are learning about teaching methods, language acquisition, and the nature of the profession. There are five parts, each…

The implications for administrators, instructional staff, faculty and teaching assistant developers, and students of efforts to address college classroom diversity are summarized; resource people at colleges and universities with successful programs are listed; and an annotated bibliography of related print materials is provided. (Author/MSE)

This paper examines the relationship between teaching assistant (TA) development programs and faculty preparation programs, the commonalities between the two types of program, and the issues to be considered when making the transition from the former to the latter. It notes that many institutions adopted TA training programs in the 1980s in…