The Graduate Teacher Training Program: Analyzing and Improving

Graduate Student Teaching of Psychology

Inaugural Academic Symposium at UVA: April 14, 2011

Motivation Large number of graduate

student TAs.

Incoming TAs often express concerns about teaching.

Training through the Teaching Resource Center and TPT

No psychology-specific training.

The Graduate Teacher Training Program Overview:

A two-year program for entering psychology graduate students.

Three main objectives: Orient students to basic practical issues related to

college teaching. Provide methods of teaching to implement directly

as teaching assistants and faculty. Help students develop teaching philosophies.

Orient students to basic practical issues related to college teaching: Participants attend workshops in:

Assessment Learning Teaching Techniques

Participants also reflect their experiences.

Provide methods of teaching to implement directly as teaching assistants and faculty: Peer Observations:

4-person groups. Each member tapes themselves teaching twice. Each member also provides feedback on a peer’s

teaching twice. Those being taped reflect on the experience.

Participants create a course syllabus.

Teaching Techniques workshops and talk.

Help students develop teaching philosophies: Mentorship program with psychology

professors from James Madison University.

Reflective Teaching Statement.

Several brainstorming workshops.

Participants share drafts with peers and their JMU mentors.

Evidence of Learning Preliminary survey collected upon entrance into

program.

Feedback from workshops and our Collab site.

Workshop reflections.

Peer observation reflections.

Semesterly survey.

Course evaluations from undergraduates.

Participants are motivated to reflect on their experiences:

Student Learning was most well-attended.

75% of attendees reflected on the experience.

This pattern is consistent across all workshops, 76% of attendees reflecting on at least one workshop.

First semester findings: Participants remained positive on their feelings of:

being effective teachers, t(15) = 2.76, p < .02, one- sample.

being fair graders, t(15) = 5.65, p < .001, one-sample. enjoying teaching, t(15) = 4.70, p < .001, one-

sample.

Highest rated components: Mentorship and Peer Observation experiences.

Concerns Grading and creating assessment. Future workshops to address these issues.

Future directions: Second-semester survey.

Spring course evaluation data.

Data will inform program efficacy and participant development.

Findings will be presented at the Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, summer 2011.

Thank you to: Our faculty board members: Dr. Brian Nosek,

Dr. Dan Willingham, Dr. Denny Proffitt, and Dr. David Daniel

Our mentors at James Madison University: Dr. Jessica Irons, Dr. Bryan Saville, Dr. Tracy Zinn, Dr. Suzanne Baker, Dr. Kenn Barron, and Dr. Monica Reis-Bergen

The Teaching Resource Center and Tomorrow’s Professors Today: Dr. Michael Palmer, and Dr. Deandra Little