Description of the Program

The goals of this program are:
a. to produce a rigorous, pedagogically sound, and nationally accepted model for the education as teachers of graduate students in the sciences;
b. to attract to Georgetown a greater number of highly-qualified graduate students in the sciences;
c. provide support to those graduate students in becoming effective teaching assistants in their disciplines at Georgetown;
d. provide preparation to those students as future faculty in science disciplines.

The key components of our program:

We are currently developing and implementing learning opportunities for science graduate students that include:

• A model course in science pedagogy for graduate students in the biomedical sciences as a required component of their graduate education;
• An advanced course for upper level doctoral students in which more substantial practical skills in teaching will be obtained through an iterative process of mentorship, execution, and assessment;
• A communal digital archive of graduate student teaching portfolios, including actual work samples (artifacts of teaching) combined with reflective commentaries by the graduate teaching assistants, which together will provide a comprehensive picture of their developing teaching practice.

The typical time investment by STEM graduate students participants:

According to a brief survey of current students (N=22), the time spent in preparation for the course ranges from one to 1.5 hours. The class itself is an hour and a half, so total time commitment is about three hours for weeks that the class meets.

Outcomes of the Program

1) What STEM graduate students have participated in your program? For example, numbers per year, disciplines, and stages of graduate career.
Over 100 STEM students are admitted each year and are subject to the TATTO requirements. Natural sciences students generally teach for one to three semester (82%) beginning in their first year. Most Health Sciences students teach only one semester (72%) beginning in their second year.

2) What have been the impacts of your program on the participants? If available please provide evaluation data or other research evidence,
Two recent surveys have collected data from the degree-seeking graduate students registered at Emory's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The survey was designed by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) to help universities assess the academic and social experiences of their graduate students and improve their services and programs. A combination of web and mail methods was used to administer the survey during the Fall 1999 semester while the 2001 survey was administered entirely via the web. Of the 1396 degree-seeking students enrolled in Fall 1999, a total of 415, or 30 percent completed the questionnaire. In 2001 a total of 388 students responded; a 27 percent response rate.

Over 70% of the respondents expect teaching to be an integral aspect of their career. Between 50 and 60% of the students in STEM disciplines felt their training to teach was Good, Very Good, or Excellent. Over two thirds of the respondents rated their teaching experience as Good, Very Good, or Excellent. Less than 5% felt that they were asked to do too much teaching. Up to a third of STEM students felt that their experience increased their interest in teaching, while less than 15% felt that their teaching experience decreased their interest.

We have no real data on the value of this training in obtaining employment, although it is assumed that the effect is positive since the experience is more formalized and extensive than that obtained at other Universities.

3) What have been the impacts of the program on your institution? If available please provide evaluation data or other research evidence.
There is only apocryphal information, but the impact seems to be positive. For one thing, it reinforces our beliefs that excellent teaching is important and the program actually begins to train students to teach. Too often professors show up for their first job with absolutely no teaching experience. For another, it could be a positive aspect of Emory University to undergraduate students. All Research 1 institutions utilize teaching assistants. Often this activity is treated as just another way to generate funds for graduate education, but here we make it a requirement for the degree and students do not get separately paid to do the first level of the teaching experience. Funding is specifically given to students who develop courses and participate as Teaching Associates. In combination with our honest attempt to prepare the students before they go into the classroom, The TATTO program makes a powerful statement that we care about teaching and will we deliver a quality experience for the undergraduates, even if a TA is involved in their class.

Implementation of the Program

1. What are the key factors and challenges for colleagues at another university to consider as they decide whether to adapt your program to their needs?
To assure success several things have to be done
a) Creating a culture that values teaching. Without such an environment all efforts will tend to be desultory. Teaching has to be rewarded with social and economic status that is comparable to that given to research and other scholarly activities.
b) Convincing graduate students that this is a valuable exercise. Some of our students are not considering a career in teaching. We try to convey to the students that we are all teachers, whether our teaching comes in the classroom or in venues where funding and publication decisions are made.
c) Developing effective and discipline specific training. Teaching Chemistry and Mathematics require very different skill sets and approaches. Most of the complaints we get about our preparatory course is that parts are irrelevant to the activities expected in more specialized courses. Departments and graduate programs may want to consider specific training related to their teaching styles and mission.
d) Assuring that teaching assignments match students with the appropriate course. Often assignments are made by a small committee and in courses the student has recently taken. This may not always be possible so one has to be careful to make an assignment that is appropriate and manageable for each student.
e) Balancing conflicts with research activities. Most of our students in the sciences are being supported on research grants and all are beginning to focus on their dissertation research. The ideal teaching assignment would be limited in time demands while complementing and amplifying on the students’ research experience and current activities. Again, this is not always possible but if it can be accomplished will greatly increase the acceptance of the assignments.
f) Dealing with effects on undergraduate recruiting. Parents and students sometimes resent the involvement of TAs in undergraduate courses. They feel that a professor should be involved, especially if they are paying high tuition rates. We will be developing a presentation for prospective undergraduates that will tout the energy, enthusiasm and training that our students bring to these courses.

2. What resources are needed to start up your program? What ongoing resources are needed?
a) Sufficient teaching opportunities. If not enough courses are available we emphasize small group activities that involve more graduate students and also allow a much more personalized interaction between TAs and students.
b) Graduate student funding. Assistants should be paid stipends from University or research funds and not specifically for the first teaching activity. This should emphasize that this is professional development and not a salary for service. More advanced students who develop courses or teach significantly should be paid for that teaching and released in part from the research-derived funds.

3. What is the typical time investment by faculty and staff?
While nearly 70% of students found it easy to handle the time requirements of classroom teaching, only 43% of the respondents considered it easy to stay focused on their research while fulfilling their teaching requirements. We estimate that the average student will spend less than ten hours per week for one to three semesters depending on the Department or Program of study. Faculty will expend time in training and evaluating the teaching assistants and associates but this requires no more time than it would take to teach the courses without graduate students.