| Abstract | The University of Queensland, Australia, is a large research-intensive university with seven faculties and six research institutes and a student population of 38,000. Within the Faculty of Biological and Chemical Sciences, the three Schools: Biomedical Science (SBMS), Integrative Biology (SIB) and Molecular and Microbial Science (SMMS), each employ over 100 teaching assistants (TAs, mostly graduate students) for a diverse range of 1st – 2nd level practical classes (500 - 1300 students per course). All Schools begin each semester with an induction workshop, but this varies from a few hours (SMMS) to a full day (SBMS and SIB) and targets either new tutors (SBMS) or both new and experienced tutors (SMMS and SIB). Each school also provides content-focused training sessions for TAs pertinent to each practical class. Some new initiatives in TA professional development have been piloted this year, including the establishment of learning communities through the introduction of lead educators who mentor TAs, or through facilitation of conversations about teaching strategies among TAs during the traditional content-based training sessions; and several approaches to “scientific teaching ” including the collection of evidence from TAs in reflective teaching diaries, and written evaluations of TAs by supervisors and students. In an emerging model of professional development for TAs across the faculty, we aim to establish a formalized progression in skills and responsibilities for TAs that embeds mentoring between experienced and new TAs, and will be evidenced by development of TA teaching portfolios. We are seeking advice from attendees who would like to discuss evaluated professional development models which have demonstrated outcomes related to “scientific teaching,” the development of learning communities and pyramid models of future faculty progression. |
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