Project TEACH Staff' University of NebraskaLincoln Lincoln, 88588
Professors a t both large and small institutions rely heavily on teaching assistants to provide instruction in their undergraduate chemistry programs. Serious efforts continue to he directed toward making the participation of these teaching assistants in instructional programs both effective and rewarding. During the summer of 1975, under the auspices of the Exxon Education Foundation, a group of chemists, science educators, and psychologists assembled a t the Nebraska Ednrational Telecommunications Center in Lincoln and prepared materials aimed a t developing the instructional skills of chemistry teaching assistants. Until then, what had generally been available to aid teaching assistants and their supervising faculty had been largely in a single medium, written publications of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education. These included Journal of Chemical Education articles, and the "Handbook for Teaching Assistants." Project TEACH (Training in Education for Assistants in Chemistry) was designed to produce materials in several media in order to increase the effectiveness of training programs for chemistry teaching assistants. Project TEACH materials are in several modules which may he used separately or together in a variety of formats including preservice seminars, workshops, and continuing courses. All of the Project TEACH materials can he introduced in about six hours of informal seminar type instruction. Although not designed for self-instruction, the materials are specifically designed for the audience of chemistry teaching assistants. Used in some form of training program, they are intended to provide to chemistry teaching assistants the kind of training typically made available only in Colleges of Education. Indeed, the focus of the materials on chemistry classroom and laboratory teaching settings is unique. An overall objective of the Project was to help make the teaching assistant's experience more personally satisfying. T o this end, the Project TEACH Staff attempted to provide materials for training in teaching skills that would help teaching assistants to be more effective in communicating with their students and to he more efficient in accomplishing the tasks a t hand. Topics were selected with these objectives in mind. Introduction An introductory videotape dramatizes the transition in roles between student and teaching assistant which most new teaching assistants experience. This videotape facilitates discussions among new teaching assistants regarding their new roles, and thereby provides a setting for the introduction of topics related to teaching techniques. Performance Objectives A workhook-type instruction module was prepared to introduce teaching assistants to the preparation and evaluation of ohjectives to he used in guiding student performance in the classroom and lahoratory. This Project TEACH module is intended to help the teaching assistant recognize that different levels of student intellectual development are possible. The role played by student attitudes and laboratory manipulative skills is discussed. The mod-
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Project TEACH
Project TEACH Staff The following people served as members of the Project TEACH Staff. Hans 0.Andersen, Indiana University Jerry A. Bell, Simmons College David W. Brooks, University of Nebraska-Lincoln E. David Cater, University of Iowa Kenneth Chapman, American Chemical Society Wilhert Hutton, Jr., Iowa State University J. J. Lagowski, University of Texas at Austin Hanna Levenson, Texas A&MUn~versity J. D. Lewis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Karron G. Lewis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Donald W. MeCurdy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln V. T. Miller, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center Richard Russell, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center Antoinette M. Schiesler, University of Maryland Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, University of Wisconsin-Madison Wendell H. Slahaugh, Oregon State University Jay A. Young, Florida State University
ule includes several readings from the Journal of Chemical Education intended to stimulate thought and discussion on (not necessarily agreement with) the controversial aspects of using performance objectives. Reinforcement Techniques Two videotape lessons and a hrief written handout com-
rise the module ~ r e ~ a r to e dintroduce the teachina assisiant to useful techni'ques for encouraging desired &dent hehavior and, when necessary, discouraeina - - undesired hehavior. In the videotapes, a series of vignettes show a teaching assistant applying "positive reinforcement" and "extinction," the best techniques for encouraging and discouraging student behavior, respectively. Overdramatized and simplified situations are used to attract teaching assistant interest and stimulate response and discussion. Questioning Skills A module consisting of a videotape lesson and a hrief written handout introduces the teaching assistant to a wide variety of questioning skills. The use of questioning and responding techniques to bring about positive interactions between teaching assistant and students is discussed. Classification of the level of questions and of the categories of cognitive skills required to deal with these questions is also considered. Ways to Tutor A videotape lesson and a hrief written handout present an interactive model for the teaching assistant to follow in one-to-one teaching situations. The seven steps identified in this model serve to help the teaching assistant first determine the nature of a student's learning problem and then use questions and directions as cues to involve the student in solving h i s h e r own prohlem. Examples where these technique$ are ignored or are used well dramatically emphasize their importance and provide a ready basis for discussion. Volume 53, Number 4, April 1976 / 209
Interaction Analysis
A videotape lesson, a workbook, and an audio tape present to the teaching assistant a scheme for classifying and coding the interactions between students and teaching assistants. The purpose of this instruction is two-fold. I t helps new teaching assistants to recognize the variety of verbal interactions that can occur in the classroom. For teaching assistants who have developed some interaction coding skills, i t helps objectively to compare, in a semiquantitative fashion, the intent of instruction with the actual instruction. Interaction analysis matrices are presented to teaching assistants as a diagnostic tool for use in improving teaching. Microteaching
A videotape lesson and brief written handout introduce the teachinn assistant to the technique of microteaching. ~ i c r o t e a c h h gprovides teaching assi'stants with a mechanism for ~racticinn .teaching - techniques, and for evaluatinggestures, mannerisms, chalkhoard skills, etc., in a nonthreatening environment. Microteaching is presented as a means of practicing the skills described in other Project TEACH modules. Testing
A written module provides instruction for teaching assistants who are faced with the duty of preparing tests and evaluating student progress. This module relates the construction of tests to the use of objectives. Using Project TEACH Materials
Project TEACH materials have been used successfully in several wavs. Each module is self-contained. and does not require prihr use of any other module. The materials stress techniques that teaching assistants may use to manage their interactions with students in an effective and effi-
210 / Journal of Chemical Education
cient manner. They are, perhaps, most appropriately presented by experienced faculty members to one or several teaching assistants in a series of interactions designed to promote participative discussion. All of the modules can he adequately introduced in about six hours of informal seminar type instruction. The modules can also serve as introductions in workshops and formal courses where the topics are pursued in considerable depth. Opportunities for practice in microteaching sessions are appropriate for several of the modules. The use of ProjectTEACH materials is extremely flexible. The materials have potential applications both for the supervisors of ongoing established training programs as well as for those concerned with the initiation of new training programs. They serve the needs of a wide variety of situations in which supervising faculty are attempting to make the experience of their teaching assistants more rewarding to themselves and their students. Obtaining Project TEACH Materials
Information about Project TEACH materials may he ohtained hy writing to Project TEACH Materials Coordinator, Department of Chemistry, University of NebraskaLincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588. The basic instructional package consists of one set of videotapes (available in Y4-in. videocassettes and other formats), one audio tape, and one copy of written materials from which local duplication is possible. In addition to the aforementioned modules, further information is provided regarding the use of Project TEACH materials. Also, attempts are being made to have potential users meet with experienced users so as to discuss the materials, exchange ideas, and develop an individualized format for using the materials with which the potential users will feel comfortable. Mechanisms for information exchanges among Project TEACH materials users will he established.
