Malcolm M. Renfrew University of Idaho Moscow. 83843 a n d Therald Moeller Arizona State University Tempe. 85281
I I
The Training of Teaching Assistants in Chemistry A survey
Within the Division of Chemical Education and the ACS Council Committee on Chemical Education. concern has been expressed about training new teaching assistants. This concern led to the formation of sub-committees on Teachine Assistant Training, which were merged for cooperative effort. A questionnaire was circulated to 194 institutions erantine t h e ~ Degree h ~ in Chemistry and to 120 institutions&anting the MS as the highest degree. The results were presented a t the national American Chemical Society meetings in San Francisco in August, 1976, and in New Orleans in March, 1977. This paper summarizes the questionnaire and the returns received and offers some conclusions.
-
The Questionnaire In Table 1. the information soueht is summarized. The statistical da& obtnined were for thr'klll semester (or quartl.r) of the 1975-76 acadrmir war. Theauestionnaires wererompleted largely by those ihdividua~~directly responsible for either training programs currently in progress or being planned, or responsible for the elementary programs where most of the teaching assistants are used.' Statistical Data and Servlce Requirements T h a t returns were received from 125 (65%) of the PhDDromam institutions and 65 (54%) insti. . . of the MS-nroeram " tutions suggests an overall interest in programs for training teachine assistants (Table 2). I t is sienificant that onlv 60 (48%) orthe former type of institutionUreportingand onfy 17 (26%) of the latter t v ~ claimed e Droerams for trainine skills. and some of these w&e minimal. Sizeof the graduate-student program has little or no relationship to the existence of a traikng program. Wide differences exist in the time of total service (i.e., preparation, classroom contact. laboratorv supervision, grading) required of either graduate or undergraduate teaching assistants, but the median reauirement for each is remarkably constant, irrespective of the existence or absence of a training program.
.
Requirements of Graduate Teaching Assistants Except in the areas of enforcing safety regulations and preparing reports on accidents (Table 3). the departmental y of ieqkrem-ents appear to be light. ~ a n d s o r attkndance lectures in the course taught, although lauded in some returns, generally is not practiced; it is often rendered impractical by conflicts with required courses in the curriculum. Only a few institutions require that the teaching assistants carry out laboratory experiments before their students do, and few require that theassistants take quizzes over the m&erials they are teaching. I t is reasonable to assume that a eraduate teaching assistant has the background necessary to handle the quiz material for which he is responsible without being tested. However, lal~oratoryand recitation pmrtires ma). differ ;iubstantially from those experienced pre\ioudy hy individual asiistanrs. It is presumahle that every additional ramfact an assistant may have with subjert matter will improve h ~ own s instructional presentations and make them easier and more Copies of the actual questionnaire are available on request from M. M. Renfrew. 386 1 Journal of ChemicalEducation
Table 1. lnformatlon Sought In the Questionnaire Statistrcal Data (Fall 1975-76)-graduate students, graduate TA's, undergraduate TA's, teaching as graduate degree requirement Auemge TA Seruice Required (hrlweek) Requ~rementsof TA's-lecture attendance, quizzes, laboratory experiments, first aid training, laboratory safetv
I.
11. 111. IV.
~ o t d o Existing n Formal Programs for Training in Teaching Skills
A. Effectiveness-in motivation; in providing skills B. Requirement for new TA's C. Responsible person(s) D. Extra financial compensation-faculty, TA's E. Academic credit F. Trainine leneth G. ~pproalhan> materials used H. Judgments on TA reappointments I. TA response Table 2. General Summary-Items I, II a With TA Query Institutions Graduate Students High Low Graduate TA's High
trainingMS P ~ D
Without TA 7TrainingMS P ~ D
17
60
48
65
105 2
300 25
50 0
289 2 -
1.0~ -
Undergraduate TA's High Low TA Service-hourlweek Graduate Hieh ~ldium Low Undergraduate High Medium Low
20 0
45 0
20 0
20 0
5
4
4
3
"Items here and in subsequent tables are those noted in Table 1.
effective. Attendance a t lectures is probably the most important contact, and it is commonly recommended where not required. The authors, although appreciating the increasing tendency to have TA's enforce safety regulations and to report accidents, hope that in the future more institutions will require formal training in hoth first aid and safety practices. Formal Programs in Graduate Teaching Assistant Training As indicated in Table 4, the effectiveness of these programs both in motivating the teaching assistants and in providing them with necessary teaching skills, is judged by the responders to be good or excellent in hoth types of institutions. In most of the programs that are offered, all teaching assistants are required to enroll. Participation by n
