Loretta Lucek Jones1 and Chiu Fan Liu University of Illinois at Chicago Circle Chicago. IL 60680
What the TA Needs, as Determined from TA Requests
Virtually the only one-to-one teaching experienced by the majority of beginning chemistry students at universilies is provided hy graduate teaching assistants (TAs).The'l'As staff the laboratories, the discussion sections, the learning centers, and in some schools, are responsible for the presentation of entire courses with the aid of videotaped lesson^.^.^ The imnortilnce of the TA's ioh has led to the recent nroliferation and improvement of TA training program^.^ However, problems still remain, as pointed out by Renfrew and Moeller in a report of a recent survey of 190 schools using graduate teaching assistants.5 They found training programs often to be limited by time and staff available. More than half of the schools surveyed had no formal TA training, and in those which did, usually only one faculty member in a department participated directly in TA training. New graduate TAs come to their positionsfrom varying backgrounds and with special needs. Some have been out of school for years and find themselves unfamiliar with the subject matter; some come from other countries and the English language is new to them; and some have deerees in fields other than chemistrv. .. with a correspondingly weaker background and greater anxiety. At the University of Illinois a t Chicago Circle, some suggestions as to how this heterogeneous group can be helped to be effective teachers have arisen from the TAs themselves.
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Obtaining Student Input I n April of 1976, following a meeting sponsored by the Chemistn, Graduate Student Association on "The Role of the Teaching Assistant in Chemistry," changes in the working conditions and training program for TAs were considered. A questionnaire was distributed to all the TAs in an attempt to determine what specific kinds of changes the TAs felt would be most helpful. Since the establishment of a TA Center was being considered, TAs were questioned on what facilities they felt would he useful in such a center, such as typewriters, calculators, ditto machines, etc. TAs were also offered the chance to have a video- or audiotaoe made of one of their classes for their own analysis. Additional questions suggested by TAs and a request for comments were included. Results Eighteen questionnaires were returned. Of the ten items listed on the form, all hut one were requested by a majority of those responding (items 1-10 in the table). Nineteen additional requests were added to the form by the respondents; those requested by three or more TAs are listed as numbers 11-14 in the table. The kinds of help requested by the TAs can be broken down into three categories: (1) clarification of student behavioral objectives (items 1-41 (2) assistance in improving teaching skills (items 5 and 6 ) (3) access to resources (items 7-14)
The most frequently requested items were those in category ( I ) , with an average of 89% of TAs responding ~ o s i t i v e l ~ . Category (3) was next with 66%, followed by (2) with 42%. We might infer from these results that experienced TAs see themselves as possessing adequate teaching skills hut needing better resources and greater knowledge of desired student performance. However, it might also he inferred that the TAs would he likely to request more of what they have found helpful in the past, while hesitating to try the unknown (hut 356 1 Journal of Chemical Education
Aids Requested by Experienced Teaching Assistants Percent 01 TAs Requesting (of 18)
Questionnaire Item 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10, 11. 12. 13. 14.
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File of pre-lab videotapes File of old qUiLZeS File of old exams File of current lecture notes Videotape at quiz or lab section Audiotape at quiz w lab section TA Center Instructional videatapes for quiz List of educational materials available ln~tructionin use of office equipment Calculators Typewriter Desk space in departmental office Ditto machine fw TA use
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83 72 100 100 56 28 56 56 83 83 17 61 33 17
surely revealing) technique of recording their teaching performances. Some concern was also expressed about the cost of such nroiects. . The comments received were also enlightening. Here are some of the resoonses to the auestion. "What else can the department do t o help you prepare fa; and teach your sections?"
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Faculty should visit TA's quiz section(s) at least once per quarter. I never feel adequately prepared the first time I teach something new: (prelab) videotapes would be very nice to prepare me. Present a seminar series, required of all new grad students, covering the fundamentals of teaching. We have no credentials for teaching other than hit-and-missexperience. Wrong question. Ask what I can do for the department! Conclusion We infer from this survey that TAs are looking for clearer euidelines. Thev want more information on behavioral ohjectives for their students and for themselves. Even experienced TAs want to improve their teaching skills, as shown by the willingness of 56% to be videotaped in a teaching situation. Thus, ongoing training seems in order for old as well as new TAs. Their requests for better resources may indicate a desire to be treated as orofessionals, an assumption which seems to be borne out h i t h e response to an infoimal polling of experienced graduate students regarding appropriate incentives for TAs. The TAs were unanimous in preferring a "bonus" system where each TA who has done well is given some token of appreciation, to a "prize" system, where TAs must compete for a single award. They also preferred to be rated as faculty are rated-by student evaluation or peer review, rather than by their professors.
Presented in part at the 173rd American Chemical Society National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 1977. Now at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Haight, Jr., G. P., J. CHEM. EDUC., 55,221 (1978). Brooks,D. W., J. CHEM. EDUC., 54,136 (1977). CHED Abstracts 2639, 42, ofPapers, 173rd National ACS Meeting,x American Chemical Society, New Orleans, LA L977, Renfrew, M. M., and Maeller, T., J. CHEM. EDUC., 55, 386 (1918).
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