Grant Summary
$35,000 over 14 months to improve the educational experiences and learning outcomes of undergraduate students in discussion sections of large lecture courses by providing graduate student teaching assistants (TAs) with a working knowledge of the latest research on teaching and learning. TAs in three disciplines (biological sciences, political science, Slavic studies) will form a "community of practice" and participate in a two-day workshop focused on developing learning objects for their sections, aligning those objectives with appropriate methods of instruction and asessment, and learning about and evaluating teaching methods. TAs will also be expected to conduct structured observations of peer's teaching, prepare a statement of teaching philosophy, and draft a narrative evaluation of their teaching experience in their sections for their teaching portfolios.