RUME 25
2023
Omaha, Nebraska
New Graduate Teaching Associates and Student-Centered Instructional Methods
Page: 574
The importance of student-centered approaches took on new importance when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a tectonic shift in college instruction in 2020. In Fall of 2021, I reached out to all 13 of the new graduate teaching associates (GTAs: graduate students who were instructor-of-record for undergraduate courses) in the department. Eight of the 13 completed three rounds of survey and two rounds of interview. The goal was to find out what they knew about student-centered instruction and how that changed over time. GTAs spoke of the importance of supporting students in evaluating knowledge claims, learning how to learn, how to collaborate, and how to seek help. Their greatest opportunities for professional growth at the end of the year were with teaching that supported students to: become capable of self-assessment, to be resilient, and in building skills in what to do when they (students) do not know what to do.