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How Graduate Teaching Assistants Experience Teaching Preparation for Higher Education: A Symbolic Interactionist Study

Robinson, Kirk S.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15112773925517

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
Literature suggests many graduate students receive inadequate, little, or no formal preparation for teaching in higher education. Most extant research on this topic shows preparation has positive outcomes for graduate students, yet few studies examine the process of graduate students’ teaching preparation, which could lend important insights that yield better preparation. This study addresses this process, inquiring into how graduate students experience teaching preparation, and how interactions with peers and an instructor shape preparation, in a one-credit hour graduate pedagogy seminar. Situating graduate students taking the seminar as a collegiate subculture called prospective college teachers (PCTs), this 15-month study employed an ethnographic methodology grounded in an interpretivist paradigm. A symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective and framework guided approaches to both data collection and analysis. Data collection yielded fieldnotes from 21 seminar sessions, 18 interviews between seven graduate students (and the seminar instructor) hailing from various academic disciplines, and documents for review. Results showed the 60-minute seminar contained three sections: part one, transitional periods, and part two. Through interactions with peers and the instructor, PCTs generally experienced part one as stable, predictable, and transactional, as it primarily featured instructor lectures and notetaking by PCTs. Transitional periods, short periods of time bridging the gap between parts one and two, were less predictable and varied in terms of eventfulness. Regardless, PCTs’ peer interactions in transitional periods were usually brief or planned by the instructor, making interactions somewhat rigid and scripted. PCTs’ interactions with the instructor mostly related to adhering to the instructor’s requests, creating a general PCT experience of compliance. In part two, PCTs had more opportunities for in-depth interactions with peers and the instructor around activities applying teaching knowledge. Thus, PCTs in part two experienced more opportunities to learn from peers and their instructor. Studying interactions between PCTs and the instructor yielded three general themes lending insight into PCTs’ seminar experiences: the instructor’s management of the seminar shaped PCTs’ behavior in it, there were tensions between the instructor and PCTs due to the instructor’s management style, and there were specific conditions in the seminar that could foster learning in PCTs. From the general results, analysis, and themes, implications for practice included seminar outcomes devoted to deep learning about teaching in addition to skills-based training, expansion of the 60-minute seminar time frame to two hours to facilitate more opportunities for learning-rich dialogues, and co-creation of the seminar between PCTs and the instructor.
Mahauganee Shaw (Committee Chair)
190 p.
Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Pedagogy
graduate teaching assistants; graduate student development; faculty development; college teaching preparation; ethnography; symbolic interactionism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Robinson, K. S. (2017). How Graduate Teaching Assistants Experience Teaching Preparation for Higher Education: A Symbolic Interactionist Study [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15112773925517

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Robinson, Kirk. How Graduate Teaching Assistants Experience Teaching Preparation for Higher Education: A Symbolic Interactionist Study. 2017. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15112773925517.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Robinson, Kirk. "How Graduate Teaching Assistants Experience Teaching Preparation for Higher Education: A Symbolic Interactionist Study." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15112773925517

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami15112773925517
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.