ERIC Number: EJ1144872
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-May
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-9359
EISSN: N/A
Improving the Laboratory Learning Experience: A Process to Train and Manage Teaching Assistants
Nikolic, Sasha; Vial, Peter James; Ros, Montserrat; Stirling, David; Ritz, Christian
IEEE Transactions on Education, v58 n2 p130-139 May 2015
This paper describes in detail a successful training program developed for sessional (part-time or nonpermanent) laboratory demonstrators employed in the Electrical Engineering Department of an Australian university. Such demonstrators play an important role in teaching practical concepts and skills in engineering. The success of the program relies on a centralized approach coordinated by a carefully selected Laboratory Manager responsible for the recruitment, allocation, training, and development of sessional teachers, and for assessing student satisfaction with them. The paper examines the overall impact of the program on these teachers': 1) introducing laboratory material; 2) preparation; 3) communication; 4) interest in student learning; 5) ability to respond to questions; and 6) overall effectiveness. Sessional teacher satisfaction with the training program is also examined, and the data were used to inform the program's further development. The results show that the training program successfully improved the demonstrators' teaching skills and thus led to greater satisfaction and hence learning experience of both students and demonstrators.
Descriptors: Teaching Assistants, Learning Experience, Laboratory Experiments, Laboratory Procedures, Engineering Education, Teaching Skills, Student Satisfaction, Interviews, School Orientation, Training Methods, Improvement Programs, Competency Based Teacher Education, Foreign Countries, College Students
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854. Tel: 732-981-0060; Web site: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=13
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A