title: Teaching Assistant Professional Development in Biology: Designed for and Driven by Multidimensional Data.
abstract: Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are increasingly responsible for instruction in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Various professional development (PD) programs have been developed and implemented to prepare TAs for this role, but data about effectiveness are lacking and are derived almost exclusively from self-reported surveys. In this study, we describe the design of a reformed PD (RPD) model and apply Kirkpatrick's Evaluation Framework to evaluate multiple outcomes of TA PD before, during, and after implementing RPD. This framework allows evaluation that includes both direct measures and self-reported data. In RPD, TAs created and aligned learning objectives and assessments and incorporated more learner-centered instructional practices in their teaching. However, these data are inconsistent with TAs' self-reported perceptions about RPD and suggest that single measures are insufficient to evaluate TA PD programs.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biological Science, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN 55112 s-wyse@bethel.edu.
authors.forename: Sara A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wyse
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.
authors.forename: Tammy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ebert-May
mesh_terms: D001695:Biology / Q000193:education*; D004517:Education, Professional; D007858:Learning; D017145:Models, Educational; D013663:Teaching; D014741:Video Recording