Mixed-Reality Teaching Simulator to Prepare Graduate Teaching Assistants
National shifts in research-based STEM instruction has led to more departments incorporating active learning into introductory courses and laboratories thereby increasing the frequency with which graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are expected to implement student-centered instruction. GTA training often addresses chemistry content and lab technique but less often includes training on effective instructional methods. Rarely still do GTAs have a chance to practice implementing effective teaching skills before trying them on undergraduate students in their classes.
Our research involves utilizing a mixed-reality teaching simulator to create an immersive environment in which GTAs can practice target skills necessary to facilitate student-centered instruction. This technology is the heart of numerous research questions related to: the optimization of graduate teaching assistant training to better implement evidence based teaching, changes in instructor discourse in active learning environments, strategies to promote equity in student centered classrooms led by GTAs, and impacts of GTA training on nonnative graduate students and students for whom English is a second language.
