"I Know That's a Weird Question": How Undergraduate Biology Laboratory Teaching Assistants Elicit Student Explanations

• In Event: 30.081 - Poster Session 5
  In Poster Session: 30.081-8 - Science Teaching and Learning SIG Poster Session

Abstract

The research objective is to describe how 5 undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs) elicited student explanations of biological phenomena when teaching the same 4 laboratory investigations during their first and second semesters of teaching a general biology laboratory course for nonscience majors. Our findings indicate that all 5 TAs elicited more student ideas than student factual responses or observations during at least one of the eight investigations. Probing and pressing questions were essential for eliciting student explanations while mini-lecturing in response to student contributions was a barrier. TAs had difficulty responding to unanticipated student contributions in productive ways. Implications for professional development are discussed.

Authors

• Anna Strimaitis Grinath, Middle Tennessee State University

• Sherry A. Southerland, Florida State University