ECR DBER DCL: Facilitation Practices of Instructional Assistants

本项目旨在通过描述教学助理在大量招生的化学和物理入门课程中促进学生科学素养的方式，为国家利益服务。在这个项目中，教学助理被定义为本科生学习助理和研究生教学助理，他们在互动讲座中帮助学生解决问题。将教学助理纳入入门看门人课程有助于提高学生的成绩，降低这些课程的失败率，对边缘群体的学生尤其有益。然而，并不是每一次教学助理与学生的互动都是有效的。这一基础研究将描述对学生学习有效的互动动态。该项目将使用社会文化视角来模拟教学助理促进实践的四个维度：教学助理与学生互动的性质、目的、发生的即时学习以及将互动融入整个课堂。该研究将采用形成性评估制定模型，该模型是为表征K-12教学实践而开发的，用于模拟助教与学生的互动。实践认识论分析将用于模拟学生在互动过程中的即时学习。运用文化历史活动理论，将助教与学生的互动与课堂讨论联系起来，将互动融入整个课堂。多个数据链将被收集和定性分析，包括教学助理与学生互动的视频和对教授、教学助理和学生的采访。该项目的研究结果将为国际注册会计师的专业发展和进一步系统地研究他们的实践提供理论基础。该项目得到了EHR核心研究（ECR）计划的支持，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境基础研究、扩大STEM参与和STEM劳动力发展的工作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by characterizing the ways in which facilitation practices of instructional assistants contribute to the scientific literacy of students in large enrollment introductory chemistry and physics lectures. In this project, instructional assistants are defined as undergraduate learning assistants and graduate teaching assistants who support student learning during problem solving in interactive lectures. Integrating instructional assistants into introductory gatekeeper courses contributes to increased student achievement and a decrease in failure rates in these courses and can be particularly beneficial for students from marginalized groups. However, not every instructional assistant-student interaction is effective. This foundational research will characterize interactive dynamics that are effective for student learning.The project will use a sociocultural perspective to model four dimensions of instructional assistants’ facilitation practices: the nature of instructional assistant-student interactions, their purposes, in-the-moment learning that occurs, and the integration of the interactions into the whole class. The research will adapt the formative assessment enactment model that was developed to characterize K-12 teaching practices to model instructional assistant-student interactions. Practical epistemology analysis will be used to model students’ in-the-moment learning during interactions. The integration of interactions into the whole class will be characterized using cultural historical activity theory to relate instructional assistant-student interactions and whole class discussions. Multiple strands of data will be collected and qualitatively analyzed, including videos of instructional assistant-student interactions and interviews with professors, instructional assistants, and students. Results from this project will provide a theoretical basis to inform professional development for IAs and further systematic study of their practices. This project is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.