ECR DBER DCL: Facilitation Practices of Instructional Assistants

该项目旨在服务于国家利益的特点，其中促进实践的教学助理有助于学生的科学素养在大招生介绍化学和物理讲座的方式。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助教谁支持学生学习过程中解决问题的互动讲座。将教学助理纳入入门守门人课程有助于提高学生的成绩，降低这些课程的不及格率，对边缘化群体的学生特别有益。然而，并不是每一个教学助理学生互动是有效的。本研究将从社会文化的角度对教学助理的促进实践进行建模，包括教学助理与学生互动的性质、互动的目的、即时学习以及互动与整个课堂的整合等四个维度。本研究将采用形成性评估制定模型，该模型是为描述K-12教学实践而开发的，以模拟教学助理与学生的互动。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。将互动整合到整个班级的特点是使用文化历史活动理论，将教学助理与学生的互动和全班讨论。多股数据将被收集和定性分析，包括教学助理与学生互动的视频和教授，教学助理和学生的采访。本项目的研究结果将提供一个理论基础，告知专业发展的IA和进一步系统研究他们的做法。该项目由EHR核心研究（ECR）计划支持，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境的基础研究，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM劳动力发展的工作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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.