Experiences Of Graduate Teaching Assistants In Engineering Laboratories: Content Analysis Using The “How People Learn” Framework

In higher education, graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) have undertaken different instructional responsibilities, particularly in science and engineering laboratories. Herein, we utilized the How People Learn (HPL) 1 as an overarching framework to evaluate GTAs‟ instruction in engineering labs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among five GTAs who were selected purposefully from an engineering lab, enrolling approximately 1800 students, to elicit GTAs‟ self-reflections regarding their teaching philosophies, practices, and experiences in instruction. Content analysis was conducted to examine how GTAs engaged with the four elements of the HPL framework (i.e., knowledge-, learner-, assessmentand community-centeredness) within their engineering laboratories. Findings from our analysis offer an overall view of GTAs‟ instructional practices in engineering labs and provide a general profile of GTAs‟ teaching related to the HPL framework. This profile may be used for the future training and evaluation of GTAs to improve in course organization and aid in pedagogical development.