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Defining the Role of the Student Teaching Assistant in Gross Anatomy
Author(s) -
Christensen Kevin Nicholas,
Nyauncho Clive P,
Hassinger James Peyton,
Scoville Elizabeth,
Kumar Neha,
Pawlina Wojciech,
Lachman Nirusha
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.176.6
Subject(s) - medical education , perception , resource (disambiguation) , psychology , facilitation , mathematics education , medicine , computer science , computer network , neuroscience
Teaching assistants (TA's) are an important resource in facilitation of 1st year courses at Mayo Medical School. Formal student teaching positions are available to 3rd students seeking opportunities to develop and refine peer teaching skills. While the Gross Anatomy course has traditionally utilized TA's as peer teachers the role of the TA has not been formally defined. Student evaluations as well as structured faculty and TA interviews were used to quantitatively assess how well TAs perceived their achievement of those goals compared to student and faculty perception. Expectations of TA's role include peer teaching through formal delivery of briefing sessions, group supervision during laboratory sessions, preparation of prosections, organization of review and informal practical examination sessions. TA's may extend their interaction with students through tutoring and participate in medical education‐based research projects. Furthermore, TA's are role players in assessment of student course performance. TA perception of their ability to meet expectations matched faculty and student perceptions. Student evaluations showed TA's to be one of the most highly rated resources in their teaching and learning and valued TA's for their capacity to relate to them, provide hands‐on clinical applications for basic science concepts, emotional support, time commitment to tutoring and assistance in the laboratory. Grant Funding Source : Mayo Medical School