A Call to Train: Graduate Teaching Assistants, Writing, and the STEM Curriculum

Priorities for university STEM curriculum emphasize the development of student-centered, inquiry-based classrooms that engage students beyond the traditional lecture. Much of this occurs in the laboratory, where a majority of instruction is led by educators-in-training or graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). GTA-based learning environments in laboratories extend far beyond traditional "cookbook" labs, and often GTAs play a principle role in evaluating student inquiry through writing—usually a laboratory report. We have surveyed a representative population of GTAs to gauge their attitudes toward education preparation and training, with an emphasis on writing assignments. Our findings indicate that this population of GTAs are not well-prepared for their roles, and GTAs are largely unaware of education-based literature and research to support and improve pedagogy for supporting student writing. Furthermore, GTAs do not seem aware of resources that might serve as evidence-based support for teaching. As a result, we have outlined recommendations for improved GTA training that will be implemented in future training of GTA cohorts at George Mason University.