Can we encourage our graduate students to develop a more scholarly approach to classroom teaching

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Can we encourage our graduate students to develop
a more scholarly approach to classroom teaching?

• Valerie Dean OLoughlin, Ph.D.
• Mark Braun, M.D.
• Katherine Dowell Kearns, Ph.D
• Isaac Heacock
• Indiana University, Bloomington

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The Ideal for Preparing Future FacultyLearn
to Teach by Practice and Reflection

• Excellent teaching
• Tips and best practice
• Scholarly teaching
• Evidence-based practice and peer collaboration
• Scholarship of teaching
• Teaching as community practice

Hutchings, P. Shulman, L.S. (1999). The
scholarship of teaching New elaborations, new
developments. Change, 31(5) 10-15.
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What does past research tell us about the
effectiveness of graduate student teacher
training?

• Few publications that are not discipline-specific
• In medical arena, studies about graduate student
  teacher development are lacking
• Most data from participant satisfaction surveys
• TA training appears to produce behaviors in the
  short term but what about lasting changes?
• Call for more empirical, data-driven research

Abbott, RD, Wulff, DH and Szego, CK (1989)
Review of Research on TA Training. In JD Nyquist,
RD Abbott and DH Wulff (eds.) Teaching Assistant
Training in the 1990s. New Directions for
Teaching and Learning, No. 39. San Francisco
Jossey-Bass.
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Pedagogical Methods in Health Sciences (MSCI M620)
Topics Covered in the Class

• Student learning styles
• Classroom presentation
• Syllabus construction
• Classroom research
• Scholarship of teaching
• Teaching philosophy statement
• Teaching portfolio
• Metacognition of teaching

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A Question Takes Shape

• Introduction to classroom research

• Sample project
• Institutional Review Board (Human Subjects
  Committee)
• See the process
• Understand the importance
• IRB approval and SOTL funding for our educational
  research

Does the participation in M620, Pedagogical
Methods In The Health Sciences, Encourage
Graduate Students To Develop A More Scholarly
Approach To Classroom Teaching?
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Our Research Questions
As a result of taking M620, did our students

• Develop a more complex attitude regarding student
  learning?
• Question and evaluate their current teaching
  methods?
• Explore methods of evaluating their own classroom
  teaching strategies?
• Envision themselves becoming involved in a public
  teaching resource network?
• And were these attitudes and skills long lasting
  and continuing to develop months AFTER the course?

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MSCI M620 Class Demographics

• Ten participants
• 7 women and 3 men
• Multiple disciplines
• Biology
• Medical Sciences
• HPER
• Anthropology
• Varied teaching backgrounds

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Sources of Data

• Course instructor evaluations
• Pre and post course surveys of student attitudes
• Quantitative qualitative analysis of class
  assignments
• Teaching philosophy statement
• Teaching portfolio
• Six month follow-up interview
• Participation in activities outside of the
  classroom

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Evidence of Scholarly Teaching in the Teaching
Philosophy Statement

• Teaching Statement Rubric prepared by KDK, CS
• Five basic dimensions
• Learning goals
• Teaching methods
• Assessment of Student learning
• Teaching Assessment
• Style
• Specific criteria within each dimension (total of
  27).
• Define performance within each criterion
• Exceptional (3)
• Needs work (2)
• Adequate (1)
• Absent (0)
• Compared draft and final versions of M620
  statements
• Statements scored by multiple graduate students
  not affiliated with the course

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Comparison of Draft Final Teaching Statements
by Dimension
Students greatly improved in all dimensions
except teaching assessment
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Comparison of Draft Final Teaching Statements
by Criterion

• Students improved in their ability to
• Describe their teaching
• Teaching methods specificity
• Teaching methods variety
• Teaching methods integration
• Explain and rationalize their learning goals and
  learning assessments
• Learning goals balance
• Learning goals academic relevance
• Student learning specificity
• Student learning interpersonal
• Engage the reader with an organizing theme,
  thesis, metaphor
• Style structure

Statistically significant criteria based on
2-tailed t-tests, plt .05
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Inductive (Qualitative) Analysis of Teaching
Philosophy Statements

• Inductive findings mirrored rubric findings
• Drafts were more mechanical in style, final
  versions had better narrative flow
• Final versions had far more and clearer themes
• Final versions included info about goals,
  teaching motivation
• M620 students became more descriptive and more
  student-centered in their discussion of teaching
• Not much information about teaching assessment in
  either draft or final versions

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Are students developing a more scholarly approach
towards teaching? Data from Teaching Portfolio
Analysis

• Rubric prepared to assess final versions of
  teaching portfolios
• Seven dimensions
• Structure
• Teaching History
• Course Design
• Teaching Methods
• Student Learning
• Assessment of Teaching
• Reflection on Teaching
• 17 total criteria
• Most M620 students scored highly in all
  dimensions except reflection on teaching
• Scoring done by graduate students not involved
  with course

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Interview Data

• Six-month follow up interview by grad student not
  involved in course (Nov 2007)
• To date, 5 of 10 students interviewed
• Asked about
• Prior teaching experience
• Motivation for taking M620
• Perceptions of the class and its assignments
• If they are continuing to assess/evaluate their
  teaching

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Did the course help students progress on the path
to becoming excellent teachers?

• I feel like with M620, a lot of the things I got
  out of that class are things ..that will prepare
  me to actually teach at a higher level.
• M620 got me thinking about practical ways to
  (help students) and also ways to evaluate it.
• Provided me with important resources.
• I found it one of the probably three most useful
  classes Ive ever taken. Im using the tools I
  got in M620.

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Are these scholarly approaches lasting in our
M620 students?

• M620 students are utilizing the tools they got
  from the class in their current teaching, when
  possible
• Their thoughts about how to assess teaching
  effectiveness are similar to those right after
  the course still relying heavily on student
  evaluations or exams
• They are thinking more about how to evaluate
  their teaching
• They are continuing to explore their enthusiasm
  for teaching

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Extracurricular Pedagogical Activities

• Teaching Portfolio Share Fair
• Use of Instructional Support
• Services (ISS) resources
• Attendance at IU SOTL talks
• Follow-up visits/emails
• Exploration of IU SOTL grants

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The Big Picture
As a result of taking M620, did our students
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http//medsci.indiana.edu/m620/sotl_08/start.htm
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Acknowledgments

• Dean Of Faculties
• Instructional Support Services
• Carol Subiño Sullivan
• George Rehrey
• Jennifer Robinson
• Dan Clasby
• Laura Plummer (CWP)
• Tiffani Saunders (CWP)
• Tamara Stasik (CWP)
• Lauren Miller
• M620 students
• Paul Jamison (Anthropology)

• Medical Sciences
• Jackie Cullison
• Audra Schutte
• Departmental encouragement
• IRB
• Peter Finn
• Cybil Cole
• Senta Baker
• Statistical Consulting Center
• Stephanie Dickinson
• Indrani Sarkar
• Adam Sheya

This work was supported, in part, by a 2007
Indiana University Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning (SOTL) Grant