Exploration of Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Identity and Teaching Goals in Data Science Courses
This program is tentative and subject to change.
With the expansion of undergraduate computing-related programs, institutions increasingly rely on undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs). UTAs are uniquely positioned to positively contribute to classroom and student retention because they tend to be more approachable and highly motivated. In this exploratory study, we perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of first-time TAs enrolled in a semester-long data science professional pedagogy training course that promotes reflexivity and inclusive teaching. Through analyzing detailed weekly journal entries and semester-wide surveys, we found UTAs’ teaching priorities were influenced by their identity and experience in the pedagogy course. We sought to explore the following research questions: RQ1: How do UTAs’ identity and/or academic and personal experiences influence their teaching goals? RQ2: How does UTA understanding of data science classrooms as a social space shift throughout the pedagogy course?