Evaluating the Differential Impact of Teaching Assistant Training Programs on International Graduate Student Teaching

Abstract

Dans cette étude, nous comparons les répercussions d'un programme traditionnel de formation d'assistants en enseignement avec celles d'un programme spécialisé pour étudiants internationaux des cycles supérieurs doté d'une composante interculturelle importante. Nous nous attendions à ce que les deux programmes améliorent l'auto-efficacité de l'enseignement chez les étudiants internationaux. Par l'observation de l'efficacité de l'enseignement et l'adoption d'approches d'enseignement centrées sur l'apprenant, nous anticipions une plus grande évolution chez les participants du programme spécialisé. Nous avons constaté les améliorations attendues parmi les étudiants des cycles supérieurs des deux programmes, ainsi qu'une amélioration plus importante de l'efficacité de l'enseignement chez les étudiants du programme spécialisé. Dans le présent article, nous discutons des enjeux liés à l'adaptation des programmes de formation aux étudiants internationaux des cycles supérieurs, ainsi que de l'importance d'offrir du temps et des activités d'apprentissage pour le perfectionnement de l'enseignement centré sur l'apprenant et la pratique réflexive.

The goal of this study was to compare the impact of two TA training programs on the teaching effectiveness of ITAs. We anticipated that the specialized program using an intercultural communication lens, Teaching in the Canadian Classroom (TCC), would lead to greater increases in teaching self-efficacy, effective teaching behaviours, and the use of student-centred approaches to teaching than the traditional TA Training Program (TATP). We found evidence to support our hypotheses. Consistent with previous research, both programs had a substantial impact on the participants, with significant increases in all aspects of teaching self-efficacy (i.e., interaction, written, improvement, and overall) as well as teaching effectiveness (i.e., interaction and organization; [Boman], 2013; LeGros & Faez, 2012). We saw the expected differential impact of the programs on the overall teaching effectiveness score of participants. ITAs in the TCC program made greater gains in overall teaching effectiveness than the international and Canadian participants in TATP over the course of the programs, but this was not the case for their effectiveness in the interaction and organization domains. It is possible that the differential gains of ITAs enrolled in the TCC program reflect the subjective nature of rating overall teaching effectiveness. Overall teaching effectiveness, in this study represented by one item on the TBI-A (Boman, 2008), required considerable interpretation by the observers (high inference), whereas teaching effectiveness in interaction and organization required very little interpretation (low inference). Although overall teaching effectiveness required more interpretation, that interpretation was reliable across observers (interrater reliability r = .87).