Measuring content and pedagogical content knowledge of general chemistry teaching assistants

This study explored the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of general chemistry teaching assistants related to the topic of introductory stoichiometry, including measuring what teaching assistants with various levels of experience know and how they approach teaching the subject. Interviews with 56 experienced and inexperienced UIUC chemistry teaching assistants were conducted over Zoom during the summer and fall semesters of 2023 in which participants were asked to verbally respond to twelve items measuring their chemistry content knowledge and their pedagogical content knowledge. Items required participants to solve routine chemistry problems, explain how they would introduce common chemistry content, identify student misconceptions, and discuss how they would resolve these misconceptions. Results revealed that although the majority of study participants had adequate content knowledge, there were still a fraction who maintained substantial misconceptions. Pedagogical content knowledge varied; most teaching assistants were able to identify student difficulties, but far fewer verbalized strategies to resolve those difficulties. Most were also able to introduce chemistry topics with a great degree of accuracy, though on average, participants employed relatively few teaching strategies. Higher content mastery scores were correlated with stronger pedagogical content knowledge. Experience predicted higher content knowledge scores only if participants had taught the subject very recently, thought recent experience did not predict use of a more diverse set of teaching strategies. Male participants had higher content knowledge scores than female participants, though there were no notable differences in content knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge between other groups of study participants including graduate vs. undergraduate students and those who had taken more advanced chemistry coursework. Results provide implications for teaching assistant selection and training; instruction related to reflective strategies, interactive questioning, and identifying and resolving mathematical difficulties faced by first-year chemistry students may enhance teaching effectiveness.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• McCarren, Elise M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cromley, Jennifer G
• Mouza, Chrystalla
• Kern, Justin
• DeCoste, Donald J

• Chemistry Education
• Stoichiometry
• Teaching Assistants

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Elise McCarren

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124140

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124140