From Orientation to Institute: Flipping Graduate Student Orientation
Abstract
Many universities have responded to private sector calls to train students equally in discipline-specific knowledge and 21st-century “soft skills” by focusing on applied learning. Yet, the role graduate students play as mentors and first points of contact—whether in the lab or the introductory classroom—often plays second fiddle to higher profile practices such as individual research projects, internships, and capstone seminars. After reviewing research correlating multiple high-impact applied learning experiences (Kuh, 2008) to significant gains in deep learning (Finley & McNair, 2013), UNCW’s Center for Teaching Excellence and the university´s applied learning Quality Enhancement Program revisited the format and objectives of its Teaching Assistant orientation. This panel will examine the evolution of this process through the following lenses:
- Institutional objectives and organizational theory;
- Best practices in mentoring, flipped classrooms and problem-based learning;
- Methodology;
- Assessment, feedback, and continuous improvement.
The panel will share its findings concerning effectiveness and mid-course corrections that led to a follow-up workshop and learning community that expose graduate teaching assistants to scholarship of teaching and learning. The audience will be invited to participate via an interactive action report with the objective of building lessons learned into their own graduate student developmental initiatives.
Location
Room 1005
Recommended Citation
Boersma, Jess; Ashe, Diana; Parker, Michele; and Hicks, Robert, "From Orientation to Institute: Flipping Graduate Student Orientation" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 16.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/16
From Orientation to Institute: Flipping Graduate Student Orientation
Room 1005
Many universities have responded to private sector calls to train students equally in discipline-specific knowledge and 21st-century “soft skills” by focusing on applied learning. Yet, the role graduate students play as mentors and first points of contact—whether in the lab or the introductory classroom—often plays second fiddle to higher profile practices such as individual research projects, internships, and capstone seminars. After reviewing research correlating multiple high-impact applied learning experiences (Kuh, 2008) to significant gains in deep learning (Finley & McNair, 2013), UNCW’s Center for Teaching Excellence and the university´s applied learning Quality Enhancement Program revisited the format and objectives of its Teaching Assistant orientation. This panel will examine the evolution of this process through the following lenses:
- Institutional objectives and organizational theory;
- Best practices in mentoring, flipped classrooms and problem-based learning;
- Methodology;
- Assessment, feedback, and continuous improvement.
The panel will share its findings concerning effectiveness and mid-course corrections that led to a follow-up workshop and learning community that expose graduate teaching assistants to scholarship of teaching and learning. The audience will be invited to participate via an interactive action report with the objective of building lessons learned into their own graduate student developmental initiatives.
