What's troubling you? Examining how biology teaching assistants talk about teaching concerns

Undergraduate students in science classes are more engaged and demonstrate increased performance when instructional methods include authentic science practices and active learning strategies. Non-majors students (i.e., those enrolled in science classes to fulfill a degree requirement) typically receive instruction that is more lecture-based and prescribed, however, which contributes to disinterest, diminished self-expectations, and lower performance. Teaching assistants (TAs) often interact with undergraduate students more closely in science classes than faculty and thus could potentially have far-reaching impacts on these students. Therefore, understanding how TAs think about their science teaching and the concerns they have about their methods can lead to designing more effective TA professional development (PD). In this qualitative study, we explored TA written reflections and employed first- and second-cycle analysis techniques to identify themes reflecting TAs' perceptions of their science teaching and concerns for improvement. We found that TAs' concerns about their teaching centered on three themes: subject-specific concerns, student-centered concerns, and delivery and presentation concerns. Further, these concerns changed over time and varied across TA experience level. We offer insight into how TAs' teaching concerns evolve and discuss the implications of these insights for TA PD.