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The Web of TPD Reform: a reflective tool for analyzing and improving teaching professional development programs for teaching assistants

Adam J Chouinard,Diyala S Shihadih,Star W. Lee,Stephanie J. Gutzler,Kaleb K. Heinrich,Mitra Asgari,E. Shortlidge

Published 2025 in Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Teaching assistants (TAs) play a pivotal role in the teaching mission of higher education, but too often they are asked to do this important job without adequate teaching professional development (TPD). By receiving training in inclusive and evidence-based teaching practices, TAs can in turn help disseminate effective teaching methods for the benefit of students throughout the nation; as future faculty, TPD also better prepares TAs for their careers, helps solve longstanding problems of inclusion and retention in STEM, and reforms disciplinary educational norms through cultural evolution. Thanks to prior research and advocacy efforts, there is a growing awareness that STEM education needs to do more to help support these instructional allies in the present and to prepare them to do a more effective job teaching the next generation of scientists and citizens. To aid in this disciplinary transformation, we introduce the Web of TPD Reform, an evidence-based reflective tool for creating, improving, and studying TA-TPD. Expanding on the work of the "Building a Better Future STEM Faculty" report, we define 16 features of TA-TPD programs, each of which can be categorized or evaluated on a five-point scale. The web is useful for institutions when envisioning new TA-TPD, as well as for reflecting on and reforming existing TPD programming; it may also serve as a research tool for tracking key metrics of TPD. Here, we describe our rationale, present the TPD Web, walk readers through its use, and discuss example applications.

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