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Ongoing Assessment of ITA's in the Classroom
The purpose of our "Multiple Perspectives" research project, which began in the spring of l996 as a joint venture between the Graduate School and ESOL faculty, was to 1) evaluate ENG 610, a year-long course, "Oral Communication in Teaching," created to help ITAs develop their English language and teaching proficiencies, and 2) to determine the effectiveness of the rating system we use to decide whether the trained ITAs are ready to teach. Aggregate data gathered through 1998 from trained observers, the undergraduates the ITAs teach, and the ITAs themselves indicated that some modifications needed to be made, but that overall the course was effective.
In 1999 we started looking individually at ITAs who successfully completed the yearlong course as they teach a recitation, laboratory or class. ITAs, on a volunteer basis, are videotaped teaching a lesson which is then evaluated from multiple perspectives: at the end of the class by undergraduates and by the ITAs themselves, and later, on separate occasions, by a mentor from the ITA's department and a language expert. All evaluators are asked to respond to a number of items which denote good teaching: knowledge of content, preparation and use of class time, feedback on student work, communication abilities including questioning, and attitude. The discrepancies in evaluation provide opportunities for meaningful discussion leading to improved course content and closer community among those involved with ITAs.
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