Central Valley Region Interdisciplinary Symposium on Education Research

One way to mitigate the effect of sociostructural disparity and systemic oppression on historically marginalized students in science classrooms is through culturally responsive science teaching (CRST; Barron et al., 2021), a pedagogical approach based on student empowerment, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness (Ladson-Billings, 1995). Although CRST and other culturally-centered pedagogies have been linked with improved student outcomes as measured through student empowerment, self-efficacy, and ethnic and academic identity (Aronson & Laughter, 2016), more research assessing whether graduate teaching assistants (TAs) in college science are familiar with and prepared to engage in CRST is needed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted two training sessions for inclusive teaching practices and CRST adapted from Barron and colleagues (2021) during a graduate course focused on teaching and learning in the sciences at UC Merced, a large, research-intensive Minority-Serving Institution. Before and after the relevant training, we collected surveys and written teaching reflections from five graduate teaching assistants who participated in the training and consented to participate in the study. We used inductive, open-coding (Saldaña, 2015) to generate a preliminary picture of how graduate teaching assistants described their experiences with inclusive teaching and CRST. Preliminary themes indicate that prior to the intervention, graduate TAs felt they lacked training in inclusive practices and CRST, but still were intentional in providing their students individualized attention and tried to connect class material with current events. After the intervention, graduate TAs reported using inclusive practices and CRST through encouraging shared student experiences and promoting growth mindsets, while a lack of time and training remained a barrier to implementation. These findings may inform future graduate teaching assistant training which aim to bolster graduate TAs beliefs and behaviors regarding inclusive teaching practices and CRST with the goal of refining science higher education to be equitable for all.

Kaylyn McAnally, Graduate Student, UC Merced