- Year 2022
- NSF Award #1755631
- Registration Current Noyce Scholar
- First Name Bobbi
- Last Name Herrera
- Discipline Other: Education.. Teaching assistant programs
- Institution University of St. Francis
Abstract
In the summer of 2021, five Noyce Scholars at the University of St. Francis served as Teaching Assistants (TA) to local STEM educators who volunteered to serve as Cooperating Teachers (CT). The scholars helped facilitate various summer programs at local high schools with the support and guidance of their CT. Examples of programs that the scholars engaged in are summer enrichment, credit recovery, and get ahead programs. The goal of the TA experience was to provide scholars with more experience in STEM education. To determine the effectiveness of this program in terms of perceived TA growth and professionalism, the TAs and CTs completed a reflection survey after their experience. Overall, the summer TA experience was positively reviewed by both Teaching Assistants and Cooperating Teachers. TAs and CTs alike observed positive performance and growth in a number of metrics designed to measure Scholars’ professional achievements. Additionally, this experience allowed Scholars to interact with students of diverse backgrounds. Feedback from TAs and CTs suggests that we should continue to implement the summer TA program for our Noyce Scholars.
