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The experiences of undergraduate teaching assistants in a constructivist remedial mathematics program
Abstract
This study was purposed to understand the experiences of a group of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTA) working in a college remedial mathematics program which emphasized constructivist problem solving. Data were collected from four sources: in-depth and post interviews with the UTAs, interviews with the co-working instructors, interviews with two students from each of the UTA's class, and classroom observations. Results were presented in two ways: (a) UTAs' stories were told in individual profiles, detailing their experiences learning math from early school years and their teaching math in the current context; and (b) from the perspective of their four tasks (asking constructivist questions, classroom circulation, homework grading, and working in the Study Center), describing their successes and difficulties. Three important results were surmised from the data. First, UTAs' past experiences with math had a large effect on how they perceived their own math abilities and the way they thought that math should be taught. Second, the use of constructivist approach to teaching and learning was effective in changing UTAs' perceptions of what math was and how it could be learned; however, it also added pressure to these UTAs in their work with their students. Third, because of the contructivist emphasis, UTAs experienced early on impact and task concerns as well as personal concerns. Suggestions for preparing training program's for similar populations were advanced.
Subject Area
Mathematics education|Teacher education|Curriculum development
Recommended Citation
Lee, Kwan-Min, "The experiences of undergraduate teaching assistants in a constructivist remedial mathematics program" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9233087.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9233087