Abstract:
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Graduate students in statistics-related programs are often interested in teaching. However, opportunities to develop and demonstrate their teaching abilities are often scarce, particularly in biostatistics programs. To address this gap, we created a special teaching assistantship position called the Classroom Teaching Assistant (CTA). The CTA acts as an apprentice to the faculty instructor for a course. Instead of grading homework assignments and exams, the CTA shadows the instructor to learn about and practice the art of teaching. CTA tasks include attending all planning meetings and all class sessions. The CTA also leads one or two class sessions, and receives formal constructive feedback on their teaching from both the instructor and the students. The culmination of the position entails completing a project related to teaching. This project is intended to further develop them as an educator while also improving the course. Our poster will describe the CTA responsibilities, show examples of projects completed by past CTAs, and provide comments from previous CTAs about the value of their apprenticeship experience.
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