Undergraduate institutions are under increasing pressure to improve teaching and learning in introductory science courses. Although much of the focus is on faculty instructional quality, a large majority of the one on one interaction at the introductory level is between undergraduates and their teaching assistants (TAs).
Biology graduate students are important instructors of many biology classes, especially introductory courses that are critical gateways to student progression through their biology major. Despite this role, biology graduate teaching assistants are often not provided the level of professional development specific to teaching that would maximize student learning by all students.
In 2013, the NSF funded an incubator project to start building a network to address concerns about TA TPD. In 2015, BioTAP received five additional years of funding from the NSF to expand its network. This website provides information about the activities of the grant, as well as future BioTAP activities.
Read the original NSF project description here.
NSF funding for BioTAP ended in 2021, but the BioTAP network continues as two connected programs. TAPD implementation projects continue to be funded through an NSF-sponsored ECB Scholars Program. BioTAP also is in the process of incorporating as a non-profit national professional society that hosts an annual virtual conference to bring together and support TAPD practitioners.
BioTAP Activities and Resources
The network holds a virtual conference each year for researchers and TPD providers to present work they have done on graduate and undergraduate students as teachers and improving teaching practices.
The BioTAP Scholars program ran from 2015-2021 and worked with faculty, staff, and graduate students to develop and implement research projects related to graduate student instruction and TPD practices. The materials from this program are available on this website, and the network has plans to continue these programs in modified forms in the future.
We have found informal, online networking to be effective and supportive for those providing TPD. We are developing online learning communities to continue these opportunities for collaboration and reflection.
Finally, we provide resources to support TPD practices and research on TPD to the community via this web platform.
Stay tuned for updates on the next chapter of BioTAP!
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