Table 4 Themes, codes, and exemplars
From: Science identity and metacognitive development in undergraduate mentor-teachers
Theme | Codes | Exemplars from reflections |
|---|---|---|
Science identity development | ||
Claiming a role and attaching meaning to it | Teacher Collaborator Mentor Guide Peer Expert Facilitator Leader Student | During this experiment I knew what I was doing and talking about. I really felt more like a teacher/mentor during this meeting than a student learning along with the GMHS students. (Fellow3) |
I see myself as a team leader, or captain as an LA. That I have previous experience on the material and can help guide my section in succeeding in the material. (LA3) | ||
LAs I think are support for the instructor, since she is unable to spend time with every student and cannot participate in her own class we can provide our experience having succeeded in the class before along with guidance to build a solid understanding of the subjects that are discussed in class. (LA2) | ||
Setting performance expectations | Be knowledgeable in STEM content Get students interested in STEM Expose students to new concepts and experiences Engage students with material Be a valuable resource Help students understand content Promote creative thinking Encourage failure and building perseverance | There were still the group of students who did not pay attention and were busy doing off topic stuff, but it’s our job to ensure that everyone in the classroom is engaged and gains an interest about STEM. (Fellow2) |
I just hope to accomplish being valuable to the students. I want them to feel that I am a valuable source. That they see me as resource the way they see the office hours of Dr. K and SI tutors. (LA3) | ||
It’s our job to expose them to something new things that they haven’t experimented with yet. (Fellow1) | ||
As a facilitator I focused on trying to get the students to understand the importance of each element in cellular respiration and focus on how these elements connect together. (LA3) | ||
Feeling validated | Positive appraisals Students are curious and want to know more Grades improve Misconceptions are remediated Advice is taken Confusion is eliminated Students are engaged in the material Students are having fun Attending office hours Students asking for help | I think that the thirst for knowledge resides in many of the students we engage with and it’s fun to see them seeking answers to questions that we may not even know, but are able to find out for them. (Fellow2) |
After they finished the questions, Dr. K had us collect them and look over them to see what their misconceptions were, and I noticed many of them took my suggestions and explanations to heart. (LA1) | ||
I felt I was more in a position of power, which felt great, and I would be able to help students when they were confused. (Fellow3) | ||
I felt like a total failure when I had to take a good 10 minutes to look over the book before helping the student who came to my office hours. (LA1) | ||
Metacognitive development | ||
Content reinforcement/learning | Self-evaluation of content knowledge Re-learning old content Reflecting on learning strategies Learning content in a new way | I am also just enjoying just relearning all of this stuff again. I am taking the MCAT soon so it is nice reviewing this kinds of material. I really feel that it is benefiting me exceptionally. (LA3) |
Right before we went into class, we had our weekly meeting and we all did like a little crash course about DNA replication. [Another LA] really helped me actually understand it. All of the sudden, I felt like oh my goodness, I finally get it! I understand. There was a very specific moment where it all just clicked. I felt so proud, and I went into class all excited to help. (LA1) | ||
I think this would be a wonderful opportunity for me to interact with students as well as learn from them for my own future classroom. This is a great atmosphere to help me broaden my knowledge with mathematics and apply it to kids who not only enjoy STEM but want to do something more with it (Fellow1) | ||
Identifying and overcoming barriers and challenges | Subject-specific content (Science Technology Math Engineering) Pedagogy and communication skills Explaining complex concepts Demonstrations Engagement Building relationships Collaboration Asking questions Initiating conversations with students | Learning and acquiring knowledge for TSA was and is still a big challenge for me to wrap my head around all of their categories and their rules. From the demo aspect we have worked with some very new things that I had to learn and add to my repertoire when it came to STEM, such as google sketchup. I hadn’t worked with anything CAD related so for me this was a very big challenge. (Fellow1) |
Working with younger students every week and trying to convey science topics in order to spread the ideas that revolve around STEM was a bit challenging at times, but I was able to gain a lot from it. It challenged me to try and relate complex topics and subjects to a more appropriate level for the students to be able to learn. (Fellow2) | ||
I was a stranger in this new class room and was challenged to learn about all these new faces and what was the best way was to approach them. (Fellow2) | ||
Planning demos was something that I had never had to do before and having to collaborate with two other students was even more of a challenge. (Fellow1) | ||
Goal setting within the program | Develop learning and teaching strategies Planning and preparation Monitoring time Increase student engagement Target learning styles Improve communication More interaction with students Utilize communication tools | One thing I noticed was that many students left out the time they needed to complete everything. This is very applicable to all ages of life as we often forget about how massive a project can be and underestimate the amount of time we have to complete things. (Fellow2) |
As I learn more about this approach to learning, I can see that I will need to engage the student at a deeper level, one where we need to approach the foundations of their learning style. (LA2) | ||
I know that I will redo this demo next semester and get the students more on the mathematics behind the catapult and help them apply that to their own projects but also keep them engaged like this last time. (Fellow1) | ||
There are two big things I want to improve. The first is my ability to interact with students, because I hold myself back a lot due to my shyness and lack of confidence sometimes. I think this week really helped with that. The next thing I want to change is to get a whiteboard next to my section in class. (LA1) | ||
The first semester had taught me how to communicate with students so we could do better demos for the next semester (spring 16’) and how to determine if the demos we were doing effective in getting them engaged in STEM. (Fellow1) | ||