Preparing Graduate Students to Teach Statistics: A Review of Research and Ten Practical Recommendations

Figures & data

Table 1 Ten research-based recommendations for statistics GTA professional development for teaching, grouped by theme.

Number	Recommendation
	Theme A: Cultivate an interactive community of practice engaging all levels of expertise (e.g., novices with experts, novices with junior experts, novices with novices, etc.)
1.	Assign GTAs to increasingly legitimate peripheral participation.^a
2.	Establish formal interactions (e.g., observations with feedback, mentoring relationships, weekly meetings).
3.	Provide opportunities for informal interaction (e.g., shared spaces, informal gatherings).
Theme B: Challenge GTAs’ teaching beliefs and practices
4.	Model a variety of interactive pedagogical methods appropriate for the student audience.
5.	Observe GTAs teaching and provide feedback.
6.	Encourage habitual reflection upon teaching for the purposes of self-evaluation.
Theme C: Develop GTAs’ knowledge for teaching statistics
7.	Provide opportunities to develop pedagogical knowledge for teaching statistics.
8.	Guide GTAs about how to use technology to enhance course content.
9.	Provide opportunities to develop content knowledge for teaching statistics including topics such as simulation methods for statistical inference.
10.	Provide curriculum and assessment resources for GTAs to use as a reference.

a NOTE: Legitimate peripheral participation is described in detail by Lave and Wenger (1991) in their book, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. In this context, (briefly): legitimate peripheral participation involves opportunities for GTAs to participate authentically in the practice of teaching. These opportunities would change in nature as the GTA moves from a newcomer to an expert, progressively moving toward taking on tasks and roles more central to the practice.

Lave, J., and Wenger, E. (1991), Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

 Google Scholar