Examining teaching assistant pedagogies in traditional laboratories and recitations

Abstract: Physics education research has consistently shown that students have higher learning outcomes when enrolled in active learning courses. However, while there is a lot of literature describing the difference between the two extremes of traditional vs. active learning courses, research has also shown that many classrooms actually lie on a spectrum rather than firmly falling into one category or the other. Understanding the pedagogical landscape is important for curricular development and dissemination, as well as targeted professional development efforts. Replicating and expanding on a study done by West et al., we observe graduate student Teaching Assistants (TAs) facilitating introductory physics labs and recitations using the Real-time Instructor Observing Tool (RIOT). We confirm West's finding of large variation between TAs' interactions during recitation sessions, but we also find that TAs facilitating traditional labs display fairly similar interaction profiles to each other. Additionally, we find that both the recitations and lab sessions we studied displayed very different interaction patterns from the CLASP ``Discussion/Labs'' studied by West et al. Specifically, we find that the amount of time instructors spend observing students is a key distinguishing characteristic between the traditional settings and the CLASP curriculum. We discuss the pedagogical features of each of the different learning environments as captured by RIOT. We share our results as a snapshot of the interactive elements of an introductory physics course at a four-year, public, master's granting institution situated in a discussion on implications for reform efforts.