Tutorial teaching assistants in the classroom: Similar teaching behaviors are supported by varied beliefs about teaching and learning

As part of a long-term program to develop effective,research-based professional development programs for physics graduate student teaching assistants (tas),we first identify their current classroom practices and why they engage in these practices. in this paper,we identify a set of teaching practices we call focusing on indicators, which occurs when tas use signs such as key words or diagrams as evidence that students understand the target idea; these indicators are more superficial than a detailed explanation. our primary finding is that although the three tas discussed here share a common behavior,the beliefs and motivations that underlie this behavior vary. we argue that ta professional development focused on changing these tas' focus-on-indicator behavior is unlikely to be effective. instead,responsive ta professional development will need to address the tas' beliefs that guide the observed classroom behavior. © 2010 the american physical society.