Peers Help GSIs with ASPECTS of Teaching
The instructional development professionals behind DIIA's ASPECTS program know the power of peer pressure. They exploit their credibility as grad-students-who-teach to support the pedagogical, professional, and personal development of UT Austin's most junior group of teachers. Mark Decker, head of DIIA’s Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Program, and staff members Josh Iorio and Rachel Barrera are the faces behind the semester-long series in pedagogy. ASPECTS is one of several features of the GSI Program, an initiative of the Office of the Provost to cultivate excellence in graduate student teaching in collaboration with departments, graduate student support organizations, and the Office of Graduate Studies.
Decker, who holds a master’s degree in social work from UT Austin, has begun doctoral studies at UT Austin in educational psychology. In line with his interests in learning cognition, instruction, and program evaluation, he plans to develop a self-reflection series for teaching assistants with ongoing evaluation of its effectiveness in helping them improve their instructional design and delivery.
Iorio holds a master’s degree in English from East Carolina University, with a focus on applied linguistics and teaching English as a second language. He’s completing doctoral work at UT Austin in linguistics, with focus on the sociolinguistics of online communities, hoping to develop the first description of language variation for an online Community of Practice. Iorio has diverse teaching experience with students from teens to adults, in areas from rock climbing to tennis to composition to English literature.
Barrera holds master’s degrees in English from UT Brownsville and in instructional technology from Indiana University Bloomington. She is completing doctoral work at UT Austin in instructional technology, with research interests in higher education accessibility, development of learning communities, and innovative learning environments. Barrera has extensive experience working with pre-service minority teachers and directing a camp for middle school students with Project TEAM at IU Bloomington.
The ASPECTS program—Advancing Students' Professional Excellence with Certificates in Teaching Series—offers multiple sessions during the fall and spring semesters, covering 40 topics from the practical to the theoretical, such as 21st Century Literacy, Designing Effective Discussions, Improve Research Assignments, Introduction to eGradebook, Motivating Students to Learn, and even Teaching with Wikis. Graduate students may attend individual sessions or choose a certificate series by completing three required sessions, two elective sessions, and an application-based essay. The ASPECTS certificate provides a credential for teaching portfolios, professional development plans, and position applications, as well as documentation of graduate students’ commitment to their department, their students, and their professional development.
For Decker, Iorio, and Barrera, the growth and scope of the ASPECTS program are evidence of the power of peer pressure to transform peer expectations.