Abstract

Large lecture classes in higher education continue to be a context in which large performance differences between underrepresented minorities and their White and Asian peers are observed. In the current study, we sought to develop a package of interventions that may reduce this gap in a multi-section Micro Economics course. The focus of this intervention was to re-design instruction in students’ recitation sections, while also iteratively training teaching assistants on their instruction during recitation sections. Participants (N = 2,679) who were enrolled in Micro Economics worked together in groups where teaching assistants facilitated their learning in their recitation section. Results indicated that while all students demonstrated higher Micro Economics grades after the course transformation than their peers in prior semesters, this was particularly the case for underrepresented minorities, essentially eliminating the performance gap observed in prior semesters. Findings highlight the importance of instructional training for teaching assistants and employing teaching practices that can promote engagement and potentially promote inclusion during the learning process.

摘要

高等教育中的大型讲座仍然是这样一种情况，在这种情况下，代表性不足的少数族裔与其白人和亚裔同龄人之间的表现差异很大。在当前的研究中，我们试图开发一揽子干预措施，以减少多节微观经济学课程中的这一差距。这种干预的重点是重新设计学生背诵部分的教学，同时在背诵部分对助教进行迭代培训。参与者（N = 2,679）参加了微观经济学的小组一起工作，助教在他们的背诵部分促进他们的学习。结果表明，虽然所有学生在课程转换后的微观经济学成绩都高于前几个学期的同龄人，但少数族裔的情况尤其如此，基本上消除了前几个学期观察到的表现差距。调查结果强调了对助教进行教学培训和采用教学实践的重要性，这些教学实践可以促进参与并可能促进学习过程中的包容性。