Universities with a strong global presence host a large number of international doctoral students. Many of these students teach undergraduate courses as part of a teaching assistantship. There are many benefits associated with international teaching assistants. These include cultural exchanges within the universities and enhanced preparation for students entering into careers that are increasingly international in scope. These international teaching assistants, however, often encounter unique challenges. An understanding of these challenges is imperative in order to better meet their needs, as well as those of the undergraduate students in their classes. This qualitative study examined the experiences of international teaching assistants from science and math education departments in a Midwestern US university and their students’ views about learning from them. Data sources included video and audio-taped semi-structured interviews conducted with seven international teaching assistants and their students. The findings revealed the teaching assistants experienced different kinds of language and cultural and contextual challenges. Accent and fluency in speaking, correct pronunciation of the words, and the differences in science and mathematics jargon across different countries are examples of linguistic challenges. The difficulty in understanding US humor, customs, values, and beliefs are examples of cultural challenges. In response to these challenges, the teaching assistants developed coping strategies such as honesty and being open to students. The findings revealed students experienced some difficulties such as language issues, but they also had positive experiences such as learning about different cultures.

具有强大全球影响力的大学拥有大量的国际博士生。这些学生中有许多是作为助教的一部分教授本科课程的。国际助教有很多好处。其中包括大学内部的文化交流，以及为学生从事越来越国际化的职业做好准备。但是，这些国际助教经常遇到独特的挑战。为了更好地满足他们以及班上本科生的需求，必须了解这些挑战。这项定性研究考察了美国中西部大学科学和数学教育部门的国际助教的经历以及学生对他们学习的看法。数据来源包括对七名国际助教及其学生进行的视频和音频半结构化访谈。调查结果表明，助教遇到了各种语言，文化和情境挑战。语言挑战的例子包括口语和流利，正确的单词发音以及不同国家之间科学和数学术语的差异。理解美国幽默，风俗，价值观和信念的困难是文化挑战的例子。为了应对这些挑战，助教制定了应对策略，例如诚实和对学生开放。调查结果表明，学生遇到了一些困难，例如语言问题，但他们也有积极的经历，例如学习不同的文化。