Speaker: Dr. Kelsey Quaisley, Oregon State University
Title: Guiding Principles for Equity-Oriented Professional Development for Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants
Abstract: Instruction that is active and attends to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become increasingly important in mathematics education. As teaching assistants, graduate students impact the mathematical experiences of thousands of undergraduate mathematics students. Therefore, their professional development and growth as educators is critical, especially when considering that many graduate teaching assistants pursue careers in teaching mathematics. In this talk, I share guiding principles for developing a mathematics graduate teaching assistant professional development program that focuses on active learning and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Importantly, my collaborators and I ground this work in DEI, rather than having DEI as a one-time or add-on component. Further, I discuss the implementation of a professional development program we designed using these principles. This includes how we adapted this program at three institutions and how the instructors of this professional development have supported mathematics graduate teaching assistants’ growth as teachers in enacting active, diverse, equitable, and inclusive classroom practices. I share our thoughts on effective professional development for mathematics graduate teaching assistants in advancing their understanding of active learning and equitable teaching by highlighting elements of the program that are shared across our institutions.
Biography: Dr. Kelsey Quaisley is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Mathematics at Oregon State University. She received her M.A. from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2018 and her Ph.D. from the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2023. Her research focuses on preparing and supporting newer instructors of mathematics to develop equitable and inclusive teaching practices. Further, she utilizes critical and arts-based methodologies in her research, including storytelling, poetic transcription, and metaphors. She aims to illuminate and elevate K-16 mathematics instructors and leaders’ engagement and ideas surrounding equity and inclusion with these methods.
Faculty Host: Dr. Steven Boyce