Assessing the Pedagogical Change by Graduate Teaching Assistants New to Inquiry-based Learning

There is a great difficulty in how graduate students acclimate to both their student and teaching requirements. Adding to that difficulty, some students are also curious about varying pedagogical techniques. This pioneering research examines the intersection of working as a graduate student, teaching in a coordinated course, and the implementation of inquiry-based learning (IBL). Inquiry-based learning has known benefits, and the amount of research on the topic is growing. However, the researcher found no previous research on the topic of creating an inquiry-based learning course that is coordinated. The idea of using IBL in a coordinated course means that more graduate students have potential to be exposed to different ways of teaching. This study follows three participants that had all taught at the university level previously but were new to teaching using IBL. The coordination of this course meant that class sizes were smaller, room assignments were conducive to group work, graduate students received a workbook to facilitate classroom learning, and they had the aid of an undergraduate learning assistant. Therefore, the graduate students were able to focus on the day-to-day activities in their classroom without having the cited barriers to making this pedagogical change, providing them with psychological safety. After one semester, they all agreed that they would continue using active learning more frequently as they move forward as instructors, but did not acknowledge the barriers that they may face teaching a different course