Working and living internationally can be a rewarding but difficult experience. This project investigates how people gain intercultural competence while developing technology to support the learning experience. We are currently developing a system to help new international teaching assistants allow for increased and equitable discussion in the recitation sections they lead. For many ITAs, discussion has not been a part of their previous school experience. Our personal informatics-based system detects and visualizes classroom talk, allowing the TAs to see how much teaching time they devote to student participation and the distribution or domination of students in class discussion, and to develop goals for increasing effective discussion in their classes.
This work led to my dissertation. My thesis moves beyond looking only at international teaching assistants and works with a much broader sample of TAs working in higher ed.
