As a Graduate Student Mentor (GSM) for statistics Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs), I was able to be more involved in the lesson planning, administrative details, and mentorship of instructors for the University of Michigan’s introductory statistics class. The class enrolls upwards of 2000 students per semester, and thus requires 4-5 faculty lecturers and 35-40 GSIs to teach lab sections.
My role as a GSM allowed me to work closely with the lecturers to plan to materials to be covered in lab each week. I learned to balance keeping advanced students occupied and not overwhelming students who are struggling. I was also given the opportunity to create additional resources, such as instructional videos and detailed written and video solutions for lab work and exams.
I also served as a resource to other GSIs for the class. I was asked questions about preparing slides for class, answering students’ questions in office hours and via email, how to grade homeworks, and how to balance working as a GSI with coursework and other obligations. Each semester, I performed classroom observations to ensure that GSIs were comfortably providing the required content in their labs, then met with them to discuss any concerns they have. I performed similar work in other departments as a Graduate Teaching Consultant.
