Learning Assistants Program

This week I would like to share a recent article on building a Learning Assistant (LA) Program. The article is entitled, “Building a grassroots Learning Assistant program” by Johnson et al. (2024). As the authentic interest in involving our undergraduate students in engaging, immersive learning opportunities, the concept of empowering our students to join the teaching and learning community is of interest. 

The authors define Learning Assistants (LAs) as are undergraduates who work in active-learning classrooms with students facilitating discussions and encouraging deeper thinking, while also receiving pedagogical training. Findings revealed strong alignment among students, faculty, and LAs regarding the LA's role in learning. Qualitative themes from student surveys and faculty expectations resonated with LAs' weekly field note reflections. One surprising discovery was the consensus that LAs provided substantial support beyond the classroom.

Most LA programs have four main goals: 

1. curriculum that supports the shift to an active learning environment;

2. discipline-based education research that supports creating effective learning spaces;

3. institutional change by providing infrastructure that can act as a change agent and; 

4. teacher recruitment and preparation by providing a teaching opportunity for an undergraduate who may have never considered teaching as a career (Learning Assistant Alliance Resources, 2012-2023).

Two factors contributed to the success of a LA program

1. a cohort of faculty trained in evidence-based, active learning strategies;

   1. The universities CTL has been offering a Course Design Academy where faculty explore learner-centered design principles and use backward design and evidence-based principles to improve a course and its syllabus;

2. a large number of active learning classrooms (ALCs) on campus.

   1. ALC were defined as consisting of tables, projection in two directions, and the capability to have technology at tables (Talbert & Mor-Avi, 2019). NOTE: Most research suggests that technology has less to do with ALCs than would providing tables, chairs and whiteboards on wheels and allowing extra space for mobility (Hargis & Schroeder, 2010).

Ultimately, the authors noted that they had to continually remind the faculty that their LAs should not be assisting with “teaching” but with “learning.” Two factors that contributed to institutionalizing the LA program included engaging across institutional units and evolving the pedagogy course. Other notable findings included  the DFW rate dropped from 31% to 19% when an LA is present; and 100% of LA faculty indicated that working with LAs allows them to do more active learning in the classroom.

References

Johnson, K., Singh, V., Lindsay A., & Frost, L. (2024) Building a grassroots Learning Assistant program, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 18(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2024.180106