Student learning assistants: the journey from learning advice to creating community

Price, Stephen; Wallace, Kathryn; Verezub, Elena; Sinchenko, Elena

doi:10.1080/0309877x.2018.1425379

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…An LA or near-peer instructor is an individual who is close in age and education level but is one or more years senior in their educational progress to a student and seeks to provide mentorship and guidance (Bulte et al, 2007;Akinla et al, 2018). Price et al suggest that the social element of vertical learning communities encourages students to develop collaborative problemsolving skills (Price et al, 2019). Our LA program was inspired by previously-established peer-learning programs, such as the Learning Assistant Program at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Undergraduate Teacher-Scholar Program at UC Berkeley (Otero et al, 2010;Bourne et al, 2021).…”

Section: Pedagogical Framework 21 Vertical Learning Communities With ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

Griffin,

Thompson,

López

et al. 2024

Front. Educ.

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At University of California, Irvine, a large-enrollment research university, undergraduate chemistry courses for non-chemistry majors were delivered remotely during the 2020–2021 academic year, with a return to in-person instruction planned for January 2022. Because this return to in-person instruction coincided with the transition of second-year students from general chemistry to organic chemistry laboratory courses, the instructional staff recognized a need for remedial laboratory curricula for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Simultaneously, we desired to implement undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) in non-chemistry major organic chemistry laboratories for the first time at our university. In this paper, we describe our approach for leveraging undergraduate LAs to (1) test new laboratory curricula and (2) address feelings of comfort and safety for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Benefits of our LA program perceived by students include increased laboratory efficiency and improved student learning from near-peer instructors; benefits perceived by LAs include the development of professional skills and teamwork with graduate student teaching assistants. We provide an outline of resources and strategies to enable instructors to simultaneously implement undergraduate LAs and new laboratory curricula.

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Section: Pedagogical Framework 21 Vertical Learning Communities With ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

Griffin,

Thompson,

López

et al. 2024

Front. Educ.

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show abstract

“…A subsidiary question to this would be what navigational tools the RCs use to facilitate the requisite ability and agility from being a constituent of the collective residence community towards being a part of RC management as part of leadership structures. Inherent in these questions are issues of dialogism, identity and progressive transformation (Price, Wallace, Verezub & Sinchenko, 2019;Louw, 2012). A progressive transformation that implies, amongst other things, the attainment of common ground.…”

Section: Cultural Identity Within Spaces Of Progressive Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding Common Ground towards Progressive Transformation in Student Residence Spaces: Residence Committee Members as Bricoleuric Brokers

Maseko

Stutzner

2020

JSAA

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This article stemmed from discussions related to residence committee members and their role as leaders within their communities. The ideas presented during these conversations gave rise to a research interest for a conceptual exploration of collaborative and progressive social transformative brokering within a complex context. In particular, the identified interest within this context relates to finding common ground, between, inter alia, student affairs management, and residence committee (RC) management in residence spaces. The specific focus is the RC leadership team as strategists who are positioned to deal with potential conflict resolution in policy interpretation and enactment. The argument presented here has to do with the extent to which they can do this in a manner that facilitates the collegial and amicable interpretation of policy in residence communities. Inherent within this is the notion of managing the potential disjuncture between policy formulation and policy implementation. The primary question about this concern finds expression in how RCs move from being part of active cultural residence spaces to critical participants in dialogic conversations as part of a multi-perspectival progressive transformation strategy. Indeed, while bringing about transformation, the dynamic issues of brokering cohesion within a context of ideological and political complexity remain. Given the inherent situational complexities, the article adopts a bricoleuric theoretical thread that requires a multiperspectival orientation. In this regard, appropriate components of critical complexity theory, critical system theories, transformative learning, and hope theory account for this theoretical approach. A further consideration is that of a positionality of finding progressive and transformative common ground. In this regard, the argument revolves around examining the systemic factors that bear relevance for actualising the envisaged intention, that is, common ground in the interests of the common good. At stake in this argument is the notion of RC identity and their role in building a values-based residence system of policy interpretation and enactment, while bridging the ideological divide and finding common ground between the expectations of student affairs management and the residence community.

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“…Conceptually, this trust is important between LAs and faculty because it is through close-knit and regular coaching, coupled with avenues to exercise agency, in which LAs gain ownership over their work with students. This ownership is a vital first step in having students gain not only autonomy, but also empowerment [47,48]. Thus, LAs are able to garner additional knowledge and skills through expanded avenues of access (in-class, with students) that enhance their ability to function [49] and remain committed to that work [50].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting Undergraduate STEMM Education: Perspectives from Faculty Mentors and Learning Assistants in Calculus II

et al. 2021

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In higher education, Learning Assistants (LAs)—a relatively recent evolution grounded in peer mentorship models—are gaining popularity in classrooms as universities strive to meet the needs of undergraduate learners. Unlike Teaching Assistants, LAs are undergraduate students who receive continuous training from faculty mentors in content-area coaching and pedagogical skills. As near-peers, they assist assigned groups of undergraduates (students) during class. Research on LAs suggests that they are significant in mitigating high Drop-Fail-Withdrawal rates of large enrollment undergraduate science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical (STEMM) courses. However, there is a dearth of description regarding the learning between LAs and STEMM faculty mentors. This paper reports on perspectives of faculty mentors and their cooperating LAs in regard to their learning relationships during a Calculus II at a research-oriented university during Spring of 2020. Using an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design, faculty (oral responses) and LAs (written responses) reflected on their relationship. Content analysis (coding) resulted in four salient categories (by faculty and LA percentages, respectively) in: Showing Care and Fostering Relationships (47%, 23%); Honing Pedagogical Skills (27%, 36%); Being Prepared for Class and Students (23%, 28%); and Developing Content Knowledge in Calculus (3%, 13%). Benefits of LAs to faculty and ways to commence LA programs at institutions are also discussed.

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Student learning assistants: the journey from learning advice to creating community

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

Finding Common Ground towards Progressive Transformation in Student Residence Spaces: Residence Committee Members as Bricoleuric Brokers

Supporting Undergraduate STEMM Education: Perspectives from Faculty Mentors and Learning Assistants in Calculus II

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