Why work with Learning Assistants?
Learning Assistants (LAs) work with their Lead Faculty to transform courses by creating environments in which students can interact with one another, engage in collaborative problem solving, articulate and defend their ideas, and explicitly discuss aspects of the nature of teaching and learning within their specific disciplines.听听
For more information on the structure and organization of the Learning Assistant Program please visit our LA Model Page.
What is the value of LAs from the Faculty Perspective?听
LAs support student engagement and learning
鈥�"[Working with LAs] has transformed the classroom and enabled a small group active learning classroom. I value their help every class."
- Anonymous Faculty"Teaching with LAs has made it possible for students to be more engaged in the class."听
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder Psychology and Neuroscience Faculty
LAs promote a sense of community in the classroom
"They are an approachable peer for students in the class."听听
-听Anonymous Faculty
LAs are a valuable part of a team
鈥�"It has brought me personal joy to make connections with the LAs themselves."
- Anonymous Faculty
LAs provide a unique student perspective
鈥�"Working with LAs has made me more aware of the student's perspective about the material being presented in my classes.听 The LAs help me stay more 'in touch'."听
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder Chemistry Faculty"The perspective that they offer from the student viewpoint is beyond value and keeps me so much better calibrated."听
- Anonymous Faculty
LAs provide feedback and insight into course design
"Every semester I learn new ways of thinking about teaching from the LAs because students change over time."
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder English Faculty
How do Faculty apply for LAs?
Applications to the LA Program听for both faculty and students can be accessed by creating an account on the.听听 听
Log in to the Learning Assistant Alliance website, and then access the LA Campus tab. Create a faculty course proposal, where you will be guided through questions about your proposed course.听 The proposal period lasts for two weeks usually beginning in September and February (for the upcoming semester). Once approved by LA Program you will be able to听see up-to-date information about student applicants听to your course during the application period.
Student applications听are typically open for 2 weeks once the faculty course proposals are completed.听For information about how students can apply to become an LA, please visit our Student Resources Page.听听
Departments are highly involved in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring LAs. Check with your Departmental Coordinators听to learn about the process and expectations for faculty involvement in your department. For information to distribute about LA hiring, check out our General Recruitment Slides.
What are LA Program Goals for Lead Faculty?
- Engage in course transformation (design of a course with group work and active learning working towards learning goals) in order to utilize LAs effectively to improve the quality of education for undergraduates.
- Support LA development, including by meeting weekly with LAs.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of their integration of LAs in a course, such as through LA and student feedback.
- Promote a departmental culture that values teaching.
- Engage with the LA Program Community.
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LA Faculty Google Doc听Resources听
| Expectations | Resources and Suggestions |
|---|---|
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Structure your course to promote student/LA interactions LAs and students need opportunities to build relationships, which requires regular interactions |
Make use of LAs in the regularly-scheduled class components |
| Integrate active learning and group work. | |
| First day of class: Introduce your LA(s) and their role to students and your support of them in the class | |
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Meet at least weekly with听your LAs for reflection and preparation Typically, about an hour each week. This supports LA development, provides feedback to you, and serves as a way for the instructional team to plan and reflect together.听 |
First meeting: provide your LAs with your expectations for them. |
| See models and examples of what can be included in your weekly prep session.听 | |
| Ask LAs if they have ideas for how they can be more effectively or more often utilized - they have a unique perspective! | |
| Check in with LAs that their time dedicated to this position is within the position's expectations. | |
| Work with your TAs (if applicable) to help them understand the role of LAs and how to work with them appropriately and effectively. | |
| View Weekly Faculty Newsletters to be aware of the pedagogical concepts your LAs are discussing in the LA Pedagogy Course. Consider whether LAs may value your assistance in appling these concepts in your course.听 | |
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Engage with the LA Program and LA faculty colleagues Engage in a community that provides opportunities to share and learn about practices to improve the effective use of LAs. |
Communicate with your Departmental Coordinators***. This is a liason from your department who supports you in applying for and engaging LAs in LA-Supported courses.听 |
| Participate in end-of-semester LA poster session. | |
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Participate in LA Faculty community events: Links to sign up and the also found in the LA Faculty Community Google Drive can be found听on the |
Full List of LA Program Policies
Insights from Faculty who have used LAs in their courses
LAs have valuable input听
"Take advantage of this opportunity to listen and learn from a student's perspective. Share your thinking about pedagogical choices and ask LAs for their perspectives, as well as their sense of the current students' views, interests, and concerns."
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder English Faculty
Thoughtfully design your course to engage LAs
"Engage the LAs as much as possible. Let them take charge, make plans, interact with the students as much as possible"
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder Biology Faculty"Incentivize office hours so that students are more motivated to take advantage of LA Zoom office hours."
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder Psychology and Neuroscience Faculty
Invest in weekly prep sessions (Weekly meetings with LAs)
"Listen to the your LAs! Prepare for your weekly meetings--consider what you would like feedback on and don't hesitate to ask their opinion."
听-听Anonymous Faculty"Invest heavily in your weekly prep meetings. The investment will pay off, and you will find it enjoyable."
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder Physics Faculty
Support LA pedagogical development
鈥淭ake an interest in the Pedagogy Class weekly topics. Then make an attempt to integrate the topic into the upcoming week's coursework.鈥�
- FRCC Biology Faculty听
Be thoughtful in recruitment and hiring
"If you don't already know the LA, make time to get to know them and set expectations on what the LA should be doing during classes."
- 抖阴短视频 Boulder Mathematics Faculty
Other resources, including convenient online assessments, from the Learning Assistant Alliance available through our
You must be logged into your 抖阴短视频 Boulder google account to access these materials.
See LA Calendar for complete list of dates/times
Orientation Part I: Introduction to the LA Pedagogy Course/Returning LA Professional Development, the LA Model, and Mandatory Reporting. (Asynchronous modules)
- New LAs will learn more about the LA Pedagogy Course and how to navigate the Canvas site. They will also be introduced to the essential elements of the LA Model and the 鈥済etting to know your students鈥� survey.听
- Returning LAs will learn more about the Returning LA Professional Development meetings taking place this semester.听
- All LAs will learn more about what it means to be a 鈥渕andatory reporter鈥� at 抖阴短视频 and be reminded of听鈥渂ystander鈥� strategies for fostering inclusive learning environments.听
Orientation Part II:听
- New LAs discuss, 鈥淲hat is a Learning Assistant?鈥� New LAs will consider what they hope to help their students learn this semester and what they hope to learn by being an LA. They will also spend a little bit of time on the LAing Resources website considering how LAs can build a supportive learning community. Returning LAs are not required to attend this session.
- How to promote an inclusive, supportive, learning environment. This session is required for all New and Returning LAs. LAs will spend time in groups with others from their same LA appointment to plan how they will support student learning this semester by considering effective practices of LAs demonstrated in videos and scenarios. LAs will also discuss how to get the most out of their relationships with their Lead Faculty and instructional team, practice communication tools for challenging interpersonal situations, explore the nature of professionalism as an LA, and discuss how to respond to situations through the lens of a 鈥渕andatory reporter鈥�.
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New LAs report what they hope to help their students learn during Orientation, Spring 2021
The LA Pedagogy Course (EDUC 4610) includes discussion of teaching skills, learning theory, and social-emotional connections. Throughout this week, first semester LAs will reflect on their initial ideas about the core principles of teaching and learning and provide an initial framework that LAs can use to connect the pedagogical ideas used throughout the semester. Ultimately LAs will consider how their ideas about teaching and learning relate to evidence-based, learner-centered best-practices to develop a coherent learning perspective. 听You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the :听01 - Zull (2004).听
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- Think about a specific concept in our academic field. What would need to happen between a teacher and student for effective learning to take place?
- What does effective learning look like in our class?
- What do you consider the biggest learning challenges for students in our class?
CHEM 1113, Fall 2022
The types of questions posed to students can affect their responses. 听For instance, the cognitive level at which the question is targeted can influence the level to which students think and respond (higher-order versus lower-order thinking on Bloom鈥檚 Taxonomy). 听Additionally, the format of the question can influence student responses听with closed questions eliciting one or a few 鈥渃orrect鈥� answers and open questions eliciting a diversity of responses. 听All of these questioning types can prove useful, and it is important to be purposeful in determining when and why certain question types are used and to reflect on this use. 听Asking students questions helps them feel like a valued part of the learning community and someone whose ideas related to the content are welcome--both of which will promote a growth-oriented mindset in the classroom. Additionally, instructors and LAs can purposefully utilize 鈥渨ait time鈥� to give students opportunities to process their ideas and foster student-student negotiation of content, further centering students in the learning environment. You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 02 - Blosser (2000).听
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- What are some reasons we might want to ask specific types of questions in certain scenarios?
- What are a few ways that we can be more intentional with the kinds of questions we鈥檙e asking students?听
- What is wait time? Why do you think it works? What are some of the tensions in using it in the LA setting?
While participating in productive group work, students work together to achieve a shared goal. Group work is positively linked to student achievement as well as positive peer relationships.听
Certain tasks are more conducive than others for generating productive student talk in group situations.听
, such as questioning, listening, and intentional use of body language can greatly influence the quality of student-student interactions. You can set up a fruitful learning environment where students feel comfortable challenging each other鈥檚 thinking, pushing each other to explain, and asking questions that lead to learning. Instructors can promote this mode of discussion by, for example, asking , asking for reasoning, and soliciting the input of all members of a group. You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 03 - Facilitating student-student interactions_2021.听
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- Student interactions achieve more than just one student teaching the other. Think of some examples when a conversation led to knowledge that neither of you had to begin with. Why is it important for students to work together during their learning in this class?
- How do we get beyond the student鈫扡A鈫抯tudent鈫扡A interaction pattern and get more student 鈫愨啋 student interaction?听
- What does productive group work look like in our class?
- How can LAs help facilitate productive student-student interactions?
APPM 1235, Fall 2022
Self-compassion is the practice of holding a growth mindset toward yourself, treating yourself with kindness instead of judgment, focusing on challenging experiences as common to the human experience rather than reason for isolation, and utilizing mindfulness to take a balanced approach to one鈥檚 difficult emotions and experiences. Self-compassion isn鈥檛 about going easy on yourself--it is about being understanding of yourself when you don鈥檛 meet the expectations of yourself and/or others so that you are able to move forward.听
Learning, or the state of not-yet-knowing, is a vulnerable place to be. LAs are in a challenging role in which they are learners supporting learners. To do this, LAs need to cultivate approaches and self-talk that will sustain them through the challenges of teaching and balancing their studies and other commitments. Self-compassion is also an important lens through which to consider the nature of compassion and empathy, as these are two essential attributes of effective LAs. You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 04 - Neff (2021), and the TEDx Talk: .
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- How can we use this weekly meeting time to support one another in treating ourselves and our students with compassion?
- How do we cope with frustrated or angry students? What are some reasons why students might be emotional in our classroom?听
- What did you learn in your 鈥済etting to know your students鈥� survey that will help us create a supportive, growth-oriented classroom?
Providing students with effective feedback throughout the learning process enhances learning gains and can promote community. There are several important qualities of effective feedback:听
- Listening to understand the student鈥檚 ideas and confusions
- Focusing on the student鈥檚 work and process, not on aspects of their identity
- Using specific examples
- Giving timely feedback
- Using a tone that emphasizes the learning process when discussing strengths and areas for growth
When giving feedback, listening and framing the conversation with questions can promote a collaborative and fruitful discussion and get the student involved in analyzing their own work. You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 05 - Giving and Receiving Feedback_2021.
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- What are the various ways in which students in our course receive feedback on their learning?听
- How do we know that our feedback given during the learning process, often called formative feedback, is helping students build the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and understanding they need to excel on exams and other summative forms of evaluation?
- As we listen to our students to understand their current thinking, we may recognize that many students struggle in similar ways. How can we balance individualized attention and feedback with the urge to give feedback efficiently so that we can help other students in need?
NRSC 2125, Fall 2022
Audio Transcript Feedback, Annotation, and Reflection: LAs record and transcribe a 2 - 4 minute interaction, (Zoom or in-person live discussion, or asynchronous discussion board, chat, or email discussion) with students and bring this transcript into the LA Pedagogy Course. These transcripts create an opportunity for concrete feedback on one鈥檚 LA-Student Interactions, and are used as a tool for each LA to interrogate how they are implementing the pedagogical concepts discussed in the LA Pedagogy Course.听
Transcript feedback discussions are facilitated by an LA Mentor and structured so that each LA learns about specific positives, suggestions for future practice, and other observations, and ideas are shared across disciplines, class contexts, and modalities. After the feedback discussions, LAs annotate their transcript for where and how they are utilizing pedagogical principles and practices, reflect upon the impacts of these pedagogical choices on student learning, and plan for future LA-Student Interactions. Ask your LAs about what they learned and how you can help them continue to grow!
LA Mentor Individual Mentoring: Each New LA meets for two one-on-one with their LA Mentor between Weeks 6-12 of the semester. These mentoring sessions are designed for LAs to receive feedback from an LA Mentor who cares about them and is developing skills to help them reflect on their pedagogical goals and refine their practices. Both LA and LA Mentor take on a learning and growth perspective, which encourages taking risks, making mistakes, and building on success as LAs continue to develop their relationships with students and skills in assisting student learning. LA Mentors guide New LAs to build upon the feedback they received from their Audio Transcript, and help them iterate on their LA Practices by setting specific, measurable goals. Each LA may have an opportunity to opt-in to being observed by their LA Mentor during in-person, recorded听interactions, or asynchronous discussion boards. In addition to these in-class observations, LA Mentors perform observations in LA-Supported Courses to better understand the roles and challenges of LAs as part of the LA Mentor Course (EDUC 4620).听If you would like your course observed, let us know!
Audio Transcript Analysis in the LA Pedagogy Course Fall 2019
Students have ideas about the world and how it works based on making sense of their experiences and previous instruction. These ideas, referred to as 鈥減rior knowledge,鈥� influence and serve as resources for future learning. What information do students' ideas give you so that you can make a relevant and appropriate instructional move?听
Noticing, eliciting, and developing tasks and feedback based on students' existing ideas is how instructors facilitate learning. Students themselves construct knowledge in their own minds (next week鈥檚 lesson), and instructional team members are responsible for creating the circumstances in which students can build upon their existing ideas to develop deeper, integrated content knowledge. 听When instructors identify the valuable aspects of students鈥� utterances, even when these utterances seem outlandish or highly incorrect, they can use these ideas to help the student build toward a more powerful understanding. This approach is effective because it connects the students' existing ways of thinking to core academic ideas and takes advantage of their strongly held beliefs, thereby increasing student motivation. 听These ideas also serve as markers for progress in student learning. You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 06 - Students鈥� Ideas and Their Value for Teaching and Learning_2021.
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- How do we identify the ways in which students are viewing or thinking about the concepts coming into this class?
- What are some of the student ideas you have identified in your LA-student interactions or from past experience that are slightly incomplete or inaccurate but that could be built upon to help student understanding?
- What are some common accurate student ideas that need to be probed for increased depth and integration?听
- How can we encourage our students to elaborate upon their ideas such that we can help them build upon them?
Otero (2021)
As teachers and experts with a broad view of our disciplines, we strive to design our courses so that students can build on their prior knowledge, revise their thinking in light of new evidence and feedback, and develop an increasingly coherent conceptual framework as they learn. It can be easy to forget that students are the ones who ultimately need to actively assimilate new information into their existing and expanding frameworks. Instructors and LAs cannot simply give students the 鈥渞ight knowledge.鈥� When students are constructing their own knowledge, what then are the roles of instructors and LAs in the learning process? One important role is structuring curricular materials and conversations with students so that they elicit student ideas, as highlighted in last week鈥檚 pedagogy topic. LAs play an integral role by working directly with students, eliciting their ideas and helping students build upon their prior knowledge in a way that feels relevant and meaningful for students. In this lesson we explore a variety of theories that guide learner-centered classrooms, including constructivism, attribution theory and self-efficacy, transformational learning, feminist pedagogy, and radical and critical pedagogy to help LAs see the possibilities for education to be empowering and liberatory.听You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 07听- Weimer (2013).
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:
- In our class, what are the students鈥� roles in the process of learning? What are the LAs鈥� roles? What are the instructor鈥檚 roles?
- How do we create opportunities for students to grapple with material and take an active role in their own learning?听
- What are our learning goals for this lesson? How can we work together as an instructional team to help all students achieve these goals?
Students in our classrooms have a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, and these diverse perspectives enrich learning communities and promote creative problem solving. Inclusion and belonging have been shown to be correlated with traditional measures of student success like grades, retention, and graduation rates. Building an inclusive environment where all students feel welcome is key to creating an equitable classroom, and knowledge of how to mitigate any potentially negative effects on student learning due to interpersonal interactions (such as implicit bias, microaggressions, and stereotype threat) both inside and outside the classroom is important. These week鈥檚 readings and videos were curated to help LAs consider a variety of student perspectives on how they have or have not felt welcome in higher education: 09 - Brandon Thomas Open Letter. LAs are also watching and a couple of the vignettes from . You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the .听
Several course characteristics are thought to be effective in helping students learn, including course materials, collaborative discussion, and opportunities for formative assessment. 听However other attributes, such as the instructor鈥檚 identity and values in relation to the purposes of the course and education more broadly, are also important. LAs are in a unique position to motivate students by helping students see the relevance of a course towards students鈥� future career goals and personal interests and ambitions. One way to do this is by establishing a community in which students鈥� diverse identities and experiences are valued. LAs鈥� identities both as students and as members of the instructional team help students feel integrated socially and academically, which contributes to desired academic outcomes. In this week鈥檚 pedagogy lesson, LAs will consider what they value in education, how and why it has been meaningful for them to participate on an instructional team, and how their goals and values have evolved throughout the semester. They will build upon discussions of belonging and inclusion from the previous week and consider what is valued in the relationships within our classrooms and how we as a community can help all students thrive. Further, LAs will each define 鈥渃ommunity鈥� and bring in a new resource or example of community that can help them better consider their roles in fostering a learning community.You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 10 - bell hooks (1994)听(this is an optional alternative to bringing in their own resource).
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:听
- What are some ways we can make assignment expectations more clear or easier for students to succeed?
- What are some ways we can create a welcoming and inclusive environment in our course?听
- LAs, in what ways do you help your students see that you are like them and share many of their experiences?听
- What are our goals for students in this course beyond learning content?听
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What can we do to make this class feel like more of a supportive learning community?
Image: 听鈥淎ddressing Imbalance,鈥� by Tony Ruth for the 2019 Design in Tech Report
Metacognition is the awareness and understanding of one鈥檚 own thinking, is associated with student success and problem-solving ability, and is an equitable and inclusive cognitive toolkit that can help students take control of their learning. Students can harness the benefits of metacognition by understanding the task, assessing their knowledge related to a task, planning, monitoring their performance during a task, identifying any needed changes, and self-correcting throughout the learning process. Instructors and LAs can help promote student metacognition in many ways, such as modeling their own use of metacognition, or by encouraging students to practice components of metacognition, such as by determining whether their answers make sense, explaining where they went wrong in a problem, planning approaches to future similar problems, and/or reflecting on their performance and study skills overall. You can find the weekly readings for the LA Pedagogy Course in the : 08 - Ambrose (2010), ch.7.
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:听
- What is metacognition? Which metacognitive strategies can students use in our class that would be beneficial to their learning?
- What is our role in modeling metacognitive strategies or in fostering metacognitive strategies in the students with whom we interact?
- What are some questions or prompts we can use that will encourage our students to think about their own thinking?听
Research has shown that the presence of LAs as a part of the instructional team has increased student engagement, sense of belonging, inclusion, and success (Top, 2019). We hypothesize that this is because LAs have dual identities as students and instructors. This leads to dramatic impacts on student success. It has increased graduation rates (Otero, 2015), improved student learning outcomes (Pollock, 2009) especially for students from minoritized groups (Van Dusen and Nissen, 2020), decreased failure rates (Alzen, Langdon, and Otero, 2018), improved disciplinary identities (Close, Conn, and Close, 2016), and established community and a sense of belonging among students (Top, 2019). You can find the recently published review of LA-related research in the : 12 - Barasso and Spilios (2021).
Pedagogical Questions to Consider with your LAs:听
- What do we think are the biggest impacts of LAs on students in our course?
- What do LAs do in our class that might lead to students learning? 听听
- How have you been impacted by your experiences as an LA?
Being a Learning Assistant is often a transformative experience. LAs develop a wide range of skills that can be leveraged for their future endeavors; they develop skills in communication, leadership, teamwork, technical skills, accountability, time management, confidence, and so much more! LAs have experience working across university hierarchies, collaborating with their instructional team to deliver content and support student learning. This week in the Pedagogy Course, LAs will get creative--adding to their resumes by describing their achievements and competencies.听
Questions to Consider with your LAs:听
- What is an accomplishment you are proud of from your work as an LA this semester?听
- How have you grown since the beginning of the semester? What are some ways in which you鈥檇 like to continue to develop?听
- How can you leverage these experiences in your future endeavors?
During Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 New LAs were asked: 鈥淲hat are some skills you think you鈥檝e developed during your time as an LA?鈥�
Don鈥檛 miss this fun community event!听
Friday, December 6 from 3:00 - 6:00 pm in Kittredge Central Hall
You鈥檙e invited to the end of semester celebration, 鈥淏uilding Inclusive Classrooms: Diversifying Instructional Teams with Undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs)!鈥� Come connect, snack, and learn! Over 100 enthusiastic undergraduate LAs and undergraduate LA Mentors from 抖阴短视频 Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs will share their expertise and knowledge about how the LA model facilitates a more inclusive and accessible campus community. This informal poster session will provide opportunities for interaction among faculty, students, and staff at 抖阴短视频!听LAs who are unable to present live will share their work in a virtual poster session taking place the last week of the semester. See the weekly newsletter for the link to this virtual session.
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