CU Learning Assistant Program
developed by: Valerie Otero and Dick McCray
Level
middle schoolhigh schoolintro collegeinter-mediateupper levelgrad school other
calc based
alg based
conceptual
middle schoolhigh schoolintro collegeinter-mediateupper levelgrad school other
calc based
alg based
conceptual
Topics
+4
+4
Setting
Overview
What? A program to recruit science majors to become K-12 science teachers and to improve undergraduate education by implementing large-scale teaching reform. Learning assistants are undergraduates who assist in reformed courses, providing the additional instructors needed for many research-based methods.
Student skills developed
Designed for:
- Conceptual understanding
- Metacognition
Can be adapted for:
- Problem-solving skills
- Lab skills
- Making real-world connections
- Using multiple representations
- Designing experiments
Instructor effort required
- Medium
Resources required
- TAs / LAs
Resources
Developer's website: LA Program
Teaching Materials
The Learning Assistant Alliance website provides resources for implementing an LA Program, including national conferences and regional workshops for training program directors, and course materials for LA pedagogy courses.
You can find video lessons for LA training from Periscope.
Research
RESEARCH VALIDATION
Bronze ValidationThis is the third highest level of research validation, corresponding to:
- at least 1 of the "based on" categories
- at least 1 of the "demonstrated to improve" categories
- at least 1 of the "studied using" categories
Research Validation Summary
Based on Research Into:
- theories of how students learn
- student ideas about specific topics
Demonstrated to Improve:
- conceptual understanding
- problem-solving skills
- lab skills
- beliefs and attitudes
- attendance
- retention of students
- success of underrepresented groups
- performance in subsequent classes
Studied using:
- cycle of research and redevelopment
- student interviews
- classroom observations
- analysis of written work
- research at multiple institutions
- research by multiple groups
- peer-reviewed publication
