LAA | About the LA Model

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LAs are Co-Designers in the Transformed Classroom

Instead of a top-down approach of an instructor lecturing to students, the LA model creates an instructional team (instructor and LAs) designed to guide students to deeper learning through equitable participation and active exploration. LAs facilitate small group discussion and guide students to articulate and defend their ideas in the transformed classroom environment. LAs are supported in this work by a pedagogy course with an LA pedagogy instructor and a weekly meeting with the course instructor.

A depiction of traditional lecturing (information flow from one instructor to many students) and transforming with LAs (information flow between student groups, between LAs and students, between instructors and LAs and students)

The Essential Elements of the LA Model

Practice:

LAs interact with students by facilitating in-class discussions and activities. They focus on eliciting student thinking and helping students develop a shared understanding. Through their in-class interactions, they build relationships with students, allowing for enhanced support outside of class.

Preparation:

LAs meet weekly with the course instructor to prepare for class, develop deeper content knowledge, and discuss how students are experiencing the course. LAs co-design with instructors and help implement class activities.

Pedagogy:

LAs enroll in a special pedagogy course to support their development and growth as LAs. In this course, LAs learn evidence-based strategies, student-centered and inclusive teaching practices, and practical strategies. With their pedagogy course instructor, they set weekly goals and measure outcomes.

The LA Model was developed and first implemented at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2001. Dr. Valerie Otero and Dr. Dick McCray incorporated Learning Assistants into the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences department with the goals of:

transforming the undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum,
recruiting and preparing future STEM teachers,
engaging faculty in discipline-based educational research literature, and
changing departmental and institutional culture to value evidence-based teaching.

Since then, the LA Model has spread worldwide, transforming the higher education landscape.

References

Gray, K. E., Webb, D. C., & Otero, V. K. (2010). Are Learning Assistants Better K‐12 Science Teachers?. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 1289, No. 1, pp. 157-160). AIP.
Otero, V. K. (2015). Nationally scaled model for leveraging course transformation with physics teacher preparation. Recruiting, and Educating Future Physics Teachers: Case Studies, and Effective Practices, 107-127.
Otero, V., Pollock, S., & Finkelstein, N. (2010). A physics department’s role in preparing physics teachers: The Colorado learning assistant model. American Journal of Physics, 78(11), 1218-1224.
Otero, V., Pollock, S., McCray, R., & Finkelstein, N. (2006). Who is responsible for preparing science teachers?. Science, 313(5786), 445-446.

Learning Assistants (LAs) are undergraduate students who, through the guidance of weekly preparation sessions and a pedagogy course, facilitate discussions among groups of students in a variety of classroom settings that encourage active engagement.

LAs in Action An LA at the University of Colorado Boulder works with a small group of students seated at a table in a classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at Florida International University shares a laugh with a student in a classroom with other students.

LAs in Action An LA at Assuit University in Egypt smiles with a group of students seated at a round table in a classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at Texas State University works with a student in a large lecture hall.

LAs in Action An LA at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa talks with two students in a classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at Florida Gulf Coast University works with two students studying a model of human muscle structure in an anatomy lab.

LAs in Action An LA at Penn State shows a paper and talks with a student in a large lecture classroom.

LA-Supported courses involve opportunities for students to work together toward a learning goal, for students to articulate and defend their ideas, and for instructors to make instructional decisions based on what students say and do.

LAs in Action An LA at Florida Atlantic University interacts with a small group of students at a table in a math classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at the University of Colorado Boulder talks with a group of students in a large lecture hall.

LAs in Action An LA at Front Range Community College interacts with a group of students working on a math problem at a white board in a classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at Oregon State University interacts with two students in a small group in a classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at California Polytechnic State University points to a student paper while interacting with a small group of students in a lab classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at Florida Atlantic University smiles while working with a group of students in a classroom.

LAs in Action An LA at Tufts University interacts with three students in a breakout room on Zoom.

A Learning Assistant Program supports LAs, faculty, and students by transforming courses so that they are more closely aligned with research-based instructional strategies. What an LA Program looks like varies depending on the size and focus of the institution.

LA Programs are successful at large research-intensive (R1) universities, two-year colleges, and everywhere in between. Overall, LA Programs house a program coordinator/director and support staff to run the program, teach the pedagogy course, support LAs, and work with LA faculty mentors as they transform their courses and co-design with their LAs.