During the two days, participants were actively engaged in a workshop on how experienced undergraduate students can support student learning. We learned about the research-based Learning Assistant Model developed by the University of Colorado Boulder, from the very founders of the model as well as educators who have adopted and adapted the model to their own context. With extensive experience building and running learning assistant programs, these facilitators provided fundamental perspectives on student learning, combined with practical insights into the work of Learning Assistants (LAs) and how it can be tailored to the participants institutional and disciplinary contexts.
Central takeaways:
- LAs contribute to institutional change in that they contribute to facilitating student-active learning and building two-way connections between students and the institution
- LAs contribute to a sense of belonging for and empowering of students
- LAs support and connect learners and teachers
- Students learn through shared sense making – not just answer making
- Fulfilling this potential requires course redesign for student active learning, pedagogical training, and continuous dialogue between LAs and course instructors
The facilitators modelled student-active learning and the role of LAs throughout the workshop, to the benefit of participating staff and students at UiO and other Scandinavian institutions. Throughout the workshop, participants worked together in various groups across roles and affiliation, making sense of what student-active learning means, as well as of the roles and work of LAs, instructors, and administrators. This provided participants with first-hand experience of how student-active learning feels — the potential as well as the frustrations and challenges. As an example, participants worked in groups on unfamiliar problems. Together they identified important questions and experienced the emotional aspect of learning, such as the initial fear of taking part in the group discussion and productive frustration during the process. And they experienced that they learned a lot, even if they ended up with some wrong ideas along the way. This was exactly the form of learning and safe space that learning assistants are meant to facilitate.
A particular emphasis was given to the process of learning as sense-making – not answer-making—and to how conceptual understanding develops through a process of exchange, facilitated by more experienced learners.
Read more about the facilitators here.
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