Learning Assistantships

Paula Jakopovic, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Brigid Howard, Metropolitan Community College

Naomi Mardock, Metropolitan Community College

Keywords: Two-Year/Community College, Learning Assistantships, Student Engagement

Key Statement: How can learning assistantships with structured faculty mentoring offer a novel approach to engaging community college students at their institution?

Background and Relevance

Open enrollment policies are a defining characteristic of community colleges. However, this commitment to providing broad access to postsecondary pathways (Kisker et al., 2023) is challenged by relatively low persistence and completion rates when compared with four-year counterparts (Chen et al., 2020). The open access nature of community colleges and the varying levels of academic preparedness of their students require programs and courses that provide remediation and support in foundational skills for nearly two- thirds of students (Chen et al., 2020).  

              Educational research demonstrates the impact of engagement, both social and academic, on student outcomes like persistence (Deil-Amen, 2011; Karp et al., 2010). For community college students, the primary opportunity for engagement is in the classroom, as they typically attend part-time with fewer extracurricular opportunities than their four-year counterparts. Taken together, open access admission policies and challenges to student engagement in the community college context present a unique opportunity for utilizing student workers as learning assistants.

Learning Assistantships in Community Colleges

Learning assistants (LAs) are undergraduate students who engage as classroom support for faculty instructors in college courses (Ellerbrock et al., 2018). More structured than many traditional “student worker” positions, this role offers students access to more instructional resources in the classroom, provides students with more access to effective teaching practices, and improves student learning overall (Otero et al., 2006). For example, in one learning assistantship model supporting undergraduate STEM programming, performance outcomes for students enrolled in courses with LAs were twice as high as those in classes without LAs (Otero et al. 2006). Learning assistantships also offer a range of benefits for the “near peer” tutors themselves. LAs can increase their own content knowledge and intellectual competence (Gomez Johnson et al., 2021; Close et al., 2016) and enhance their communication skills (Goff & Lahme, 2003). Much of the existing literature on learning assistantships focuses on four-year institutions, but we assert that it can provide similar benefits for community college students.

An LA Model Designed to Create Engaged, Reflective Practitioners

In 2018, the University of Nebraska Omaha formalized a partnership with Metropolitan Community College, with a joint goal of enhancing the STEM pipeline from two-year to four-year institutions. Particularly during post-COVID 19 shutdowns with smaller class sizes, both partners recognized the critical need to support student development and saw intentionally structured learning assistantships in undergraduate mathematics courses as a productive path forward. Over the past several years, our collaborative team has redesigned the learning assistantship program at both institutions to create an effective, sustainable model that includes reciprocal benefits for all stakeholders. We wanted faculty to feel supported engaging in the work of effective mathematics teaching, students to feel that they had increased opportunities to get help with class activities and assignments, and the LAs themselves to feel valued and gain meaningful experiences through their work in the classroom.

LAs were recruited by both personal invitation from the college faculty as well as traditional means through campuswide job postings. Candidates were interviewed by members of the project team at Metro and intentionally paired with faculty based on their interest and experiences. Although LAs did not receive formal training before beginning their learning assistantship, they met weekly with their faculty mentor to cyclically plan for mathematics instruction and formatively assess student learning to guide future planning. The main role of the LAs was to directly interact with students, both during class and through individual tutoring to support mathematical learning. LAs also took on tasks such as leading short sections of class, helping with course content design, and grading/providing feedback.

As the LA model has evolved since 2018, we have found several features of our program stood out as the most impactful for participants.

The Role of Reflection on LAs’ Personal Development

One key element of our program is the role of reflection. We found having LAs reflect weekly on their practice and learnings was a powerful way to extend the impact of their experiences. LAs met regularly with their mentors, both to engage in planning and reflection around the math content, as well as to discuss professional and personal concerns the LAs were navigating as “new to college” young adults. The opportunity to reflect on what was going well (or not) in the classroom, as well as to slow down and consider ideas “outside of the moment” of teaching can be an effective way to encourage LAs to notice how students are taking up content and the most salient features of their teaching, which can increase student learning outcomes (Jakopovic et al., under review). It is noteworthy that LAs also reviewed previous journal submissions to catalogue their personal and professional growth over time. Not only does this offer faculty insights as to what the LAs take away from their experiences, it also supports their developing sense of professional identity as college students and future professionals (Jakopovic et al., 2023; Chickering & Reisser, 1993). We see embedded reflection as a critical part of student development in our program, as it pushes them to both look back and project forward-facing goals based on their experiences as LAs in mathematics classrooms. In the following sections, we identify specific ways that community college LAs found these reflections on their experiences salient to their development as engaged college students.

The Influence of Strategic Partnerships on LAs’ Content and Pedagogical Learning

We intentionally paired LAs with seasoned faculty who are experts in their field, as we have found that undergraduate LAs’ personal learning is accelerated when they experience teaching and learning in active and collaborative classroom environments where students are encouraged to be fully engaged. LAs are given the opportunity to teach, both in small group and whole class settings, to support students in the course, which goes beyond what a traditional undergraduate tutor might have the opportunity to do. This expanded scope offers LAs opportunities over the course of the term to observe and practice engaging with course content along with applying variety of teaching strategies, deepening their understanding of each. One participant shared what they were learning from observing their mentor teachers, explaining,

I was listening to the way [the instructors] explained subjects to students... one teacher explains more of the daily usage of the material such as taking measurements and dealing with them in fractions. While the other instructor mostly focused on breaking the subject up in a simplified way. This is where I decided to pay attention to how I’m explaining subjects, my result was that I explain through images. I picture the problem either on paper or in my head to break it down.

Similarly, another LA described a conversation where their mentor provided tips on how to effectively engage with students, sharing, “We discussed how I can try to gain more trust with students by memorizing names and checking in at least once with students to see their progress during class if they have not asked for help and if there were any sections they would like to practice or to go over before taking the exams.” These reflections illustrate the role that the mentor teacher can play in scaffolding learning experiences for LAs.

The Influence of Learning Assistantships on Community College Students’ Confidence and Competence

The support LAs received and the resulting increased content and pedagogical knowledge led increased confidence. One LA reflected, “At first, it felt as if I wasn't actually making any progress in the classroom. However, looking back now, I can tell that I have grown more confident in both one-on-one teaching, but group teaching as well.” After teaching a student a note-taking strategy, one of the other LAs noted, “I could tell when I was helping her, she was understanding the concepts once we took effective notes, and being able to understand her own notes made her feel more confident in her math skills. I feel more confident in my tutoring skills seeing that it has helped others.” Similarly, we found that the opportunities LAs had to collaborate with their mentor and work with math students in a variety of settings also influenced their personal skills development, illustrated by one LA’s final reflection, “I have loved this whole experience because I have learned so much about not only teaching, but communication, organization, and lots of problem solving (math and more).” These examples illustrate the ways that supportive environments and intentional mentoring can positively influence the personal development of community college students over time.

Opportunities for Community-Building

We have found that providing opportunities for students to regularly meet with their mathematics faculty members in a mentoring role extends the learning assistantship through community-building. Our LAs reflected on the connections they made with their mentors, talking about everything from personal questions and concerns to class-related topics to professional advice. An example of this is when a LA shared,

[He] mentioned that if you stay optimistic about your job and truly love what you do, it will never feel like a chore. He talked about the importance of loving your job as a teacher and being mindful that you have a big impact on the students you teach...He was very insightful on teaching and was very patient and kind...I am appreciative of the time he put into being a mentor and the energy he directed into helping me better understand what being a teacher is all about.

This quote illustrates how building relationships with faculty can in turn support the LAs in learning how to better build community with students in their courses, which can lead to the students feeling more comfortable reaching out to the LAs for support.

Additionally, LAs were given opportunities to meet with one another, which allowed them to develop a peer community with whom they could work through concerns. For example, one LA shared a conversation that the group had around a common challenge of getting students to engage with them during class. “It was interesting to hear from the other interns about what they are doing and how they are feeling. A couple challenges we talked about was being available to the students and also not letting age affect how you approach someone.” One of the LAs who engaged in the program for multiple terms summarized her experiences with community by saying,

What I am most grateful for are the connections I made...I’m grateful to have met [my mentor] ... I am also grateful to have met [the other LAs], [they] were great people to spend my first days with and I think it flourished newfound friendships. We bonded over our similar passions, and our differences made a fun dynamic to the group.

Why It Matters

Increasing the retention rates of community college students through intentional and multi-faceted engagement is a promising avenue worth further exploration. Learning assistantships can be professionally fulfilling work and support the development of confidence and skillsets of participants while simultaneously increasing student outcomes in college mathematics courses.  Learning assistantships present a promising opportunity to increase community college student engagement “beyond the classroom,” and with more than just faculty (or more than what is typical in terms of engaging with faculty) if they are engineered in ways that build in supports for LAs by means of 1) intentional placement with an effective instructor who is willing to mentor the LA through 2) regular meetings and conversations about course content as well as other personal and professional issues that arise, and 3) meaningful opportunities to reflect on what they are learning as a result of these experiences.

Discussion Questions

1. In what ways could learning assistantships and mentoring be integrated into more community college programs to serve as both an internship and a developmental support system for students enrolled in two-year programs?

2. What other mechanisms, both in and outside the classroom, can support student engagement at the community college level?

3. What role can structured reflection opportunities play in supporting undergraduate student development?

References

Chen, X., Caves, L. R., Pretlow, J., Caperton, S. A., Bryan, M., & Cooney, D. (2020). Courses taken, credits earned, and time to degree: A first look at the postsecondary transcripts of 2011–12 beginning postsecondary students (NCES 2020-501). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Chickering, A.W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series, Jossey-Bass.

Close, E. W., Conn, J., & Close, H. G. (2016). Becoming physics people: Development of integrated physics identity through the learning assistant experience. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.12.010109 

Deil-Amen, R. (2011). Socio-academic integrative moments: Rethinking academic and social integration among two-year college students in career-related programs. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(1), 54–91.

Ellerbrock, C., Main, K., Falbe, K., & Pomykal Franz, D. (2018). An examination of middle school organizational structures in the United States and Australia. Education Sciences, 8(4), 168. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040168

Goff, C., & Lahme, B. (2003). Benefits of a comprehensive undergraduate teaching assistant Program. Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, 13(1), 75–84.

Gomez Johnson, K., Jakopovic, P., Rech, J., & Zickerman, A. (2021). Learning assistants in college mathematics classes: Value for future teachers? Transformative Dialogues, 14(2), 75-92. 

Jakopovic, P., Anderson, F., Gomez Johnson, K., Matulka, C., & Rech, R. (under review). Accelerating preservice mathematics teachers’ progression through stages of teacher development via reflective practice on authentic learning experiences.

Jakopovic, P., & Gomez Johnson, K. (2023). Examining the Influence of mathematics learning assistantships on undergraduate students’ identity development. In S. Cook, B. Katz, & D. Moore-Russo (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 72-81). Omaha, NE.

Karp, M., Hughes, K., & O’Gara, L. (2010). An exploration of Tinto’s integration framework for community college students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 12(1), 69–86.

Kisker, C. B., Cohen, A. M., & Brawer, F. B. (2023). The American community college. John Wiley & Sons.

Otero, V., Pollock, S., McCray, R., & Finkelstein, N. (2006). Who is responsible for preparing science teachers? Science, 28(5786), 445–446.

About the Authors