Learning Assistant (LA) Leadership Development Program

Megan Cole, Emory University; David Lynn, Emory University; Tracy McGill, Emory University; Kate McKnelly, Emory University; Rebecca Shetty, Emory University

Description

The LA Leadership Development Program at Emory University is designed to develop students’ interdisciplinary STEM thinking, identities as leaders, and leadership practices rooted in Emory’s student leadership philosophy. Students who are selected as undergraduate laboratory teaching assistants, LAs, and peer mentors in select chemistry and biology courses are required to participate in this semester-long program. Students participate in a pre-workshop facilitated by chemistry and biology faculty and the Office of Student Involvement, Leadership, and Transitions, and students will complete weekly exercises that focus on leadership development. The program will culminate with a capstone presentation where students will demonstrate their leadership development.

Goals of the Program

LAs will be better equipped to support student learning and serve as role models.
LAs will gain leadership knowledge and skills that are transferrable beyond the scope of this program.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this program, students will be able to:

Be a role model for how to be an engaged and informed Emory student (foundational, humanistic, meta)
- Facilitation for peer learning: expand knowledge and practice of evidence-based teaching strategies
Communicate effectively when leading class sessions (foundational, humanistic, meta)
- Discipline-specific content knowledge: deepen foundational content knowledge through engagement with course materials and faculty
- Interdisciplinary content knowledge:develop in themselves and their students connections between foundational knowledge in different disciplines.
- Collaboration: work effectively with faculty, LAs, and students
Implement practices that support inclusivity and diversity in group settings (humanistic, meta)
- Facilitation techniques & tactics: expand knowledge and practice of techniques to help facilitate student discussions
Practice empathy and vulnerability, including dealing with ambiguity (humanistic, meta)
- Empathy:recognize the diverse situations and experiences of students and how they may affect learning
- Integrity ethics and values:clarify personal values, understand ethical decision making processes, and know ethical guidelines for LAs and students
- Vulnerability & comfort with ambiguity:practice good scientific practice in situations where they do not know the answers (say when they don’t know and use resources to find answers)
- Intercultural engagement (justice & equity):practice full-participation teaching practices and support a just and equitable learning environment
Develop a personal identity as a leader (humanistic, meta)
- Leadership history, theories and tenets:understand the history of leadership theories, effective leadership practices, and the four tenets of Emory’s leadership philosophy
- Self-awareness and identity development:develop a personal identity as a leader both in and out of the classroom. Develop philosophy for how they want to lead and awareness for how they practice leadership

Assessing Program Outcomes

Pre/post survey of LAs (questions that focus on leadership development)
Post assessments of students in LA sessions (student use of LAs and how helpful they found LAs to be, administered before the program starts and after 1st implementation of program)
LA exercises (These exercises will drive the meta and humanistic knowledge focus of the program. Students will be introduced to these exercises during the pre-workshop, and students will use these throughout the semester to track progress on leadership goals and to reflect week to week.)
Peer observations (LAs will observe each other with a provided observation form in LA sessions and give feedback to their peers)
Attendance and demographic data for student participation in LA sessions (assessment to observe changes between previous training program and new LA Leadership Development Program)
Required poster session at end of the semester (Forum for students to reflect and present on whether they have achieved their leadership goals.)
Feedback from faculty who had LAs participate in program. Feedback will take the form of faculty observations of some LAs and written reflections about the effectiveness of the program.

Demonstrative Program Overview

The LA Leadership Development Program (LDP) will be a required program for STEM undergraduate students who are in an LA, undergraduate TA, or TA mentor role in select chemistry and biology courses. The program will train undergraduates in leadership skills and foster their development as undergraduate leaders throughout a semester (or year). The leadership skills will be focused through the lens of developing a leadership persona that considers foundational, humanistic, and meta knowledge.

Learning Assistant (LA) Leadership Development Program Description

Megan Cole, Emory University; David Lynn, Emory University; Tracy McGill, Emory University; Kate McKnelly, Emory University; Rebecca Shetty, Emory University

Abstract

Design Philosophy

There are already training programs in many institution for LA’s in biology and chemistry, but these mostly focus on foundational content knowledge. The philosophy of our design is to enhance the training that is already in place with meta and humanistic knowledge (and foundational knowledge in leadership) while also making it cross-disciplinary between STEM departments. The program will blend the 3 types of knowledge with training for LA’s in both departments. This will be achieved by designing two main resources:

A pre-semester workshop for students in all types of LA roles in both departments.
Exercises on the LDP learning management system (LMS) to facilitate the delivery of meta and humanistic knowledge that would accompany the foundational knowledge training at the department level.

LDP Sequencing

Workshop Pre-Work – Students will begin each semester with pre-assigned asynchronous work before the first fall workshop in the LDP LMS. The LMS will contain multimedia content and student exercises, such as videos, journal reflections, and debrief questions.
Workshop – There will be a synchronous day workshop at the beginning of each semester. The purpose of the workshop is to address core leadership topics and to integrate the 3 types of knowledge that will be taught throughout the semester. LAs will develop personal leadership development goals to focus on during the semester.
Weekly LA Meetings – LAs will attend weekly meetings with faculty. To prepare, students must complete LMS exercises to help them reflect on the 3 types of knowledge. These meetings will cover content LAs should cover during their course LA sessions, and will prompt students to review and reflect on workbook activities.
Peer Observation & Feedback – LAs will complete one peer observation and be observed once during the semester by an LA in a different department. The peer observations will foster interdisciplinary community and provide LAs an opportunity to practice and receive feedback on leadership and the three tenets of knowledge.
End of Semester Presentations – LAs will design a presentation (oral, poster, or video) to reflect and report on their goal progress and what they learned.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #1935479: Workshop on the Substance of STEM Education. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.