• Introduction

• Content of the Learning Community

• Structure of the Learning Community

• Rationale for the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Model

• Compatibility of Teaching and Learning Needs

• Recruitment and Selection of the Teaching Assistants

• Preparation of the Teaching Assistants

• Roles and Conflicts

• The Teaching Team

• Evaluating the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Model

• The Experiences of the Teaching Assistants

• The Pedagogic Value of the Model

• Printable Text of Article

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Given our belief that the above issues were not a major impediment, we turned our attention to the second and third questions posed above. First, we needed confidence that our needs as faculty teaching the learning community and the students' needs as teaching assistants were mutually compatible and could be met. As faculty, we were interested in having assistance with student writing and research, study group creative presentations, facilitation of small group discussions in class, student service learning experiences, and integrating technology into the classroom. 

A benefit to using the undergraduate TA model, unlike the graduate student model, was that the students had already taken the course and were thus familiar with most of the material covered in the learning community (we did make some revisions to content). As we reflected on the value of this model for the undergraduate TAs, we believed that the opportunity to study issues related to violence and gender from a more experienced, educated, and mature perspective would be invaluable to the academic experience. 

Further, we thought that gaining experience and insight into the process of teaching, including decisions about how to present curricular materials, manage small group discussions, monitor classroom dynamics, and meet diverse student needs, would further help to develop their competency in areas such as critical thinking, problem solving, social interaction (working effectively in groups), and effective communication. With NCC's focus on experiential learning, we reasoned that a student could sign on for two or three credits of experiential learning for their experience as an undergraduate teaching assistant. 

We gave a lot of thought and consideration to the fourth question posed earlier, regarding whether or not the amount of time and effort it would take us to teach and mentor the undergraduate TAs would be offset by the value of the experience to both the TAs and the students in the class. After much reflection and discussion, we came to the conclusion that although there would be additional responsibility and supervision, the model represented the values and academic goals of NCC and reflected our personal commitment to the mentoring of students. Discussions with students and colleagues deepened our commitment to and enthusiasm for this idea. Therefore, we turned our attention to recruiting and selecting the undergraduate TAs.

Next Section: "Recruitment and Selection of the Teaching Assistants"

Previous Section: "Rationale for the Undergraduate Teaching Model"