• 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

© Copyright 2000 by Kimberly Eby (keby1@gmu.edu) and Paula Gilbert (pgilbert@gmu.edu). The right to make additional exact copies, including this notice, for personal and classroom use, is hereby granted. All other forms of distribution and copying require permission of the author.

We held two all-day retreats with the TAs, one at the end of the spring semester and the second at the end of the summer. The first retreat primarily focused on the learning community content, as we were in the midst of reviewing and revising the syllabus and readings. Accordingly, we asked for feedback about the use of specific books, articles, essays, poems, films, and documentaries. We also sought their input regarding the placement of various texts within the learning community. Perhaps our most significant accomplishment was to gain input from the TAs regarding the study group creative presentation topics. Together, we refined the topic areas for the study groups, specified a number of subtopics within each so that students could easily choose individual research papers, and agreed upon a method for assigning students to the various study groups. 

Thus, from the very beginning of our work with the TAs we established a collaborative climate in which their participation was vital. Moreover, the TAs realized not only that we valued their input, but also that it was going to be influential in making decisions about the learning community. We strongly believe that establishing this climate and communicating our definition of teamwork early on was a critical component to the success of our teaching team. 

During the second all-day retreat we focused on their roles and responsibilities as TAs and addressed the ethical and personal issues that we suspected would arise, such as their multiple roles, boundary setting, professionalism, confidentiality, and procedures regarding student disclosures of experiences of violence. These ethical and personal issues are particularly important due to the nature of the learning community content. 

We assigned each TA specific responsibilities. One coordinated the (90-hour) service-learning placement, with our supervision, for all the students in the class. Three facilitated the five-person study group creative presentations and served as resources to students throughout the process of planning and coordinating these innovative projects. Two offered support for individual research and writing, helped students log onto Town Hall (a web-based discussion forum), and set up a listserv for the learning community. Finally, each one helped facilitate small group discussions in the classroom. This strict classification of their individual responsibilities, however, is somewhat misleading. We encouraged fluid boundaries and sharing of responsibilities when necessary and discouraged the compartmentalization of tasks. This seemed to work quite effectively; consequently, they often offered help to each other throughout the semester. 

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