Supporting Emergency Remote Teaching: Learning Assistants at the Boundary

• In Event: Online Teaching During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities were forced to transition to emergency remote teaching (ERT), in which courses designed for face-to-face delivery were hastily shifted to online formats. At a large research university, faculty and students found Learning Assistants (LAs), who are experienced undergraduates intentionally prepared to promote inclusive and effective learning environments, essential for the ERT transition. LAs provided students with vital academic support, helped sustain feelings of community and belonging, and offered course improvement suggestions to faculty. We discuss how LAs’ membership in and boundary crossing between multiple communities, including as students, instructional team members, and the broader LA program, helped explain these outcomes.

Authors

• William Edward Lindsay, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Jennifer Avena, San Jose State University

• Betsy McIntosh, University of Colorado - Boulder