Cultivating the Next Generation: Outcomes from a Learning Assistant Program in Engineering

Abstract

The LA Program at Oregon State University began in 2014 in one department as an effort to provide support for the implementation of active learning in large enrollment Biology courses. Since its start, the program has spread to include courses in five out of seven departments in the College of Science and four out of six departments in the College of Engineering. At OSU, we identified specific course logistics and educational goals in the College of Engineering and developed an adapted engineering LA Program, which has a different recruiting procedure and pedagogy professional development using a workshop model rather than requiring a pedagogy course. In this paper, we study characteristics and rationale of the adapted Engineering LA Program and assessments of the desired learning outcomes from this program. We collected survey data and qualitative data from a cohort of 50 engineering LAs through an academic term, including program development documentation, observation notes of 26 teaching sessions, weekly meetings, and training sessions, 15 in person interviews with LAs and instructors, 52 responses of LA online weekly reflections, and 13 responses of LA online surveys. Preliminary analysis shows that with LAs, the LA supported classes were better staffed and students received more immediate and strategic feedback. LAs recognize that the experience helped them solidify content knowledge, understand other perspectives, improve public speaking, better communicate with people, develop teamwork skills, and learn to deal with complex social situations. LAs also recognize how these skills transfer into professional engineering practice. Implications for engineering educators are discussed.