Learning Assistant (LA) Program

The LA Program is designed to give students a genuine teaching experience with student-centered pedagogies. In its third year at RIT, the program was developed by SMERC (the Science and Mathematics Education Research Collaborative). It has been modeled by the very successful LA Program at the University of Colorado - Boulder. Faculty and students separately submit components of a joint application.

Benefits of the LA Program are extensive and far-reaching. LAs gain invaluable classroom and people skills that are often not acquired by passively taking classes. LAs take initiative, develop teaching methods, and network with RIT faculty. Leadership positions holds more weight on a resume than being a Teaching Assistant (TA) does, since LAs have bigger responsibilities than TAs, and can help their peers in the classroom more than TAs.

The primary role of the LA in a classroom is to mediate discussion-based learning between the students in the course. LAs help the students solve problems themselves and aid without handing out solutions. LAs will meet weekly with their faculty mentor where they help plan course activities. Outside of the course, LAs hold weekly student help-sessions. LA experiences will not be the same across different courses - their roles and responsibilities will be determined between the faculty mentor and themselves, before and during the course.

For most courses, two LAs will be hired to work together in developing teaching methods as it gives the LAs a chance to gain teamwork, and leadership skills.