Pedagogy Course Topics, Activities & Readings
Most programs include a mixture of activities which have been used by others in the LAA and have been shown to be successful and in-house developed activities tailored to the individual program.
These materials are suitable for a pedagogy course to support LAs and TAs in using resources-oriented instruction. We suggest weekly readings, weekly reflections, one project per term, and one peer observation per term.
Readings in the pedagogy course serve the dual purpose of providing foundations and springboards for discussion in the class, as well as introducing LAs to the education literature and discipline-based education research literature.
What topics should be included?
In addition to those topics considered CORE to all LA Pedagogy Courses, each program will need to consider additional topics that serve to support LAs in their work with students, and also in their own development as students and people. For instance, LAs often find “metacognition” more useful to their own growth as students than as immediately applicable in their work in the classroom. It can be valuable to survey LAs throughout and at the end of the term to assess which topics lead to changes in how they serve as LAs, which seem less relevant (and why), and what seems to be missing, in order to make changes to keep the course up-to-date.
Core topics
Classroom Discourse: LAs discuss how to facilitate discussion in small group work to encourage active participation, a supportive environment, and in-depth consideration of ideas.
Questions and Questioning Strategies: LAs learn strategies to use questioning to further student learning. Key ideas include open versus closed questions, analogies, and wait-time.
LA questions about rocks can provide a spring board for discussing open and closed questions.
Mental Models; Learning Theory: A foundation in educational theory is necessary for LAs to understand how students construct meaning and that "wrong" answers can stem from how students apply and amend their mental models of concepts.
“Bridging” / Formative Assessment: Many LAs are only familiar with summative assessment which demonstrates what they have learned. Formal and informal formative assessment can help LAs answer questions, "Where are my students now? Where do I want them to get to? How will I help them get there?"
Student Ideas as Resources: Rejecting deficit models focused on what students do not know, LAs look to how they can help student build on their current understandings and interests to engage more deeply.
See the page on Pedagogy Course Activities for more ways to incorporate key topics.
Additional key topics
Metacognition: Considering what it means to think about your thinking and why it matters.
Student Conceptions in the Content Areas: Using the discipline education research literature to understand common student ideas about core content
Motivation: Comparing performance versus mastery orientation on student learning outcomes
Implicit Bias: Examining gender, sex, race, ethnicity biases in STEM and sterotype threat.
Diversity and Equity: Recognizing privilege in the classroom and the disciplines
Mindset: Comparing growth versus fixed conceptions of intelligence and achievement on student learning outcomes
Evaluating Teaching Practices: Correlating teaching methods with student outcomes
Instructional Values: Articulating the values of LAs and instructors and their impact on classroom dynamics
Differentiated Instruction: Modifying interactions and activities to address the learning needs of all students.