Small Program, Online

Harold Washington College

Context at a Glance:

● Urban Community College (awards associate’s degrees and certificates. ~9000 full- and part-time undergraduates) in Chicago, IL

● Small LA Program (currently ~5-10 LAs per academic year)

○ Program began in 2012 as partnership with Chicago State University’s NSF-funded LA program and initially involved 1-2 physics LAs per year; current program is self-supported by the college in partnership with the college’s Academic Support Services, which hires LAs in physics and chemistry

○ LA program will likely expand to supplement alongside existing embedded tutoring program in mathematics and biology

● Small LA Pedagogy Course

○ Required of new LAs hired for the spring semester as a 1-credit “hybrid” course with primarily online activities (discussion boards focused on readings and video episodes, electronic submission of teaching reflections) but allows for 2-3 face-to-face meetings during the semester (scheduled around the LAs work/class schedule to foster community and discuss teaching feedback project)

○ One section for all physics/chemistry (and future math/biology) LAs for now; future opportunity to have more faculty from various disciplines involved in teaching the course

The current curriculum for the hybrid pedagogy course mirrors earlier iterations of the CU Boulder pedagogy course; the course will undergo continued revisions of topics and selected readings tailor it to HWC needs.