LEVERAGING LEARNING ASSISTANTS TO SUPPORT THE RAPID TRANSITION TO TEACHING ONLINE

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions of higher education have made a rapid transition to teaching online. At the University of Colorado Denver, most of our lower division science courses are normally taught in a face-to-face modality. Some of our core biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics courses are taught using Learning Assistants (LAs), who work as peer learning facilitators and help faculty transform the courses to be more student centered (Otero, 2006; Talbot et al., 2015). In these Learning Assistant supported courses, the move to online teaching and learning was supported by LAs. Data from faculty and LAs showed that the LAs shifted their role to support the transition, and that their support was valuable in the new online modality. Beyond their traditional roles, LAs’ presence in an online course may generate a stronger sense of community within the remote course, facilitate virtual communication between the instructor and students, promote participation in and moderate online course forums, and advise faculty about students’ technological barriers. As we move into the next academic year facing continued online teaching for many of these core courses, LAs will be integral in the design and support of online learning communities. REFERENCES Otero, V. (2006). The Colorado Learning Assistant Model: A multidisciplinary approach to teacher recruitment and preparation. Bulletin of the American Physical Society. Talbot, R. M., Hartley, L. M., Marzetta, K., & Wee, B. (2015). Transforming undergraduate science education with learning assistants: Student satisfaction in large enrollment courses. Journal of College Science Teaching, 44(5), 24–30

Elementary principles of chemical processes

9-30 hlm. : ilus. ; tab. ; 29 cm

A QuantCrit investigation of society’s educational debts due to racism and sexism in chemistry student learning

The American Chemical Society holds supporting diverse student populations engaging in chemistry as a core value. We analyzed chemical concept inventory scores from 4,612 students across 12 institutions to determine what inequities in content knowledge existed before and after introductory college chemistry courses. We interpreted our findings from a Quantitative Critical (QuantCrit) perspective that framed inequities as educational debts that society owed students due to racism, sexism, or both. Results showed that society owed women and Black men large educational debts before and after instruction. Society’s educational debts before instruction were large enough that women and Black men’s average scores were lower than White men’s average pretest scores even after instruction. Society would have to provide opportunities equivalent to taking the course up to two and a half times to repay the largest educational debts. These findings show the scale of the inequities in the science education systems and highlight the need for reallocating resources and opportunities throughout the K-16 education system to mitigate, prevent, and repay society’s educational debts from sexism and racism. </div