STEM Accelerator Faculty Attend and Present at International Learning Assistants Conference
The Learning Assistants (LA) program in the College of Science (COS) at George Mason University is a flagship program run by the STEM Accelerator. The COS LA program provides scholarships for approximately 230 undergraduates each year to support their peers in primarily foundational and active-learning courses. Founded at University of Colorado, the Learning Assistant (LA) model is anchored around three things: preparation with supervising professor, pedagogy seminar about learning practices, and practicing with students in the classroom. This past November of 2025 marked the 10th year that the Accelerator has sent representatives to the International Learning Assistant Conference (ILAC) in Boulder, Colorado to present on behalf of our program.
Dr. Tina Bell and Dr. Christine Rosenfeld presented a poster at the conference entitled “Longitudinal development of Learning Assistants’ approaches to teaching and learning.” The broader research team includes Dr. Benjamin Dreyfus, Dr. Rebecca Jones, Professor Kelly Knight, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. It examines the impacts that being an LA has on LAs, instead of on students, the latter of which is already well-researched within the community. We aim to thicken our knowledge of the benefits of an LA program that goes beyond positive impacts on students and faculty with access to an LA and make a case for benefits that LAs themselves gain from their experience as peer undergraduate learning assistants.
Additionally, Dr. Tina Bell, alongside colleagues Dr. Catherin Safran (Widener University) and Dr. Katie Johnson (Florida Gulf Coast University) hosted a workshop entitled “Reimagining Learning with LAs: Designing Your Course With Purpose.” The workshop was particularly well-suited to attendees who were new to engaging with the LA program or looking to set one up at their home institutions. Dr. Bell and her colleagues guided participants on how a backwards design approach can guide purposeful use of active learning strategies in the classroom.
The STEM Accelerator is committed to advancing and improving the College of Science LA Program. Regularly attending and presenting at this conference is one way we strive for excellence in STEM education. You can learn more about our programs here.
