Questions to Consider

The purpose of these questions is to get you thinking about issues that might be important for recruiting and preparing math and science majors to become teachers.

1. What are some of your goals for educational change in your department/university?
2. In what ways might the LA program help you meet these goals?
3. Who can you think of in your department that could help you initiate an LA program. What other faculty at your university may be interested in working with you?
4. In what courses could you or your department use LAs? Why these courses?
5. How could you use LAs given your departmental constraints/resources? How will this be of value to them? How will this be of value to the department?
6. How might you evaluate the success of your LA program given your particular goals?
7. What are some possible sources of funding or compensation for LAs? Stipends? Credit?
8. Who will support and mentor LAs? How will you prepare LAs?
9. Who will teach the LA pedagogy course?

Nuts & Bolts

Typical things that we worry about before each new semester:

• Finding funding for LAs.
• Finding undergraduates to participate as LAs.
• Finding rooms for the LA-supported classes.
• Buy/Make equipment.
• Find faculty to help me out.
• Find instruments to measure conceptual gains.
• Find instruments to measure attitudes.
• Deal with anticipated obstacles.
• Figure out web-based assessments.
• Understand methods for putting LAs in the system.
• Generate a curriculum for the pedagogy course.
• Apply for NSF supported Noyce Fellowships.
• Create a plan for training LAs.

One Semester Planning Overview

Typical events and rough estimates in the semester when they should occur:

• Schedule rooms for LA Classes (months before classes begin)
• Schedule rooms for Orientation/Info Session (one month before classes begin)
• Orientation and Sexual Harassment Training (one week before classes begin)
• Mathematics and Science Education Seminar (weekly throughout semester)
• Lead Faculty Member/LA Planning Sessions (weekly throughout semester)
• Faculty Meetings (Bi-weekly throughout semester)
• LA Information/Recruitment Sessions for next semester (9th or 10th week of classes)
• Web application deadline (two weeks following the information session)
• Interviews with LA candidates (following application review)
• Decisions on LA hiring for following semester (last few weeks of semester)
• Acceptance/Rejection letters sent to applicants (last week of semester)