A Framework for Assessing Learning Assistants' Reflective Writing Assignments

摘要

At Florida International University we have implemented a learning assistant (LA) program based on the Colorado Learning Assistant Model. [1] As a part of this program, students take a course on science and mathematics education theory and practice in which they are required to submit written reflections. Past anecdotal evidence suggests that students in the LAP at Florida International University are using these writing assignments to reflect on their teaching experiences. The purpose of this study was to a) determine if the writing assignments submitted give evidence that our students are engaging in reflection and b) determine if our students are engaging in deep levels of reflection. In this investigation, we relied on a rubric based on Hatton and Smith's (1995) [2] "Criteria for the Recognition of Evidence for Different Types of Reflective Writing." In this paper, we document a) a system for characterizing student reflections and b) how we give them feedback.