Teaching and Learning Assistant Programs

About

Teaching and Learning Assistant Programs provides resources for teaching assistants and tutors across campus to learn specific skills and strategies for assisting their peers. Through yearly orientation meetings, a general training series, department-specific workshops, one-on-one consultation meetings, and a certification program, TLAP bridges the gap between contemporary scholarship on peer instruction and leadership and Berea’s many peer-assisted learning opportunities. The objective of our programming is for all students, whether TAs or those who work with TAs, to gain greater confidence as teachers and learners. Writing Resources and TLAP Programs are located on the Ground Floor of Hutchins Library (Offices 110, 111, 112 and 130).

Contact Lauren Rae Hall at lauren_hall@berea.edu or 859-985-3209 for more information.

Services and Events

The common thread through all TLAP programming is ensuring that TAs and Labor Supervisors alike feel well-supported in their work and have access to up-to-date resources and proven strategies for supporting learners at all levels. We believe TA work is significantly deepened by regular opportunities to learn with and from TA colleagues across campus. For this reason, we offer a variety of programming.

TA/Tutor Certification

Since 2016, Berea College’s Center for Teaching and Learning has been approved by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) to grant specialized, internationally recognized certificates to Berea teaching assistants and tutors. To receive the International Tutor Training Program (ITTP) Level 1 Certificate, students must work with the TLAP Director to meet four categories of requirements:

• training (10+ hours)
• tracking/logging (25+ hours of TA work)
• being observed by the TLAP Director
• reflecting (culminating in a philosophy statement)

The requirements and certification process are detailed in this overview packet. This packet is also always posted to the yearly TA Moodle site and available via e-mail.

We invite students who are interested in improving their peer leadership and student support skills and/or who are interested in future careers in teaching and tutoring to reach out, attend trainings, and seek certifications. Certificates help signal to graduate/professional schools and employers that students not only have the experience of being a TA but have thought deeply about the work and have been trained by invested professionals.

Some Labor Supervisors require that new tutors/TAs receive certification before they can be promoted to higher WLS levels and/or department student leadership roles.

Frequently Asked Questions

TA-Peer Leader Program

Teaching Assistants-Peer Leaders (TA-PLs) serve as instructional and advising support for first-year General Studies Required (GSTR) courses. In the fall semester, each TA-PL collaborates with a faculty member/academic advisor teaching GSTR 110. TA-PLs work as writing TAs for their assigned GSTR 110 sections, helping students develop study strategies and college-level writing skills. TA-PLs also serve as peer leaders, acclimating students to the college environment and advising them as they develop general academic skills, explore majors, and utilize campus resources. In the spring, TA-PLs continue this work, supporting a section of GSTR 110 or 210 (and often working with a new faculty member).

We believe TA-PLs are critical to the success of first-year students at Berea, and this means the program necessarily spans and collaborates with multiple initiatives across campus, including Writing Resources, our campus’s Writing Program Administrator, and the Office of Student Success and Transition. TA-PL labor positions are housed in the General Studies department, and the program’s administration (including hiring, training, budgeting, and outreach) are part of Teaching and Learning Assistant Programs and led by TLAP’s director.

Although students are assigned to specific faculty members/Labor Supervisors, one of the primary purposes of the program is for TAs working with GSTR 110 to learn alongside their peers. For this reason, orientation, trainings, and regular labor meetings are held with the entire cohort—and draw upon their diverse experiences working in Berea’s unique GSTR 110 and 210 sections. We think together about creative learning opportunities for students, both those entering Berea and those firmly established. In the process, TA-PLs hone their own communication and leadership skills, which we hope will serve them in their time at Berea and beyond.