RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
More Relatable? Student Positioning of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Assistants in Mathematics Courses Taught by Graduate Students
Page: 590
Undergraduate teaching and learning assistants (UTLAs) can support learning and students’ sense of belonging in undergraduate, active learning STEM classrooms. One main goal of incorporating UTLAs into a classroom is to connect students to a peer-like instructional figure whom, it is assumed, students find more relatable. However, little is known about how UTLAs change the social dynamic of undergraduate mathematics classrooms, particularly those taught by an instructor of record who is a graduate student (GSI). I used positioning theory as a lens to understand how students locate UTLAs in instruction. I analyzed 411 undergraduate precalculus student responses to the survey question: “Do you interact differently with [the GSI] than [the UTLA]? If so, please explain.” From a qualitative analysis of responses, I found that students positioned UTLAs along three storylines that have different implications for the distribution of instructional duties between UTLAs and GSIs in an active learning environment.