A scoping review of literature assessing the impact of the learning assistant model

Much of modern education reform is focused on implementation of evidenced-based teaching, but these techniques are sometimes met with trepidation from faculty, due to inexperience or lack of necessary resources. One near-peer teaching model designed to facilitate evidenced-based teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics classrooms is the Learning Assistant (LA) model. Here, we describe the details of the LA model, present a scoping review of literature using the four original goals of the LA model as a framework, and suggest future areas of research that would deepen our understanding of the impact that the LA model may have on education. We summarize how the LA model improves student outcomes and teacher preparation and identify a relative deficiency of literature that addresses how the LA model impacts faculty and departmental/institutional change. Additionally, of the 39 papers reviewed, 11 are strictly pre-experimental study designs, 28 use quasi-experimental designs or a combination of quasi and pre-experimental, and none of them included a true experimental design. Thus, we conclude that current studies suggest that LA model positively impacts education, but more refined assessment would improve our understanding of the model. Furthermore, despite the encouraging research on the impact of the LA model and the proliferation of LA programs at institutions across the world, the study of the LA model has been, for the most part, limited to a small group of education researchers. Therefore, a major objective of this review is to introduce the LA model to a new group of instructors and researchers who can further our understanding of this promising model.