The Dynamic Duo’s Big Plans 🚀

This week has been a whirlwind of creativity as Lisa Stowe and I dive headfirst into redesigning our Academic Peer Mentoring course for next Fall/Winter at the University of Calgary. This program has been transforming student experiences since 2005, but now we’re ramping it up. We’re not just updating—we’re planning a redesign that aims to take this program to new scales!

My digital explorations have led me down the fascinating rabbit hole of the Learning Assistants program that’s inspiring our new direction. While this model emerged from the University of Colorado, Boulder back in 2003, it feels more relevant than ever in today’s era of expanding class sizes. We’re convinced that near-peer mentorship isn’t just valuable—it’s going to be key to support students as classes get larger!

Learning Assistants: The Secret Sauce of Student Success 🌟

The Learning Assistant Alliance deserves a standing ovation for creating such an incredible resource hub! Whether you’re a curious student, a passionate faculty member, or a program director looking to implement learning assistants on your campus, this is your treasure trove (though you’ll need that login to access the good stuff). We just participated in their workshop, and it was an interactive, informative experience!

The timing seems just right as The Chronicle of Higher Education featured Learning Assistants in their Academe Today newsletter (April 17, 2025) story “The students who help teach their peers” focusing on this very approach (login required, but absolutely worth it).

I love this video from UPenn on how they are using Learning Assistants in their Math program:

Specifications Grading: Where Rigor Meets Motivation ✅

Our class will use specifications grading, and I’ve been collecting some resources:

• Linda Nilson’s game-changing book “Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time” (2015) has been my go to since it was published! I’ve been using specs ever since!
• For the time-crunched educators, check out this fantastic quick summary with practical examples from the University of Nebraska Center for Transformative Teaching
• Robert Talbert has been a specs grading expert for years— I’ve often read his posts to help me with implementing specs. I love his adapted EMRF rubrics! Still on my reading wishlist: “Grading for Growth” by Clark and Talbert.

Tool Discovery of the Week: Session Lab! 🛠️

My mind was blown this week when I discovered Session Lab! This isn’t just another planning tool—it’s a workshop and class design playground! The flexibility for organizing sessions is impressive, but what has me doing happy dances around my office is their MASSIVE library of resources and the intuitive drag-and-drop features that make reorganizing sessions super easy.

Have you experienced learning assistant programs or specifications grading? Drop a comment below with your thoughts or questions!