Featured LAMP Learning Assistants Over Time

Spring 2022 Featured Learning Assistant

Vinaya Palecanda

Dr. Kimberly Frith of Civil and Architectural Engineering writes of her LA:

Vinaya has proven herself as a valuable member of the teaching team in our course. From the beginning of the semester, she's shown her ability to work with the students and the instructor effectively and answer the students' most challenging questions about the course content. She's approachable and floats through the classroom work sessions naturally, checking in with students and clearing up any areas of confusion. Her organizational skills are an asset to our large active learning classroom. Our class is fortunate to have her on the teaching team this semester and I look forward to seeing her grow & shine in this leadership role this semester.

Vinaya Palecanda

Fall 2021 Featured Learning Assistants

Brandon Bryngleson

Dr. Joe Russo of Education writes of his LA:

Bradon Bryngleson has been a Godsend. He is always in his seat well before class begins and is therefore available to students as they arrive. Bradon is knowledgeable about the material and the ways by which I try to lead students to deepened understandings. Bradon delivers lectures on his own and is at all times open to trying new approaches. A solid teaching assistant to be sure!

Brandon Bryngleson

McKenna Hackett

Professor Kassandra Willingham writes of her LA:

McKenna Hackett is an excellent learning assistant.  She is completely dedicated to the success of our class, she’s always asking how she can do more, she has creative ideas for active learning, and she’s extremely reliable.  I can’t say enough good things about her.

Spring 2021 Featured Learning Assistants

Sade Fermelia

Sade was one of a small handful of students to join the LA program in its inaugural semester. Since that time, Sade has been an LA for Microbiology, Physics, the Active Learning Best Practices course, and the Science Roadshow Outreach. Sade created outreach materials that integrate science and art. They lead learners on how to extract pigments from roses, make paint from these pigments, and document the entire process using a laboratory notebook. Sade has also collected, compiled, and presented assessment data for both LAMP and Roadshow. They have become one of the most learned members of our University community in active pedagogies. Sade is a consummate leader, teacher, and educational researcher.

Sydney Comet

Sydney was a learning assistant for Biological Chemistry and worked with Amy Navratil. She conceptualized a novel strategy for allowing students to reflect on their class preparation. She created a blog for each student, and before every synchronous session, students wrote about things that surprised or confused them about the pre-class readings and vodcasts. In this team-based learning (TBL) classroom, Sydney’s teams showed marked growth. They learned to give one another rich, substantive feedback, and this allowed members to hone their communication skills and build a productive team. Sydney was also a member of the Virtual Roadshow team. Throughout the summer, she assisted in making vodcasts for our statewide K-12 partners; these included kitchen science and updates on her own lab work as part of the COVID-response team at the Wyoming Public Health Labs. Sydney also helped facilitate a synchronous session with Riverton Junior High Students in which they solved mock genetic counseling case studies. Sydney overflows with passion for student success. One of Sydney’s students commented, “Whenever we were stuck in some problems, she explained those problems at her best level. And she was really helpful for me throughout the semester.”

Sydney Comet

Spring 2020 Featured Learning Assistant

Liam Guille

Liam was a LAMP LA since the kick-off of the program in spring of 2018. His mentor was Chris North. Liam assisted with General Microbiology and Marine Biology and developed innovative curriculum for the latter, proposing innovative ideas such as “The Invisible College” to enable team-based learning to become even more representative of the way in which academic scholars collaborate.

Liam Guille