Teaching as Learning – FOCUS

Help solidify your knowledge — teach

Teaching others is a great way to enhance your own learning. It allows you to relearn material and make deeper connections to it, while also helping others. There are a number of ways to help in the classroom both at Carleton and in the Northfield community – consider pursing an educational teaching experience while on campus or during the summer.

On-Campus Opportunities

Teaching Assistant

The tasks Teaching Assistants (TAs) perform depends on the department and course, as well as teacher expectations. Generally, TAs help lab courses by facilitating lab set up and procedure, and possibly grade quizzes or homework as well. TAs also schedule and hold Office Hours for students who have questions about course content or assignments.

The process for becoming a TA is departmental specific, but if you are interested in becoming a TA for a specific class, it is always recommended to talk to your professor about it.

Prefect Program

Prefecting is different from being a Teaching Assistant. The Prefect Program is more intensive than the usual TA position, with Prefects actively auditing the course they are prefecting for. The Prefect position is for Junior and Senior students who have excelled in a particular course and who design and implement active study sessions for students currently taking the class. This is generally a 10/week work study position, with Prefects paid to attend class, facilitate study sessions, and meet with students one-on-one. To learn more about what is expected of a Prefect, visit the Prefect Program Page.

Interested in becoming a Prefect? Talk to your professor or to your department assistant about how Prefects are selected for courses within your department. Doing well in a class and making an effort to get to know your professor is a great first step to get your name on the list for potential prefects.

A quote from 2011 on how being a Prefect influenced personal learning:

“Being a prefect made me take more initiative in my own learning. Once I was on the “other side” of the educational experience, I worked harder to be an active learner and to be engaged with the professor and the material.”

FOCUS Mentor

Being a FOCUS mentor is a great first step in re-engaging with previous course material and helping other FOCUS students in the process. Check out the FOCUS mentors page for more information.

Community Tutoring and Teaching

The Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) has a number of programs that get you out in the community and influencing learning. Work-study (Northfield Reads and Counts, Summer STEAM, etc.) and Volunteer (Girls Who Code, Kids for Conservation, Faribault Science Club, etc) opportunities are available. Visit the CCCE’s Education page for a full list of teaching as learning opportunities in Northfield and Faribault.