What is a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator?
A UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator is an undergraduate student, who has successfully achieved at least junior standing and obtained a 3.2 GPA or higher, that works to facilitate high quality learning experiences for students in their undergraduate courses. This position requires the commitment of up to six hours a week and emphasizes the importance of peer learning, promoting communication skills, and fostering a positive learning environment for students. As a Peer Learning Facilitator, you would serve as a mentor-tutor for undergraduate students enrolled in lecture classes such as informational sciences, biochemistry and math. You will lead review sessions covering lectures from your course by acting as an active facilitator of discussions rather than a passive participant. By providing individual assistance when needed while also encouraging self-directed exploration and problem-solving activities, you will be able to provide lasting support to enrolled undergraduates as they progress in their studies. The lessons and skills learned through this position can last long past college as well and can include valuable advice on organizational tactics such as time management resulting in increased academic success both during school and postgraduation!
Step by Step: A Typical Day in the Life of a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator
7:30am – 8:00am: Wake Up
As a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator (PLF), the day starts early with an academic and social responsibility of guiding fellow students succeed academically. Days can be long and vary but, typically most start by making sure you are ready to go for the day and that all materials needed are gathered before departing. Being well-rested is key in giving your best effort as a PLF as you will be using much of your energy throughout the day to provide a welcoming and inclusive learning atmosphere.
8:00am – 9:00 am: Travel Time
After getting dressed in comfortable clothes to facilitate free movement required for some teaching strategies, it’s time to travel to your first session of the day that could be located on any of UCLA’s five campuses. Depending on where you are traveling from, understanding traffic patterns and commuting challenges is necessary for arriving on campus at least 15 minutes prior to the session startingtime. Although it might not be easy at times, having accessibility options available provides flexibility when encountering any transportation issues hindering your ability from arriving on time.
9:00am – 11: 00am : Holistic Peer Facilitation Session
Once arriving on site, setting up resources needed for the specific peer learning sessions is one of the first tasks done upon setting foot in the learning center or classroom. Preparing chairs and tables arranged in groups, printing supplemental class materials such as handouts or prepare other activities requires attentiveness and precision; bearing in mind particular attendance numbers given by instructors or instructors’ assistants. After being given an introduction by program coordinators giving explicit instruction regarding objectives while remaining mindful of lesson plans created beforehand arrive into play as preparation phase ends with student introductions/ ice breaker activities . Mindful facilitation including active listening combined with reflective dialogue allows this part of session flow smoothly into review sections following afterwards which involve questioning techniques enforcing critically thinking skills
FAQs on Becoming a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator
Q: What do Peer Learning Facilitators (PLFs) do?
A: Peer Learning Facilitators (PLFs) serve as mentors and guides for students who are enrolled in college courses. They assist students with their academic goals by providing support and guidance on how best to use the available resources, tools and strategies to achieve success. In addition, PLFs foster an environment of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication that can lead to positive learning outcomes. Through open dialogue with peers during office hours, group activities and one-on-one tutoring sessions, the PLF helps encourage engagement with course content. By meeting regularly with a diverse set of learners (in person or online), they can provide personalized support throughout the entire semester or term allowing for informed decision making along the way. Finally, peer learning facilitators serve as role models of responsible academics on campus demonstrating professionalism, integrity and respect for all students enrolled in their classes.
Five Facts You Should Know About Being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator
1. Being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on fellow students by helping them be successful and confident in their academic endeavors. As a facilitator, you will have the opportunity to develop close mentoring relationships with your peers while sharing your knowledge and experience.
2. As part of being a facilitator, you will develop essential skills applicable in leading learning activities, facilitating discussions, developing lesson plans and providing valuable feedback to help participants become self-aware learners. The kinds of lessons range from test preparation for the ACT/SAT or GRE exams to resume building core courses such as Math and English.
3. Not only do you get the rewarding benefit of seeing your peers succeed from the guidance you provide, but there are plenty of other perks! You can expect benefits such as free meal swipes at UCLA or monthly stipends for stints that last four months or longer; receive helpful career advice from industry veterans; know how to effectively lead large groups; explore leadership experiences; gain professional contacts; plus receive letters of recommendation (upon completion) which may provide more value than any financial compensation they may have provided directly.
4. And let’s not forget – being a peer learning facilitator offers significant growth potential! Each month is filled with new challenges that help build the skills necessary for becoming an excellent teacher or leader in any professional field – whether it’s working in education, business operations or human resources development. With instructors chosen based on their areas expertise coupled with ongoing professional training opportunities taking place throughout each term- college recruiters take note!
5. If all that wasn’t enough – becoming a peer learning facilitator at UCLA also allows one an opportunity to give back in meaningful ways both on campus and within their community by participating with initiatives like Bobcat READS – an event housed annually since 1988 dedicated to instilling the importance of reading within the younger generation residing in Los Angeles urban
Challenges and Motivations of Being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator
Being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator can be an incredibly rewarding job, but it also has its challenges. It is important to take the time to understand the motivations and challenges that come along with this commitment.
One of the biggest challenges of being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator is balancing your commitments to both academic and extracurricular activities. You must have excellent time management skills in order to be successful in this role. It will require juggling classes, other extracurriculars, and maintaining relationships with student groups. Additionally, there are administrative duties implicated by the role such as leading orientation sessions for new students, organizing book/material orders for tutoring sessions, as well as engaging in professional development activities related to improving tutor performance—all while staying on top of your studies.
Another challenge is ensuring that student expectations are met throughout the tutoring process while providing quality instruction and fostering an effective learning environment. As a leader of your organization you must have an understanding of the group dynamics that exist between student attendees and ensure that these sessions remain productive both academically and socially. These interactions should ultimately help foster deeper connections among peers and create avenues for meaningful discussions about course material alike.
The motivation behind serving as a peer learning facilitator however comes through seeing tangible results within the classroom setting through helping others become more successful learners themselves. Through observing individual successes amongst each learner, coordinators have an opportunity to make considerable efforts towards retaining students’ retention rates by fostering social bonds motivated by mutual interests in course topics discussed during tutoring sessions . Furthermore, coordinators may find fulfillment from bettering individuals who were struggling initially until they eventually start thriving in their learning environments..
Ultimately being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator offers numerous motivating rewards that include personally investing into furthering each pupil’s journey within academia at individual levels; gaining insight into how people learn; building networks between different college courses/majors; strengthening softer behavioral skills like communication & problem
Advice for Aspiring UCLA Peer Learning Facilitators
Being a UCLA Peer Learning Facilitator (PLF) is an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience. As a PLF, you have the opportunity to work closely with other students and actively facilitate the learning process. It can be a lot of work and pressure but it’s worth it! Here are some tips for aspiring UCLA PLFs:
Create an Effective Study Plan: Setting aside quality time for studying and managing your workload in advance will help keep you organized and on top of your assignments. Be sure to establish feasible goals that help ensure you get enough rest in order to stay alert during class and activities.
Engage Positively with Students: The key to making connections with students is creating an inclusive environment which focuses on learning through collaboration and discussion instead of one-on-one instruction or lectures. Demonstrate genuine interest in each individual’s success by getting to know them before offering any advice or solutions, allowing them to articulate their own thoughts first.
Know Your Material Thoroughly: Nothing boosts confidence like being prepared! Take the time needed beforehand to fully understand all material presented so that when questions arise, you can answer them competently without missing a beat. This will make teaching smoother, more efficient, and allow more time for actual learning instead of providing unnecessary explanations or context.
Stay Up-to-date With Education Technology Tools: Staying up-to-date on educational technology tools – such as online blackboards, wikis, forums – helps streamline lesson plans, provide supplementary materials easily accessible from home or school computer labs, enable better assessments via automated grading systems etc., thereby saving you time as well as giving students alternative methods for approaching challenging content.
Lead by Example: Model effective study techniques such as staying focused during presentations/lectures/lab sessions etc., ask probing questions to elicit deeper understanding of topics , set high standard for academic integrity (no plagiarism!) plus provide motivation through positive reinforcement . These characteristics reinforce
