Fort Lewis College • Adventure Education Program
Information and Application Process for
AE 395 • Teaching Assistantship in Adventure Education
The Adventure Education Teaching Assistantship is a significant step on your path toward entering
the Adventure Education profession. It is an opportunity for you to further hone your skills as an
instructor, and to contribute to the learning of others. The responsibilities, expectations, time
commitments, and skills required of the TA are high. The rewards can be high also. So, please read this
information carefully, and then thoughtfully complete the TA application form.
TA DESCRIPTION:
Students who have demonstrated a high level of proficiency serve as assistant instructors in a
selected Adventure Education course. Students take active leadership roles; prepare lesson plans and
course materials; plan, sequence and teach adventure topics and skills; mange site procedures and
safety. Students receive supervision and feedback on their leadership, instructional planning and
teaching skills. The Teaching Assistant may need to be involved in field-based trips lasting three to
15 days and should, therefore, schedule accordingly.
Qualifications (Prerequisites):
1. Adventure Education major.
2. Completion of the course you wish to TA, or the equivalant at a high level of competence.
3. Completion of AE 220 (Adventure Instruction) at a high level of competence.
4. For field courses, you must also need to have completed at a high level of competence
Wilderness Expedition (AE 201), Adventure Leadership (AE 210), and Wilderness First
Responder (AE 230).
5. Permission of instructor.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TEACHING ASSISTANT:
As a Teaching Assistant, your responsibilities often begin well before the course you TA begins.
Just like a professional adventure educator, you will need to meet with the Adventure Education
faculty member during the semester prior to the start of the course you will be TA’ing. So, if you TA
a winter semester course, you and the faculty member will be meeting starting in October or
November. For a fall semester course, you will meet starting in March or April. Expect this planning
process to occur on a regular basis prior to the course, likely covering several hours, and include
discussions about your goals for instructing, your ideas about content and processes for conducting
the course, preparation of course materials, and assistance with logistics and equipment for the
course.
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You are expected to be at or approaching a level of “conscious competence”1 with the skills and
content of the course you are TA’ing. This means being up to date with the technical, theoretical,
educational and human skills related to the course you TA. So, you may need to re-read the
textbooks and review papers you wrote as a student in the course. This is one of the reasons to keep
all your Adventure Education textbooks; do not sell them at the end of each semester. You may also
be asked to read new and more recent books and materials related to the course.
Once the course begins, you will need to attend all class sessions, unless an absence is permitted
by the course instructor. This means your schedule must accommodate weekend, afternoon, and
multi-day field-based (i.e. backpacking) course time commitments. You and the course instructor
will likely meet for one-to-three hours per week to prepare classes and review your needs and
performance. In addition, you will need to continue to prepare, read and keep up with the class. You
can expect to have TA assignments to complete, including lesson plans and assessments. Finally,
you and other TA’s of the semester may meet for a Teaching Assistantship seminar approximately
once every two-to-four weeks. This is an opportunity to reflect on and share what you are learning
and teaching, to problem-solve and promote mutual success as adventure educators.
In general, TAs can expect to spend up to twice as much time planning, preparing, reading,
assessing and meeting in seminar as the time allotment of the course itself. With your other
academic commitments, we suggest that you not plan on being on an athletic team or holding a parttime job during the semester in which you TA.
TA’s earn one AE 395 credit per 30 hours of TA work observing, teaching, preparing, and
meeting with the course instructor. TA’ing a 3-credit skills course typically earns 3 AE 395 credits
and requires 90 hours of work. TA’ing a 3-credit classroom course earns 2 AE 395 credits and
requires 60 hours of work.
APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS:
We suggest you begin thinking about the Teaching Assistantship early in your progress through
the Adventure Education major. As you complete a course, ask yourself, “Is this a course I could
now help teach?” “Will I improve as an adventure educator by learning to teach these skills?”
Likewise, your Adventure Education faculty will be considering students in their classes who
demonstrate the potential to TA courses, and may invite you to consider applying to TA a particular
course.
So, this is a competitive process. Your performance, commitment, and professionalism are
noticed beginning with your first Adventure Education course, and will be considered in the TA
selection process. You will need to be able to make a contribution to the course you TA and you will
have a responsibility to help other students learn. Before completing this application, you may wish
to talk with an Adventure Education faculty member about your interests in TA’ing a course.
TA’s are selected on the basis of academic performance, teaching potential, demonstrated
teaching ability, organizational skills, and faculty need.
“Conscious competence” is a dimension of the assessment rubric students learn in AE 210, Adventure Leadership, and
AE 220, Adventure Instruction. A student at this level is aware and able. The student is able to consistently perform and
mentor the skill at a level expected of a professional adventure educator. The individual has an awareness as to how, why,
when and where they are performing the skill, and the ability to articulate and mentor that awareness. In addition, the student
can refer to appropriate analytical, conceptual, theoretical, and practical information related to the skill. He/she is therefore
able to perform and mentor the skill repeatedly at a professional level.
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The Adventure Education Teaching Assistantship application process is as follows:
1. Complete the TA Application Form.
2. Bring your Adventure Education Professional Portfolio up to date. This document is
available on-line, and is designed to be an ever-growing record of your adventure education
training and experience.
3. Submit the TA Application Form and your Adventure Education Professional Portfolio to the
AE instructor of your first priority course by…
November 1 for a winter semester Teaching Assistantship
March 31 for a fall semester Teaching Assistantship
Your application will be considered for the next semester as well as future semesters. But please
provide updates about coursework completed and your qualifications. Once you submit your
Teaching Assistantship application materials, your application will be reviewed by Adventure
Education faculty, including the instructor of the course(s) for which you wish to TA. We may
schedule an interview with you.
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Application for
Teaching Assistantship in Adventure Education
(AE 395)
Before completing this application, read the information about the Teaching Assistantship application process,
including due dates and selection criteria.
Part I. General Information
Name
Date
Local/FLC Address
City/State/Zip
Phone (
)
FLC Email
)
Email
Summer Address
City/State/Zip
Phone (
Dates you will be at this address: From
to
Part 2. Academic Information: Please complete the following, or provide a current copy of your transcript;
available on-line.
How many credits will you have earned by the end of the current semester?
How many Adventure Education credits will you have earned by the end of the current semester?
Current overall GPA
Please list below all Adventure Education (AE) courses you have taken, including those in which you are currently
enrolled:
Course No. & Title
Credits
Instructor
Sem/Yr
Part 3. TA Wish List and Qualifications
1. What course(s) do you want to TA?
2. Describe your TA learning objectives: i.e. What do you want to learn, described in specific terms?
Grade
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3. How will you learn this? Describe learning resources you will utilize, and other strategies that can help
you accomplish your learning objectives.
4. How do you propose that you will you show that you've learned this? Specify evidence of
accomplishment and how the evidence of accomplishment will be evaluated.
5. What is your experience and qualifications for TA’ing the course(s) you’ve mentioned in #1?
Part 4. Additional Information
If there is anything else you want to mention about your qualifications and interests regarding the Teaching
Assistantship in Adventure Education, please do so in the space below, or use additional pages.
Submit this application form along with your Adventure Education Professional Portfolio to the AE faculty member
who teaches the course of your first priority by the due date described in the Teaching Assistantship information
document.