Learner Experience Advocacy Program (LEAP)
In the Learner Experience Advocacy Program, undergraduate students learn about course feedback strategies and partner with participating instructors to observe and share feedback on course design and delivery. The goals of the program are to meaningfully improve the learner experience at UAF, build community among instructor and student leaders, and provide professional development to students and instructors alike.
LEAP 2025 – Fall
Instructor Application
Outcomes
- Receive feedback on course design from trained students
- Dialogue with student advocate about design and revision decisions
- Revise a course
Eligibility
This program is open to instructors teaching asynchronous online courses (no set meeting times). Hybrid courses are considered on a case-by-case basis. Undergraduate courses only, and preference is given to 100 and 200-level courses.
Student Application
Outcomes
- Work with instructors to make online courses at UAF more student-friendly
- Develop written and verbal feedback skills
Eligibility
2.0 minimum GPA requirement. Students must already have taken at least 12 credits at UAF prior to applying, and must be enrolled in at least 6 credits for the Fall semester.
I value getting the student perspective above all else in this program because this is something that is difficult for instructors, especially as the years go by (and we are more removed from our time as students). Both students provided me with great ideas. I have made several changes to my class already and will continue to implement their ideas as I move forward.
Jen Peterson, Department Chair & Associate Professor of Psychology
Participating in the LEAP program was an absolute joy. […] The LEAP modules targeted the aspects of pedagogy and course design that in my own experience (as well as reading of some of the literature) are the most critical for effectively facilitating learning, but are also perhaps the most different from how teaching was modeled to me in my own college experience.
Mareca Guthrie, Associate Professor of Art
STUDENT ADVOCATES
Student Advocates can expect to spend 3-4 hours per week on the program after an intensive week of training. Advocates receive a $1500 scholarship upon completion of the program. Returning students receive a $2000 scholarship.
- Students observe and provide feedback to two online courses.
- All participating courses are based online; students are not expected to attend synchronous class sessions.
- Students complete feedback packets before each conference to guide observations and discussion.
- Students and faculty meet every other week in 30-minute conferences via Zoom
- Courses have either one or two Student Advocates – new students to LEAP are partnered with experienced ones for training purposes.
- An instructional designer attends all student-instructor conferences.
INSTRUCTOR PARTNERS
Participating instructors get targeted, high-quality feedback on their course design and teaching, while building community with colleagues and students alike. The time commitment is about 8 hours of meetings spread out over the course of the semester.
- Faculty will receive a feedback packet from their Student Advocates before each meeting, which guides student observations for the week and is a jumping-off point for discussion.
- Students and faculty meet every other week in 30-minute conferences via Zoom.
- Courses have either one or two Student Advocates – new students to LEAP are partnered with experienced ones for training purposes.
- An instructional designer attends all student-instructor conferences and serves as a semester-long resource for course design questions.
- Faculty receive a Final Feedback Packet from their student partners, which faculty may elect to add to their tenure and promotion file. Alternatively, faculty may request certificates and/or letters of support from program facilitators. Course feedback is a private conversation between instructors, their student advocates, and program facilitators who review student work and attend biweekly conferences. No course feedback will be shared outside these relationships unless it is shared by the faculty member themselves.
