Ron- I also teach in an occupational therapy program and understand
your issue with having assistants in the class. In my experience, an
assistance can speak with confidence regarding their practice area
which can be intimidating to a student with a "fresher" perspective. If
we push all students to make evidence-based decisions, it puts them
on a more level playing field.
In my classes I set up teams to have similar membership regarding
work and volunteer experiences. It should be an advantage to each
group to have an assistant on the team, but you may have to address
this issue directly explaining why you have set up the teams this way.
Good luck- I'd be interested to hear how it turns out.
Cynthia
