Topic: Learning Assistants
When: Tuesday, May 25 from 12 - 1 pm
Where: Virtual (sign up for the Zoom link)
The next dB-SERC lunch discussion will take place Tuesday, May 25 from 12 – 1 pm. Dr. Eleanor Close from Texas State University will give a talk titled "Supporting Inclusive Physics Community through a Learning Assistant Program". The abstract is below:
The physics department at Texas State University has implemented a Learning Assistant (LA) program in all sections of our calculus-based introductory physics sequence. Our LA program is structured specifically to create an inclusive community and develop a shared culture of mutual support. Program structures are informed by the theory of Communities of Practice, which describes learning as an ongoing process shaped by participation in overlapping communities. In interviews and written reflections, LAs describe changing their ways of learning and of being students, both within and beyond physics, as a result of their LA experience. In addition, they have a stronger sense of belonging to a supportive and collaborative community of peers, near-peers, and faculty. This positively impacts both retention of majors and recruitment of physics students into teaching careers. In this talk I will describe two related research projects that explore the impact of LA program participation on the LAs’ physics identity and sense of belonging. In one ongoing study, we analyze video data of weekly LA preparation sessions using the theoretical framework of Communities of Practice to understand how LAs’ interactions during these sessions impact their physics identity as enacted in the community. In a related study of intersectional physics identity, physics students with multiple marginalized identities—defined as Women of Color and LGBTQ+ women—shared their unique experiences and reflections on their identity as physicists in semi-structured clinical interviews.
Bio: Dr. Eleanor Close is an Associate Professor of Physics at Texas State University and a physics education researcher. She directs the TXST Physics Learning Assistant Program, co-organizes regional and national workshops through the National Learning Assistant Alliance, and is currently PI of an NSF Noyce Phase I Scholarship project and Co-PI on two NSF HSI projects. Her research interests include physics teacher preparation and professional development, physics teacher identity, situated learning and identity development through communities of practice, and Learning Assistant program impacts on students, LAs, and faculty. She received her Physics M.S. from the University of Washington in 2003 and her Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle Pacific University in 2009. Between receiving her B.A. in Physics from Bryn Mawr College and starting graduate school, she taught high school physics and physical science for three years in rural North Carolina, where she became science department chair by seniority after teaching for five months. In her non-work life, she co-parents three teen/tween children with her husband Dr. Hunter Close, also a physics professor at TXST.
