[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Preparing and Supporting University Physics Educators.] In this study, we analyze the experience of students in the Physics Learning Assistant (LA) program at Texas State University in terms of the existing theoretical frameworks of community of practice and physics identity, and explore the implications suggested by these theories for LA program adoption and adaptation. Regression models from physics identity studies show that the physics identity construct strongly predicts intended choice of a career in physics. The goal of our current project is to understand the details of the impacts of participation in the LA experience on participants' practice and selfconcept, in order to identify critical elements of LA program structure that positively influence physics identity and physics career intentions for students. Our analysis suggests that participation in the LA program impacts LAs in ways that support both stronger "physics student" identity and stronger "physics instructor" identity, and that these identities are reconciled into a coherent integrated physics identity. Increased comfort in interactions with peers, near peers, and faculty seems to be an important component of this identity development and reconciliation, suggesting that a focus on supporting community membership is useful for effective program design.

Historically, research on "underrepresented" students in physics is conducted primarily at Predominately White Institutions and has focused on two separate identities: gender or race. Because of this, the unique intersections experienced by Women of Color (WoC) has been largely ignored. In addition, research on the experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Queer (LGBTQ+) physicists in a collegiate setting is virtually non-existent. This paper will present common themes in the idea of who does physics through the lens of WoC and female LGBTQ+ physicists currently or recently enrolled in a Physics Program at a large Hispanic Serving Institution. Participants engaged in semi-structured interviews and were asked questions about their perceptions of their physics environments, available support systems, and how they described a physicist. The analysis employs the theory of Intersectionality and examines the narratives through a critical race and queer lens to fully understand the lived experiences of our participants.

Abstract. The physics department at Texas State University is developing a Learning Assistant (LA) program with reform-based instructional changes in our introductory course sequences. We are interested in how participation in the LA program influences LAs' identity both as physics students and as physics teachers; in particular, how being part of the LA community changes participants' self-concepts and their day-to-day practice. We analyze written artifacts from program applications, reflections, and evaluations; our analysis of self-concepts is informed by the identity framework developed by Hazari and colleagues [1,2] and our analysis of practice is informed by Lave and Wenger's theory of Communities of Practice [3,4]. Preliminary experience suggests that engagement in the collaborative physics education community elements of the LA program blurs the distinction between learner and teacher practice and increases LAs' engagement in negotiation of meaning in both contexts.

Abstract. The physics department at Texas State University has completed five semesters with a Learning Assistant (LA) program and reform-based instructional changes in our introductory course sequences. We are interested in how participation in the LA program influences LAs' identity both as physics students and as physics teachers; we have previously reported trends in increased community involvement and a shift in experienced LAs' concepts of what it means to be competent. Our interview data now include first-semester LAs, and we see a significant difference in physics identity development between these LAs and those with more experience. LAs near the end of their first semester seem to be experiencing a state of unease with respect to teaching and learning. We explain this discomfort in terms of Piagetian disequilibrium: their conceptions of competence in teaching and learning have been challenged, and they have not yet constructed a new model.