Extreme Learning Assistants: The Impact of an Authentic Teaching Experience on Undergraduate Physics Majors

Abstract

UNCG has an innovative Learning Assistant (LA) program, in which upper-class undergraduate physics majors teach laboratory sections of the introductory calculus-based physics sequence. The lecture section's professor provides supervision and determines the overall learning objectives and structure of the labs, but the team of LAs develop the detailed lesson plans, write up all handouts and quizzes, conduct the lab sessions, and evaluate student work. This gives the LAs a genuine voice in planning and teaching, and increases the authenticity of the teaching experience. In order to investigate the impact of this teaching experience upon physics majors, we interviewed five current and former LAs. We analyzed the interview transcripts via emergent thematic analysis to identify the most prevalent impacts, and then viewed the results through the lens of professional identity development. We claim that the LA experience helps grow three aspects of physics majors' professional identity: their sense of themselves as a physics teacher, as a physics student, and as a member of a community of practice.

Modeling student pathways in a physics bachelor’s degree program

“…While a substantial amount of work has investigated students leaving STEM, there has been less work that has focused on leaving physics, specifically. The work that has been done supports the broader work in STEM and has identified better performance [8], use of teaching reformations [10,22,23,31], and increased interest [24] as all having had positive effects on the retention of physics majors. Aiken and Caballero [8] found that students' performance in introductory physics and calculus courses and when these students take these courses was important to completing a physics degree [8].…”

“…Additionally, increased retention has been linked to reformations in teaching and learning [11,17,21]. Physics Education Research (PER) has also explored this topic finding similar results [8,10,[22][23][24]. This section summarizes the literature that has explored these themes.…”

“…In other work, physics majors were at least as likely to graduate with a physics degree who had been in reformed introductory courses as those taking traditionally taught courses [10]. Interviews with physics majors who were also Learning Assistants [31] have suggested that participating in a Learning Assistant program increased physics major retention [22,23]. Students who become physics majors were also more likely to have expert-like beliefs as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) [32] when they entered the university [24].…”

Extreme Learning Assistants: Students' Perceptions of Their Undergraduate Laboratory Instructors

“…The questionnaire consisted of seven Likert-type scales soliciting agreement or disagreement with various statements about the lab instructors' efficacy, and an open-ended response box inviting "any additional thoughts or comments about the lab instructors." For all seven scales, students were asked to select "strongly disagree" (1), "disagree", (2), "neutral" (3), "agree" (4), or "strongly agree" (5).…”

“…It has been designed to provide participants with as authentic a teaching experience as possible, in the hopes that this will increase their understanding of and interest in a possible teaching career. (A companion paper in this proceedings volume explores the impact of the program upon LA participants [5]. )…”