Physics (Internal)

Improving undergraduate instruction and teacher preparation through the use of Learning Assistants

This event is part of the PER Seminar Series.

Undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) help faculty make changes to their courses by encouraging active engagement. Through their work with students along with a special pedagogy course, LAs establish empathy for their peers as they learn the content of the course, and they help them navigate large amounts of course material and motivate students to persist. Through this process, students, their professors, and the LAs become more attuned to research-based strategies for teaching math, science, and engineering and to the complexities of building equitable learning environments that lead to student success. This sets the stage for better-prepared STEM teachers and for STEM majors to find their way to teacher certification programs. In addition, the presence of LAs in courses leads to better learning outcomes, decreased failure rates, and improved outcomes for students from groups traditionally underrepresented in physics. A brief history of STEM education in the U.S. will be discussed along with the role of university STEM departments in preparing future teachers. The LA program will be described and program outcomes will be discussed. Conjectures about the mechanisms that are effecting change will also be presented.