Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics

Despite the growing presence of students as partners (SAP) in education research and the overlap of goals with learning assistant (LA) programs, there is little research done on pedagogy- and curriculum-focused student partnerships that involve LAs. LAs have expertise as both teachers and learners,...

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Autores principales:	Paul C. Hamerski, Paul W. Irving, Daryl McPadden
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Physical Society 2021
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f7ab023787924591ae3faa3540fd876f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f7ab023787924591ae3faa3540fd876f2021-12-02T16:38:22ZLearning assistants as student partners in introductory physics10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.0201072469-9896https://doaj.org/article/f7ab023787924591ae3faa3540fd876f2021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttp://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.020107http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.020107https://doaj.org/toc/2469-9896Despite the growing presence of students as partners (SAP) in education research and the overlap of goals with learning assistant (LA) programs, there is little research done on pedagogy- and curriculum-focused student partnerships that involve LAs. LAs have expertise as both teachers and learners, so why not leverage this expertise to improve the underlying structure and teaching philosophy of future offerings of a course? We intend to investigate this idea in the case of a flipped, introductory physics course at Michigan State University by conceptualizing its LA program as a model for enacting SAP using the communities of practice (COP) framework. Using an interpretivist case study approach, we found in this environment that (i) the LAs experienced a learning trajectory within P-Cubed that resembled attainment of central membership in a COP, (ii) the development of a specific practice among LAs resembled the evolution of practice in a community of practice, and (3) LAs have a strong level of influence over decision making on curriculum and pedagogy in P-Cubed in a way that is indicative of authentic student partnership. This input is particularly important for a specific type of partnership: curriculum design and pedagogic consultancy, which requires significant participation and say so from LAs. Reconceiving LA programs as student partnerships opens a path to incorporate students into and reinforce sustainable curriculum change.Paul C. HamerskiPaul W. IrvingDaryl McPaddenAmerican Physical SocietyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691PhysicsQC1-999ENPhysical Review Physics Education Research, Vol 17, Iss 2, p 020107 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999 Paul C. Hamerski Paul W. Irving Daryl McPadden Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
description	Despite the growing presence of students as partners (SAP) in education research and the overlap of goals with learning assistant (LA) programs, there is little research done on pedagogy- and curriculum-focused student partnerships that involve LAs. LAs have expertise as both teachers and learners, so why not leverage this expertise to improve the underlying structure and teaching philosophy of future offerings of a course? We intend to investigate this idea in the case of a flipped, introductory physics course at Michigan State University by conceptualizing its LA program as a model for enacting SAP using the communities of practice (COP) framework. Using an interpretivist case study approach, we found in this environment that (i) the LAs experienced a learning trajectory within P-Cubed that resembled attainment of central membership in a COP, (ii) the development of a specific practice among LAs resembled the evolution of practice in a community of practice, and (3) LAs have a strong level of influence over decision making on curriculum and pedagogy in P-Cubed in a way that is indicative of authentic student partnership. This input is particularly important for a specific type of partnership: curriculum design and pedagogic consultancy, which requires significant participation and say so from LAs. Reconceiving LA programs as student partnerships opens a path to incorporate students into and reinforce sustainable curriculum change.
format	article
author	Paul C. Hamerski Paul W. Irving Daryl McPadden
author_facet	Paul C. Hamerski Paul W. Irving Daryl McPadden
author_sort	Paul C. Hamerski
title	Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
title_short	Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
title_full	Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
title_fullStr	Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
title_full_unstemmed	Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
title_sort	learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics
publisher	American Physical Society
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/f7ab023787924591ae3faa3540fd876f
work_keys_str_mv	AT paulchamerski learningassistantsasstudentpartnersinintroductoryphysics AT paulwirving learningassistantsasstudentpartnersinintroductoryphysics AT darylmcpadden learningassistantsasstudentpartnersinintroductoryphysics
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Learning assistants as student partners in introductory physics

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