Using Learning Assistants to Make Physics Teaching More Effective, Equitable, and Engaging

使用学习助手使物理教学更有效、更公平、更有吸引力

• 批准号: 2235744
• 负责人: Rachel Scherr
• 金额: $ 11.12万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2235744&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Using; Learning; Assistants; Make; Physics

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving teaching and learning in large introductory physics courses. This collaborative project involves investigators at Seattle Pacific University (Award DUE-2235760), the University of Washington Bothell (Award DUE-2235744), and Western Washington University (subaward). Introductory physics courses are important for STEM education and workforce preparation. Active, student-centered instruction results in better student learning. However, in large classes, it can be difficult for instructors to provide this kind of instruction effectively. Learning Assistants (LAs) can help instructors make their courses more active and student-centered if the LAs are prepared to respond to students' diverse ideas about science. LAs need both weekly content preparation and a pedagogy course to teach them the main theories and practices in teaching and learning. There are many LA programs. They have been shown to support active learning, but they do not necessarily prepare LAs to respond to students' diverse science ideas. This project will develop a model for training LAs to effectively elicit and build on students' science ideas. LAs trained in this way will promote equity by helping students learn physics better and connect physics to their life experiences.Introductory physics courses are often required for a broad range of STEM majors. These courses are ideal environments for leveraging the benefits that LAs can offer, because the courses are typically large and need LA support for active learning, and the course enrollment typically reflects significant underrepresentation of marginalized groups. Towards the goal of improving LA professional development the project will pursue three objectives. First, is to investigate the fruitful ideas that LAs use to think about teaching and learning, and communicate these through a set of LA "personas" that characterize the common assets, goals, concerns, and values that LAs have for teaching. Second, is to develop and test effective instructional materials for LA pedagogy courses (e.g., reading assignments, reflection prompts, in-class activities, projects). Third, and finally, is to amplify diverse LA voices by recruiting and supporting LAs from diverse backgrounds to participate in the LA programs that the project develops and studies. The investigators refer to their enhanced approach to LA training as "TRELLIS: Training to Elicit and Leverage Ideas about Science," based on the notion that the knowledge, skills, and perspectives that this kind of training promotes become a "trellis" that enables LAs to support physics students' fruitful ideas about science. The physics-specific pedagogical preparation that this project will develop will be immediately relevant to many LA programs nationwide and should serve as a model for extension to other disciplinary contexts. The NSF IUSE: EDU program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在通过改善大型入门物理课程的教学和学习来服务于国家利益。该合作项目涉及西雅图太平洋大学（Award DUE-2235760）、华盛顿博瑟尔大学（Award DUE-2235744）和西华盛顿大学（subaward）的研究人员。介绍性物理课程对于STEM教育和劳动力准备非常重要。积极的，以学生为中心的教学结果更好的学生学习。然而，在大班中，教师很难有效地提供这种指导。学习助理（LA）可以帮助教师使他们的课程更加活跃和以学生为中心，如果LA准备回应学生对科学的不同想法。地方助理需要每周的内容准备和教学法课程，以教授他们教学和学习的主要理论和实践。有很多LA项目。他们已经被证明支持主动学习，但他们不一定准备LA响应学生的不同科学思想。本计画将发展一个训练学习助理的模式，以有效地引发并建立学生的科学观念。以这种方式培训的LAs将通过帮助学生更好地学习物理并将物理与他们的生活经验联系起来来促进公平。这些课程是利用LA可以提供的好处的理想环境，因为这些课程通常很大，需要LA支持主动学习，并且课程注册通常反映了边缘化群体的代表性显着不足。为了实现改善法律事务专业发展的目标，该项目将追求三个目标。首先，是调查的富有成效的想法，洛杉矶使用思考教学和学习，并通过一组洛杉矶的“人物”，表征的共同资产，目标，关注和价值观，洛杉矶有教学沟通这些。第二，是为LA教学法课程开发和测试有效的教学材料（例如，阅读作业、反思提示、课堂活动、专题）。第三，也是最后一点，是通过招募和支持来自不同背景的洛杉矶人参与该项目开发和研究的洛杉矶项目，来扩大洛杉矶的不同声音。研究人员将他们对LA培训的增强方法称为“TRELLIS：启发和利用科学思想的培训”，其基础是这种培训促进的知识，技能和观点成为一个“格子”，使LA能够支持物理学生关于科学的富有成效的想法。该项目将开发的物理特定的教学准备将立即与全国范围内的许多LA计划相关，并应作为扩展到其他学科背景的模式。NSF IUSE：EDU计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。