Identifying and building on learning assistants’ resources for taking up constructivism-aligned teaching practices
Engblom, Samuel Walter
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129486
Description
Title
Identifying and building on learning assistants’ resources for taking up constructivism-aligned teaching practices
Author(s)
Engblom, Samuel Walter
Issue Date
2025-01-21
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Kuo, Eric
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Stelzer, Tim
Committee Member(s)
Lewis, Colleen
Chemla, Yann
Department of Study
Physics
Discipline
Physics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Physics Education Research
Physics Education
Physics Pedagogy
Learning Assistants
Constructivism
Beliefs about teaching
Pedagogical knowledge
Abstract
In this thesis, I make the case for viewing undergraduate learning assistants (LAs) as resourceful teachers with rich prior experiences, beliefs, strategies, and values on which they draw when teaching. We begin by theorizing that the ways in which LAs draw upon these resources can lead LAs to enact effective teaching practices that align with constructivist views of knowledge. To make this case, I begin by analyzing the instructional practices of a LA teaching in introductory physics whose prior experiences and beliefs serve to ground her teaching practices and teach in ways that are sensitive to the affect and sense of belonging of her students. I then present the results of a multi-institutional collaboration to identify and report the prevalences of LA resources that are aligned with constructivist teaching practices, specifically practices of attending to and taking up student ideas during instruction. After having identified these resources, I carried out a course reform to the LA pedagogy course designed to help LAs engage with and build upon their existing resources for teaching towards instructional practices aligned with constructivism in the context of reformed physics lab instruction. These studies add to the growing body of research documenting the teaching expertise that many LAs exhibit.
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