Classroom and Institutional Change Through

FIU’s Learning Assistant Program

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Thank you

HHMI AWARD 52006924 NSF AWARD 0802184

NSF AWARD 0833300

Staff David Jones

Jonathan Mahadeo Leslie Nisbet

Nick Oehm

Vishodana Thamotharan

Postdocs Rocio Benabentos

Hagit Kornreich-Leshem Idaykis Rodriguez

Jianlan Wang

Faculty Eric Brewe Zahra Hazari

David Brookes Norman Munroe Maria Fernandez Geoff Potvin

Graduate Students Jessica Bartley Daryl McPadden

Remy Dou Binod Nainabasti Jackie Doyle Natan Samuels

Feng Li Eric Williams

Seth Manthey

Legacy Priscilla Pamela

Vashti Sawtelle Renee Michelle Goertzen

Geraldine Cochran

Adrienne Traxler

Physics LAs &

Sponsors

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Teacher Recruitment

& Preparation

Curriculum and

Course

Transformation

Institutional

Change Discipline-Based Education Research rrcch h

Goals of the Learning Assistant Model

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Traditional Transformed

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Content: Weekly Prep Meeting

Reflect on past week

Prepare for next week

Work through materials

Anticipate student ideas; plan

strategies/questions

Examine student work

Practice: Lead Learning Teams Facilitate discourse in group-

worthy activities

Pedagogy: LA Course

Questioning strategies

Promoting discussions

Formative assessment

Learning theories

Weekly teaching reflections

The LA Experience

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Evolution of FIU’s LA Program

•  Fall 2014 semester: •  168 LAs

•  98 course sections •  6,278 students impacted

•  Mostly FIU funded / several targeted grants 6

•  Quick Introductions

– What are your goals?

(why are you here?)

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FIU: The Institution

•  Public, Urban, Research University in Miami

•  Founded in 1965 / First students Fall 1972

•  52,980 students Fall 2013 / going to 62,000 by ~2020

–  800 faculty hires planned for expansion

•  Diverse population

•  10,704 STEM Majors

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FIU’s LA Program

•  Institutional Change Model

–  Experiential Program for Undergraduates:

•  Recruit for teaching careers / education advocacy for all / students flip faculty

–  Embedded Faculty Development Program:

•  Must reform to get LAs / Drives faculty change

–  Designed: University of Colorado Boulder / PhysTEC project brought to FIU

•  Implementation (start)

–  Physics (2008)

•  Reformed all introductory labs / Modeling critical role

–  Mathematics (2009)

•  Algebra and beyond: Supplemental / In-class / Varied

–  Chemistry (2009): Lecture and Lab

–  Earth Science (2010): helped new TUES project

–  Biology (2011): spreading / PLTL integration…

–  Engineering & Computing (2011): taking off…

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LA Variations

•  Improve any active learning practice

–  Eyes & ears: feedback mechanism

–  Authentic & automatic path to integrate culture into classroom

•  Labs

–  Guided inquiry labs / focus on learning / not cookbook

•  Lectures

–  Facilitate activities / clicker questions / poll local group / not lecture

–  Flipped classroom

•  Studio & Integrated Lab & Lecture

–  Modeling / ISLE / Scale Up / …

•  Supplemental

–  Outside class / Socratic engagement / ease vs. participation

•  Implement externally developed curriculum

–  Focus on implementation / heavy lifting done

–  LAs are critical 10

FIU’s Science Teacher Preparation System

•  Teacher Preparation begins in science classes

–  Modeling / ISLE (path for 94% of LAs committing to teacher pgms)

–  Introductory Labs: OST and ISLE

•  Collaborative across Arts & Sciences and Education

–  Early field experiences, strive to develop PCK throughout

•  Disciplinary BA/BS degrees plus teaching certification

–  120 credit programs

•  Explicit recruiting model

–  Identifies students in introductory science classes

–  Learning Assistant (LA) program

–  FIUteach: STEP 1 / STEP 2

•  New programs / state certification in Oct 2010

–  Former Secondary Education programs closed: budget cuts

•  FIUteach awarded January 2014: aligning to UTeach model

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Challenges /

Opportunities

Along the way…

–  FIU becomes largest LA program

–  Provost commits to large active rooms (opened F14)

–  President created Mathematics Mastery Lab

•  1,800 College Algebra students / semester

•  Emporia Model + LAs

•  >30% increase in pass rate / no longer predictor of leaving

–  Gateways to Completion (g2c) participation

–  Florida institutes performance metrics for Universities

(includes STEM)

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Engaging Administration

•  What are their needs? – Strategic Plan

– State / institutional metrics •  Passing rates / retention / degree completion …

– Distinction among peer institutions

•  Role of data

•  What does their day look like?

•  Who solves their problems?

•  What resources are at their disposal?

•  Administrative ownership

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Data collection to win friends and

influence people

•  We should all be collecting data right?

– Scientific practice

– Document success

–  Identify areas for further development

–  Institutional support

– Financial support

– Research

– Evaluation

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<g> = post-pre

! 100-pre!

red = trad, blue = interactive engagement

R. Hake, …A six-thousand-student survey…

AJP 66, 64-74 ( 98).!

Physics Data

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Differently Compelling Data

FCI Scores Modeling and Lecture

61.9%31.5% 30.4%33.1% 47.9% 14.8%0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Pre Post Raw Gain

FC

I %

Modeling (N=258)

Lecture (N=758)

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Compelling Data - Attitudes •  Positive attitudinal shifts in

Introductory Physics, across

multiple instructors and multiple sections.

•  First to document positive shifts in Introductory

Physics.

•  Student conceptual understanding gains of double

lecture classes

•  Students passing at 91% vs. 52% for lecture classes.

•  Expanding to large enrollment sections currently.

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Overall Female Male Maj UR

Success Rates - Intro Physics (04-10) Lecture

Modeling

Compelling Data – Success Rates

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College Algebra Impact

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Sum

05

Fall 0

5

Spr

06

Sum

06

Fall 0

6

Spr

07

Sum

07

Fall 0

7

Spr

08

Sum

08

Fall 0

8

Spr

09

Sum

09

Fall 0

9 *

Spr

10

Sum

10

Fall 1

0

Spr

11

Sum

11

Fall 1

1

Spr

12

Sum

12

Fall 1

2**

Spr

13

Sum

13

Fall 1

3***

Spring 1

4

Sum

14 %

of

Stu

den

ts P

assin

g C

ou

rse

Semester

FIU College Algebra Passing Rates

NonMastery

Mastery

Online

Milestones

* Placement Test

** Full MMC

Adoption

*** Mastery Online

2.0

Mastery Math lab with LAs •  33% to 62.5% Passing rate

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313

345

407

421

503

612

743

0 200 400 600 800

First Year Exper

PreCalc Algebra

ENC 1102

Intermed Alg

ENC 1101

College Algebra

Finite Math

Number of Students Who Failed/DR

Most-Failed Courses for 2012 FTIC Cohort

"Fail" = less than 'C'/DR

% Fail/

DR

47%

45%

16%

45%

13%

54%

8%

22

148

49

134

159

230

160

170

0 200 400 600 800

First Year Exper

Precalc Algebra

ENC 1102

Intermed Alg

ENC 1101

College Algebra

Finite Math

Number of Students Who Failed/DR

2012 FTIC Cohort Who Fail/DR Most-Failed

Courses AND Dropped Out

Drop Out

Retained

"Fail" = less than 'C'/DR

% Fail/DR

47%

45%

16%

45%

13%

54%

8%

% Drop Out

23%

26%

46%

38%

33%

14%

47%

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Todo List

•  Recruit / hire LAs

•  Recruit / prepare faculty

•  Curricula: LA seminar + courses

•  Fund LAs

•  Convince people that LAs are good (convince

yourself?)

–  What measures?

•  Administrivia

•  University Administrators

•  Adapt to crises

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Complex System

•  Creating buy in / ownership

•  Working with faculty “customers”

•  Working with administrators

•  Working with faculty across departments

•  Finding resources / collaboration on campus

•  Messaging campaigns

•  Funding: internal / external

•  Who are those foundation people?

•  External resources? Who can you lean on?

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LA Alliance

•  National Network of LA Programs

– Research mission

– Resource sharing (free stuff!)

•  Pedagogy course / discipline courses

•  Promising practices

•  Hints and tips

– Build a broad coalition

–  Leverage funding

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National Demand for Support Regional Workshops in 2014-2015 http://www.learningassistantalliance.org

2015 2014

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LA Model

•  Undergraduates facilitating learning

–  Drive course reform

–  Recruitment for teaching certifications

•  Faculty adopting active-learning into course

•  Data: evidence on impact / justification / research

•  Institutional change model

•  Heavy lifting provided by collaboration

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FIU STEM Education Strategies

•  Long term focus: persistence

•  Linking / collaborating / leveraging

–  Internal + external / agents + policy

•  Stakeholders are humans

•  Research is core driver

•  Improve institutional metrics

•  Partnerships

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FIU Administrative Commitment

•  Majority of LA funding institutional (~2010)

•  Mastery Math Lab (2012)

•  STEM Transformation Institute (2013)

–  Space / hires / support

•  Active Learning Classrooms (2014)

–  Provost “to prevent faculty from lecturing”

–  Fall 2014: 96 + 48

–  Spring 2015: 8 x 50 (or larger)

•  Hosted OSTP Workshop (last week)

•  Science Advisor Holdren visit (last week)

!  STEM education core institutional mission at FIU 30

Thank you!

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