Classroom and Institutional Change Through
FIU’s Learning Assistant Program
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Thank you
Postdocs
Faculty
Rocio Benabentos
Hagit Kornreich-Leshem
Idaykis Rodriguez
Jianlan Wang
Eric Brewe
David Brookes
Maria Fernandez
Zahra Hazari
Norman Munroe
Geoff Potvin
Graduate Students
Jessica Bartley
Remy Dou
Jackie Doyle
Feng Li
Seth Manthey
Staff
David Jones
Jonathan Mahadeo
Leslie Nisbet
Nick Oehm
Vishodana Thamotharan
Legacy
Daryl McPadden
Binod Nainabasti
Natan Samuels
Eric Williams
Physics LAs
&
Sponsors
Priscilla Pamela
Vashti Sawtelle
Renee Michelle Goertzen
Geraldine Cochran
Adrienne Traxler
NSF AWARD 0802184
NSF AWARD 0833300
HHMI AWARD 52006924
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Goals of the Learning Assistant Model
Teacher Recruitment
& Preparation
Institutional
Change
Discipline-Based
Education Research
r ch
Curriculum and
Course
Transformation
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Traditional
Transformed
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The LA Experience
Practice: Lead Learning Teams
Facilitate discourse in groupworthy activities
Content: Weekly Prep Meeting
Pedagogy: LA Course
Reflect on past week
Questioning strategies
Prepare for next week
Promoting discussions
Work through materials
Formative assessment
Anticipate student ideas; plan
strategies/questions
Learning theories
Weekly teaching reflections
Examine student work
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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
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•  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
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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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Physics Data
red = trad, blue = interactive engagement
<g> = post-pre
!
100-pre!
R. Hake, …A six-thousand-student survey…
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AJP 66, 64-74 (98).!
Differently Compelling Data
FCI Scores Modeling and Lecture
70.0%
Modeling (N=258)
Lecture (N=758)
60.0%
FCI %
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
31.5%
33.1%
Pre
61.9%
47.9%
Post
30.4%
14.8%
Raw Gain
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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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Compelling Data – Success Rates
Lecture
Success Rates - Intro Physics (04-10)
Modeling
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Overall
Female Male
Maj
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UR
College Algebra Impact
FIU College Algebra Passing Rates
80%
60%
NonMastery
50%
Mastery
40%
Online
30%
20%
10%
0%
Sum 05
Fall 05
Spr 06
Sum 06
Fall 06
Spr 07
Sum 07
Fall 07
Spr 08
Sum 08
Fall 08
Spr 09
Sum 09
Fall 09 *
Spr 10
Sum 10
Fall 10
Spr 11
Sum 11
Fall 11
Spr 12
Sum 12
Fall 12**
Spr 13
Sum 13
Fall 13***
Spring 14
Sum 14
% of Students Passing Course
70%
Milestones
* Placement Test
** Full MMC
Adoption
*** Mastery Online
2.0
Semester
Mastery Math lab with LAs
•  33% to 62.5% Passing rate
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Most-Failed Courses for 2012 FTIC Cohort
Finite Math
College
Algebra
% Fail/
DR
743 47%
45%
612
16%
503
ENC 1101
45%
421
Intermed Alg
13%
407
ENC 1102
PreCalc
Algebra
54%
345
First Year
Exper
313
0
8%
"Fail" = less than 'C'/DR
200
400
600
Number of Students Who Failed/DR
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800
2012 FTIC Cohort Who Fail/DR Most-Failed
Courses AND Dropped Out
% Fail/ % Drop
DR
Out
Finite Math
170
47% 23%
College
Algebra
160
45% 26%
45% 38%
159
Intermed Alg
134
ENC 1102
Precalc
Algebra
First Year
Exper
16% 46%
230
ENC 1101
Drop Out
Retained
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"Fail" = less than 'C'/DR
54% 14%
8%
148
0
13% 33%
200
400
600
Number of Students Who Failed/DR
23
800
47%
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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Regional
National
Workshops
Demand for
in Support
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
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Thank you!
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