1. Kara Gray & Valerie Otero University of Colorado Boulder Analysis of Former Learning Assistants’ Views of Cooperative Learning C1. Role implicit in the classroom arrangement Category I Pitfalls of Group work A. Holding Students Accountable B. Individual Understanding Category II Purposes of Group work C. Advanced Teach the Struggling C2. Role is explicit to students D. Builds a learning community E. Builds skills F. Necessitated by equipment G. Students help each other Category III Teacher’s Attitudes H. Teacher uncomfortable with some aspect of group work Categories and Codes LA1X0XXXX0X0 LA2XXXXXX0X0 LA3X000000X0 LA4X0X000000 LA5XX000X0X0 NonLA1 X000000X0 NonLA2 XX0X00XXX NonLA3 X0XX0XXX0 NonLA4 X0XX00XX0 NonLA5 XX000X0XX C1. Role implicit in the classroom arrangement A. Holding Students AccountableB. Individual Understanding C2. Role is explicit to students D. Builds a learning community E. Builds skillsF. Necessitated by equipment G. Students help each other H. Teacher uncomfortable with some aspect of group work TeacherGenderH.S./M.S.SubjectBaselineObserv1Observ2Observ3 LA1Female H.S.Earth SciXXXX LA2Female H.S.9th gr SciXXXX LA3Female H.S.BiologyXXX LA4Female H.S.BiologyXXX LA5Male M.S.Life SciXXX NonLA1Male H.S.Phys SciXXXX NonLA2Female H.S.Earth SciXXX NonLA3Female H.S.ChemstryXXXX NonLA4Male H.S.Phys SciXXXX NonLA5Female H.S.ChemistryXXXX Participants 10 First year science teachers Control teachers are matched to former LAs Teachers are interviewed 4 times over the semester Baseline interview 3 interviews following classroom observations Research Question Do former LAs differ from a group of similar novice teachers in their use of and views toward cooperative learning or group work? Cooperative Learning + SharedGoals = CooperativeLearning Creating this type of environment is not intuitive for most teachers They must be taught why this is important and how to make it happen. The LA Experience Goals of the STEM Colorado Learning Assistant Program LA Program 1.To recruit and prepare talented math and science majors for careers in teaching, 2. To improve the quality of math and science education for all undergraduates, 3. To engage math and science faculty in the recruitment and preparation of future teachers and in the transformation of undergraduate courses, and 4. To transform cultures within the university math and science departments to value research-based teaching as a legitimate endeavor for ourselves and our students. Practice: LAs lead learning teams Pedagogy: education seminar Content: Planning sessions with course instructor LAs- undergraduates hired to assist in reformed introductory STEM courses Implemented in 9 math, science, and engineering departments Replicated at 6 colleges and universities Approximately 15% of LAs enroll in a teacher certification program Analysis All first year science teachers interviewed expressed concern over holding students accountable during group work LAs are more likely to talk about building a learning community NonLAs are more likely to see group work as necessitated by a lack of equipment NonLAs are more likely to express discomfort with using group work While both LAs and NonLAs will at times use more advanced students to help struggling students, only LAs talked about coaching their students in how to help each other. While both LAs and NonLAs see group work as building important skills, only LAs mentioned improving argumentation skills. Future Work We intend to Expand this analysis to first year math teachers Analyze interviews from future years of teaching to see how teachers’ views have changed over time Investigate other differences between LAs and NonLAs (e.g. their views of assessment and their self-efficacy Acknowledgements We would like to thank the current and former members of the LA-TEST K-12 research team for their help in the interviewing and coding: David Webb, Erin Allaman, Jeff Frykholm, Kim Geil, Danielle Harlow, Steve Iona, Heidi Iverson, May Lee, Michael Matassa, Deb Morrison, Mike Ross, Bud Talbot. Enrollment of Chemistry and Physics majors in the teacher certification program has risen dramatically since the LA program started. Ave enrollment per year (Chem/BioChem majors) 0 1 2 3 4 pre LA program (2000 - 2005) post launch of LA program in Chem (2006-2009) Ave # enrolled per year Average enrollment per year (Phys/Astr majors) 0 1 2 3 4 pre LA program (2000-2003) post launch of LA program in Phys (2004-2009) Ave # enrolled per year The quantity of teachers has increased what about the quality of their teaching? Previous Research