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1. Learning Assistant Supported Student Outcomes (LASSO) study initial findings

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2015.pr.081  

   Van Dusen, Ben ; Langdon, Laurie ; Otero, Valerie K. ( December 2015 , Proc. 2015 Physics Education Research Conference)

   This study investigates how faculty, student, and course features are linked to student outcomes in Learning Assistant (LA) supported courses. Over 4,500 students and 17 instructors from 13 LA Alliance member institutions participated in the study. Each participating student completed an online concept inventory at the start (pre) and end (post) of their term. The physics concept inventories included Force and Motion Concept Evaluation (FMCE) and the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA). Concepts inventories from the fields of biology and chemistry were also included. Our analyses utilize hierarchical linear models that nest student level data (e.g. pre/post scores and gender) within course level data (e.g. discipline and course enrollment) to build models that examine student outcomes across institutions and disciplines. We report findings on the connections between students' outcomes and their gender, race, and time spent working with LAs as well as instructors' experiences with LAs. 

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2. The Impact of Learning Assistants on Inequities in Physics Student Outcomes

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2016.pr.085  

   Van Dusen, Ben ; White, Jada-Simone S. ; Roualdes, Edward A. ( December 2016 , Proc. 2016 Physics Education Research Conference)

   This study investigates how Learning Assistants (LAs) and related course features are associated with inequities in student learning in introductory university physics courses. 2,868 physics students’ paired pre- and post-test scores on concept inventories from 67 classes in 16 LA Alliance member institutions are examined in this investigation. The concept inventories included the Force Concept Inventory, Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation, and the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism. Our analyses include a multiple linear regression model that examines the impact of student (e.g. gender and race) and course level variables (e.g. presence of LAs and Concept Inventory used) on student learning outcomes (Cohen’s d effect size) across classroom contexts. The presence of LAs was found to either remove or invert the traditional learning gaps between students from dominant and non-dominant populations. Significant differences in student performance were also found across the concept inventories. 

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3. In-class vs. Online Administration of Concept Inventories and Attitudinal Assessments

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2016.pr.039  

   Jariwala, Manher ; White, Jada-Simone S. ; Van Dusen, Ben ; Close, Eleanor W. ( December 2016 , Proc. 2016 Physics Education Research Conference)

   This study investigates differences in student responses to in-class and online administrations of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Close to 700 physics students from 12 sections of three different courses were instructed to complete the concept inventory relevant to their course, either the FCI or CSEM, and the CLASS. Each student was randomly assigned to take one of the surveys in class and the other survey online using the LA Supported Student Outcomes (LASSO) system hosted by the Learning Assistant Alliance (LAA). We examine how testing environments and instructor practices affect participation rates and identify best practices for future use. 

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4. Student Outcomes Across Collaborative-Learning Environments

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2018.pr.Herrera  

   Herrera, Xochith ; Nissen, Jayson M. ; Van Dusen, Ben ( January 2019 , Proc. 2018 Physics Education Research Conference)

   The Learning Assistant (LA) model supports instructors in implementing research-based teaching practices in their own courses. In the LA model undergraduate students are hired to help facilitate research-based collaborative-learning activities. Using the Learning About STEM Student Out- comes (LASSO) database, we examined student learning from 112 first-semester physics courses that used either lecture-based instruction, collaborative instruction without LAs, or LA supported instruction. We measured student learning using 5959 students’ responses on the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE) or Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Results from Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) indicated that LA supported courses had higher posttest scores than collaborative courses without LAs and that LA supported courses that used LAs in laboratory and recitation had higher posttest scores than those that used LAs in lecture. 

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5. Systemic inequities in introductory physics courses: the impacts of learning assistants

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2017.pr.095  

   Van Dusen, Ben ; Nissen, Jayson M. ( January 2018 , Proc. 2017 Physics Education Research Conference)

   Creating equitable performance outcomes among students is a focus of many instructors and researchers. One focus of this effort is examining disparities in physics student performance across genders, which is a well-established problem. Another less common focus is disparities across racial and ethnic groups, which may have received less attention due to low representation rates making it difficult to identify gaps in their performance. In this investigation we examined associations between Learning Assistant (LA) supported courses and improved equity in student performance. We built Hierarchical Linear Models of student performance to investigate how performance differed by gender and by race/ethnicity and how LAs may have moderated those differences. Data for the analysis came from pre-post concept inventories in introductory mechanics courses collected through the Learning About STEM Student Outcomes (LASSO) platform. Our models show that gaps in performance across genders and races/ethnicities were similar in size and increased from pre to post instruction. LA-support is meaningfully and reliably associated with improvement in overall student performance but not with shifts in within-course performance gaps. 

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