Development of Integrated Physics Identity in a Learning Assistant Program

The physics department at Texas State University has a relatively new Learning Assistant (LA) program along with reform-based instructional changes in our introductory course sequences. We are interested in how participation in the LA program influences LAs' identity both as physics students and as physics teachers; in particular, how being part of the LA community changes participants' self-concepts and their day-to-day practice. Our analysis of self-concepts is informed by the physics identity framework developed by Hazari et al. (2010), who found that physics identity predicts intended choice of career in physical science; our analysis of practice is informed by Lave and Wenger's theory of Communities of Practice (1991, 1998). Themes emerging from our data include self-perception of increased competence in communication as well as in physics learning and teaching; increased enjoyment of participation in physics activities; and a new sense that being wrong is a healthy part of the process of learning physics.