Members

I am the LA Program Director at Montgomery College (MC), a three-campus two-year college located outside of Washington, D.C. in nearby Montgomery County Maryland.  I am proud of Montgomery College’s diversity - we are the most diverse two-year college in the continental United States.  The MC LA program features LAs from all over the world and I foster empowerment and inclusion for the LAs as well as for the students they support.  Before starting the MC LA program, I was a chemistry professor at the college, specializing in active learning and technology in the classroom.  I changed hats from chemistry to starting the MC LA program as I sought a creative way to weave caregiving for my parents together with supporting students at the college. 

LA Program Experiences

I direct the LA program, teach the LA pedagogy course, select and hire LAs, recruit faculty and courses for LA use, and work with faculty to implement LAs in their courses. I've also conducted research on LA use, worked with faculty to conduct research on their LA use, started an LA program (institutional level), worked with administrators to grow/sustain the LA program, formed partnerships with other institutions around LAs, encouraged other two-year colleges to consider LA programs at their institutions, and secured external and internal funding for the Montgomery College LA program.  Since Fall 2013, I have worked with, taught, and mentored over 500 LAs as they supported over 12,000 students at Montgomery College.

I am a first-generation, fourth-year undergraduate student at CU Denver majoring in Public Health and minoring in Chemistry. I have been an LA for Dr. Priscilla Burrow's General Chemistry I course and am currently helping with Dr. Laurel Hartley's General Biology II course. I also conduct an independent research project with the help of the amazing faculty at the Colorado School of Public Health and Children's Hospital which includes an analysis of racial and ethnic differences in glucose and lipid metabolism and impact on neonatal growth outcomes among women with gestational diabetes. My passion is making sure that each person has an equal and affordable way to access both mental and physical health resources. 

I also love to play chess and run!

I am an Asst. Prof. of Teaching at UCD where I teach microbiology and do scholarly activity related to teaching and learning. I teach both a majors lab (~100 students) and an introductory lecture course (300-700 students) that are supported by LAs. Teaching with LAs is a joy, and I am frequently impressed by their insights, problem-solving, and compassion.

LA Program Experiences

Starting in 2015, I have taught with >100 LAs. As part of my scholarly activity, I am assessing LA gains in content mastery and attitudinal shifts through the LA experience. 

 To characterize our independently-run campus LA programs, I teach a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) for first year students. The student researchers interview faculty and staff that teach with LAs and the LAs themselves. 

 Outside of the classroom, my goals are to expand the number of LA programs on campus, build a community of practice and support for instructors who teach with LAs, and develop and assess practices to improve equity and inclusion in LA programs. 

I am a Senior Instructor at OSU where I teach Human Anatomy & Physiology. My colleagues and I began our LA program so that we could incorporate active learning into our large lecture courses, diversify the teaching team and help our students feel a stronger sense of community at OSU. My research interests include how LAs can help change student attitudes towards motivation, inclusion and engagement in LA facilitated courses.

When I am not teaching I enjoy hiking with my dog and family, boogie boarding and finding the joys of biology wherever I roam.

LA Program Experiences

Helped develop the LA Program at OSU in 2014, and I am now the Director of the LA Program at OSU, and have been an active LAgent since 2015. I’ve co-hosted two regional workshops and co-coordinated the Intl. LA Conferences. I have taught the pedagogy course and work with 8-25 LAs/year.

Kaleigh Salty is a transfer student, originally from Los Angeles, CA, now senior at Texas State University. She is working toward her undergrad in Physics with a minor in Applied Math. While working as a math/physics tutor in the SLAC lab and participating as a Learning Assistant in the Physics department, she discovered a passion for teaching and a curiosity about the role that non-academic factors play in a student’s academic performance. As a non-neurotypical student with ADHD, she is particularly interested in studying the learning processes and the impact of environmental factors on non-neurotypical students, like those with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her broader research goals and work with Dr. Eleanor Close is to shed more light on how educational systems should be adjusted to accommodate these students unique learning styles and routines rather than solving the “problem” of the students themselves.

I am an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice. My position is joint between the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS). I direct the TRIAD Coalition, within SAS’s Office of STEM Education, which was established to create a community of practice for STEM faculty across disciplinary boundaries.

I enjoy spending time with my immediate and extended family, gardening and yard work, and quilting and fiber crafts.

LA Program Experiences I support organic chemistry instructors teaching recitations with LAs. I conduct research on academic peer leaders (the majority of whom are LAs). I have been an LAgent since 2014. I directed Rutgers’ centralized LA Program from 2012-2016. I taught the pedagogy course for five years. I serve on Rutgers’ LA Program’s Advisory Board.

I am a Professor of Physics at Chicago State University whose research interests focus on improving STEM education for underrepresented students by identifying and leveraging the resources, strengths and culture of this community. I have been involved in the LA Program at CSU since 2010 and have thought about our specific institution's strengths and how those strengths inform our particular implementation of the LA model. I am the current Past President of the American Association of Physics Teachers and have served a number of AAPT and APS committees that focus on diversity, inclusion and education. I really enjoy thinking about what we can learn from our diverse group of LAs in terms of making our classes better.

LA Program Experiences

Helped start CSU LA Program in 2010 with help from APS PhysTEC Program. (Now supported by NSF, Department of Education.)

Current co-director, working with about 20 LAs/year and faculty in six disciplines at CSU.

Engaged in research on LA Program that looks at LA expertise and partnerships with faculty.

Conferences & Workshops, Faculty Development

I am a Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education and Director of STEM Education and the Integration of Content and Pedagogy at St. Cloud State University.  The LA program at SCSU started in 2007 to support active learning in large lecture classrooms in Chemistry and Statistics. The program has gone through many iterations and expanded to include all STEM fields and classroom sizes.  My research interests include how faculty professional development effects use of LAs and active learning in STEM classrooms, and how sense of belonging develops in STEM majors.

My interests outside of the classroom include biking, kayaking, hiking, and camping with my family, as well as reading any book I can get my hands on.

LA Program Experiences

I have worked with LAs in STEM course; taught LA pedagogy course; hired, selected LAs; recruited /selected faculty, courses for LA use; worked with other faculty to implement LAs in their course; conducted research on LA use; started an LA program (institution level); worked with administrators to grow/sustain program; formed partnerships with other institutions around LAs; secured external funding for LA program; secured internal funding for LA program

I am an Assistant Instructional Professor  at the University of Florida (UF), in the Physics Department. I teach large, medium, small and online physics courses and I am also the co-chair of the Large Course Committee. I am interested in curricular issues and have been part of the College and University Curriculum Committees. My current work is on PER in algebra-based courses along with two of my colleagues.  

LA Program Experiences

I founded (and continue to run) the Physics LA Program. I work with a team of UF colleagues running the LA Biology, the LA Biomedial Engineering program, and two School of Education faculty. This work focuses on optimal group work practices with LAs.