Disciplined-Based Education Research Seminar: Eleanor Close, Texas State University
Access to Ideational Resources through LA Program Elements Supports Intersectional Physics (Science) Identity Development
Event Details:
- Date: Friday, May 15, 2026
- Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM
- Location: 1080 Physics Research Building
- Faculty Host: Jackie Chini
Abstract
In our intersectional physics identity study we use an identity lens to investigate the lived experiences of multiply marginalized physics students. Participants from TXST described environments where they felt that they thrived, including multiple positive impacts from participation in the Physics Learning Assistant (LA) Program. We analyze these narratives using the Critical Physics Identity framework. In this talk I will describe ideational resources participants accessed through their experiences with the LA Program, both as students and as LAs, that supported increasing engagement with physics and positive physics identity development. Access to ideational resources is important for all physics students, but particularly critical for those who are multiply marginalized in the field, whose ideational resources often look different from those of their less marginalized peers. While our study focuses on physics students, we believe these findings are relevant across STEM fields and beyond.
Bio
Dr. Eleanor Close is a Professor of Physics at Texas State University and a physics education researcher. She co-directs the STEM Communities Learning Assistant Program at TXST, co-organizes regional and national workshops through the National Learning Assistant Alliance, and is currently PI of an NSF Noyce Scholarship project and Co-PI on an NSF IUSE. Her research interests include situated learning and identity development through communities of practice, particularly for multiply marginalized students; Learning Assistant program impacts on students, LAs, and faculty; and physics teacher preparation and professional development. She received her Physics M.S. from the University of Washington in 2003 and her Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle Pacific University in 2009. Between receiving her B.A. in Physics from Bryn Mawr College and starting graduate school, she taught high school physics and physical science for three years in rural North Carolina, where she became science department chair by seniority after five months. In her non-work life, she co-parents three teenagers and gardens with native plants for local wildlife.