Pedagogy of classroom learning assistant trained with student skill-learning projects in complexity simulation study and MRI data analysis.

An undergraduate student-project usually would have a skill development component modeled as a major learning outcome next to the learning outcome of knowing the established facts, with an optional smaller research component as an extension of previous results and new discovery if any.The inclusion of "becoming a learning assistant "as one of the learning outcomes in a student project was implemented as an additional essential component.A pedagogy would be improved when the gap between the perspective of a professor and the perspective of the classstudents be reduced.The hypothesis that such gap could be reduced when there is a perspective from an advanced student with student-project experience was investigated.A learning assistant volunteer provided feedback information on a professor's content delivery in the teaching of a project class designed for high school students in the outreach mission of a community college.The traditional pedagogy of supplemental instructor (SI) in which a SI-student is employed while taking the second-course of a two-course sequence is replaced by the pedagogy of learning assistant with project experience.A project's skill training would consist of finding differential equation solutions by programming.The topics included complexity simulation study with practical applications to magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy data analysis.The training provides the affirmation of the knowledge in the applications of first year calculus to chaos study, noise reduction, signal analysis, etc.The outcome of "becoming a learning assistant" would be strengthened by a required assignment of the reading of two recently published articles in Education Science, in addition to the programming skill assignments.We found that the Education Science articles following the scientific method are readily comprehensible to the high GPA engineering major students in a community college.The role of a learning assistant in a physics class and medical physics research class for high school students is discussed with assessment rubrics and recommendations.