Identity as Nexus-of-Multimembership in Physics Learning Assistant Preparation Sessions*

The physics department at Texas State University has implemented a Learning Assistant (LA) program in our introductory course sequence in which undergraduate students serve as near-peer assistants in courses they have successfully completed. Many students become LAs while still enrolled in the introductory sequence. We use a blended theoretical framework of Physics Identity and Communities of Practice to examine the impacts of program participation on LAs. Previously we have reported evidence of physics identity development from analysis of interviews with LAs and written reflections. Our data now include video of LAs working together during weekly preparation sessions. We find that during these prep sessions LAs engage in a variety of interactions, including physics-oriented, teaching-oriented, reflective, and social. In this analysis, we examine video episodes for evidence of LAs reconciling forms of membership in multiple communities of practice. ``Identity as nexus of multimembership'' is defined by Wenger (1998) as the ``work of reconciliation necessary to maintain one identity across boundaries.'' In this analysis, we closely examine an episode of LAs navigating the tensions of overlapping roles in student, instructor, and social communities.