United States

We extend research on physics identity beyond introductory physics by using five years of cross-sectional data collected from validated motivational surveys administered to physics majors throughout their undergraduate education and to the first year physics Ph.D. students at a large research university in the US. The responses of physics majors over time from their first year of the undergraduate curriculum through the first year of graduate school remain largely consistent, indicating that students are constantly adjusting their interpretation of the survey items to match the current level of expertise expected of them. Moreover, we find that, consistent with prior studies with introductory physics students, perceived recognition is the best predictor of physics identity for physics majors throughout their entire education in physics, pointing to the importance of physics instructors making a concerted effort to constantly recognize their students throughout.

PERC SM 20

Recognition always matters: A cross-sectional study of the physics identity of physics majors

physics majors

physics identity

linear regression

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


AAPT SM 20

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

poster

Join us in exploring emergent themes in PER as a scholarly endeavor and as a research community!  Since its inception, PER has served as a confluence of discipline, theory, research methodology, practice, and application.  How have these facets and the interplays among them been fruitful for physics education globally, regionally, locally, or otherwise?  And, how have our successes and interactions influenced the very nature of PER itself?
Following the lead of AAPT for the summer meeting, PERC 20/20 was virtual. Enjoy browsing the content.

Since its inception, PER has served as a confluence of discipline, theory, research methodology, practice, and application.  How have these facets and the interplays among them been fruitful for physics education globally, regionally, locally, or otherwise?  And, how have our successes and interactions influenced the very nature of PER itself?

This paper reports on initial work to develop a framework on empowerment through physics education. While the literature on empowerment through physics is limited, we have adapted theories and expert opinions from psychology and education to build this framework, alongside leveraging student reflections from four university courses using a curricular approach that supports student induction of physics principles. The resulting framework contains five dimensions of empowerment through physics: academic, social, political, emotional, and epistemic. We outline and give examples of students written work where we believe markers of these dimensions are manifested. We also identify self-advocacy as a thread that connects each dimension and discuss opportunities for future research on empowerment in the physics classroom.

The physics classroom as a space for empowerment

"Augmented Reality (AR) allows the integration of virtual visualizations into real-world environments. Recent research highlights benefits regarding its use towards knowledge acquisition and cognitive load in various instructional scenarios.
We transformed a traditional inquiry-based laboratory experiment examining simple DC circuits into an AR-based learning environment. Using smartglasses, real-time measurement data is visualized as virtual external representations next to the corresponding real-world objects, e.g. a resistor. Hereby we fulfill the instructional design principles of spatial and temporal contiguity from the cognitive theory of multimedia learning.
In a graded introductory lab course with N=56 students we compared our AR-based approach with a two-dimensional visualization of the same content on a tablet-PC. The results show a large overall effect for conceptual learning, but no significant group differences in learning gain or cognitive load.
We present the implementation of the learning environment as well as the first results of the evaluation."

Augmented Reality Visualizations in Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Courses

An approach to the design of curriculum supporting student engagement in mathematical sense making (MSM) is discussed. This approach draws from a categorical framework for MSM that is situated in the PER and science education literature on mathematical modeling and sense making. Two pieces of curricula spanning both content (the photoelectric effect and geometric optics) and course context (STEM-major versus non-STEM-major) designed using this framework are analyzed for the reasoning structures they are designed to scaffold.

Curriculum design to support mathematical sense making

Using the theoretical framework of community of practice and physics identity, we investigate student perceptions of the physics community and competency among undergraduates at a mid-sized private research university. We analyze fifteen interviews of students belonging to three different populations: physics majors who are not Learning Assistants (LAs), physics majors who are LAs, and LAs who are not physics majors. By comparing the language used by participants, we hope to better understand student perceptions of community. In general, physics majors report that they do not perceive themselves as physicists because they do not yet have, in their view, the competencies of professional physicists, yet the rigidity with which they hold onto this perspective is somewhat setting dependent.

What is a Physicist? Learning Assistants and Physics Majors Views

In this work, exploring the longitudinal outcomes of Introductory Physics for Life Science (IPLS) on student learning, we examine whether differences in student work on a diffusion task given in the senior biology capstone course can be correlated with prior enrollment in IPLS, and how those differences reflect competencies developed in the IPLS curriculum. More specifically, we assess whether IPLS students are more likely to reason quantitatively about diffusive phenomena and to successfully coordinate between multiple representations of diffusive processes. We position these findings within the broader context of our longitudinal study of the impact of IPLS on student work in later biology and chemistry environments.

The impact of IPLS in a senior capstone biology course (PERC)

Understanding the student experience with emergency remote teaching (PERC)

Electricity is the main form of energy transfer and use in the 21st century, and its understanding is of central importance. We describe how 8th grade students learn the physics of electric circuits through building computational particle models of conductors. The gradual construction of the computational particle model of the conductor, embodies the conceptualization of repulsion between free electrons, the push of the electric field, and the hindrance of the stationary ions. Comparing Pre/Post questionnaire data with a control group, shows that building the model is a sound basis for macro-level understanding of electric dynamics. Qualitative analyses highlight how creative activities such as drawing the conductors boundary and spreading electrons in it, complement observing the working model and discussing its mechanism in the classroom. Drawing on constructivist and grounded theories of learning, we discuss how constructing models and making conceptual micro-macro connections results in meaningful learning of this difficult topic.

Constructing micro-level models to promote understanding of electric circuits in middle school

Latinas in physics experience multiple marginalization due to the intersection of their ethnicity and gender, thus it is important for the physics community to focus support and help them achieve their success in physics. To begin supporting Latinas in achieving success it is crucial that the community has an understanding of the diversity of goals that contribute to their overall success in physics. With this qualitative study we used interviews to explore the goals expressed by 20 undergraduate and graduate students who identify as Latinas across the United States. Guided by Motivational Systems Theory, we present the goals participants had in common (e.g. resource provisions and social responsibilities) as well as the different goals they emphasized (e.g. emphasis on affective goals versus integrative social relationship goals). These goal contents provide a more nuanced level of detail to goal orientations held by Latinas in physics and serve as examples of the relevant goals that the physics community should support.

Explicating the goal contents of Latinx female physics students

Holistic Teaching Evaluations and Knowledge in Use

Ideally, instructors and their institutions would have a shared set of metrics by which they determine teaching effectiveness. We asked 72 physics instructors to describe how they and their institutions assess teaching effectiveness. Results suggest that institutions typically base most or all of their assessment of teaching effectiveness on student evaluations of teaching. Instructors, on the other hand, base most or all of their assessment of teaching effectiveness on student exam performance and nonsystematic formative assessments. Few institutions and instructors use assessment practices suggested by the research literature. In general, instructors are much more positive about the methods they use to evaluate their teaching than the methods their institutions use to evaluate their teaching. Both instructors and institutions could benefit from broadening the assessment sources they use to evaluate teaching effectiveness through increased use of standardized measures based on student learning and greater reliance on systematic formative assessment.

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Recognition always matters: A cross-sectional study of the physics identity of physics majors

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