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In this study of a large enrollment introductory physics course, I investigated students&#39; use of free online resources (YouTube, Khan Academy, Chegg) and newly-implemented class resources since the Covid-19 transition to remote learning. In my mixed-methods approach, I surveyed and interviewed students on their perceptions and use of expanded course resources which include: pre-lecture module with introductory videos, quizzes with instructional feedback, tutorial assignment with low-stakes grading parameters, and demonstration videos. Students also engage with weekly activities similar to pre-Covid-19 but adapted to the remote setting, including synchronous remote lectures and active-learning recitations, asynchronous recitation quizzes as exam-like practice, and online homework assignments. The survey data suggest students value the expanded course resources as helpful to their learning, and report little use of solutions sites like Chegg. Despite increased accessibility of virtual meetings, students still do not engage frequently with course office hours or the University Learning Centers.

AAPT SM21

Resources in Introductory Physics: Multiple Modes of Engagement and Feedback

khan academy

chegg

youtube

resource use

course design

introductory physics

Join AAPT and Physics Educators worldwide in developing and strengthening your professional connections by attending the 2021 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting. AAPT meetings are a great way to reflect on your teaching, recommit to best practices and re-energize your career with new research, products, and techniques.

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**Making Physics More Inclusive and Eliminating Exclusionary Practices in Physics**

As a gateway discipline to STEM majors and careers, physics plays a central role in deciding who does, and who doesn't, get to discover and pursue scientific careers. Technical and scientific professionals are rewarded with economic privilege and status which affords them both social and cultural power. Therefore, social justice will be realized only when the opportunity, and the choice, to excel in physics is open to all students. The culture and practices of the physics classroom reflect the culture of physics at large, which raises the question of how our professional physics communities can embrace, rather than inadvertently repel, a diverse group of academics that can help improve physics culture.  To this end, the 2021 Physics Education Research Conference will focus on defining inclusive spaces and practices. Additionally, we will explore strategies for eliminating exclusionary practices in our classrooms, research spaces, and professional organizations. We call on the community to propose sessions that will drive conversations related to these initiatives throughout PERC 2021.

Please download the full program [here. ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TRMC_SYJ3PUqXyP7sskA7LRSA8ow0eRE/view?usp=sharing)

PERC SM21

August 4, 2021 - August 5, 2021 in a Virtual Conference Format

Making Physics More Inclusive and Eliminating Exclusionary Practices in Physics

In this study of a large enrollment introductory physics course, I investigated students' use of free online resources (YouTube, Khan Academy, Chegg) and newly-implemented class resources since the Covid-19 transition to remote learning. In my mixed-methods approach, I surveyed and interviewed students on their perceptions and use of expanded course resources which include: pre-lecture module with introductory videos, quizzes with instructional feedback, tutorial assignment with low-stakes grading parameters, and demonstration videos. Students also engage with weekly activities similar to pre-Covid-19 but adapted to the remote setting, including synchronous remote lectures and active-learning recitations, asynchronous recitation quizzes as exam-like practice, and online homework assignments. The survey data suggest students value the expanded course resources as helpful to their learning, and report little use of solutions sites like Chegg. Despite increased accessibility of virtual meetings, students still do not engage frequently with course office hours or the University Learning Centers.

technical paper

In order to prepare students as future professionals, reforming science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has been demanded by education committees and government bodies alike. To become successful and effective scientists, medical professionals, or engineers, students must be skilled in science application, peer collaboration, science-based critical thinking, and effective communication. As misinformation spreads quickly and resistance to scientific knowledge thrives, the future of science depends on preparing students to overcome this opposition. In order to foster these skills, we used the Deliberative Democracy (DD) active-learning model. Each module focuses on a socially relevant and sometimes controversial scientific problem (e.g. climate change), tasking students to collaborate with their peers to identify the scientific issues, building physics models, researching & deliberating solutions through policies and regulations, and effectively communicating these in a written report. We will walk through the development process and share early results from this project in this talk.

Using Deliberative Democracy to Develop Scientific Skills through Group Collaboration

Problem solving is an important aspect of physics education. To become skilled problem solvers students do not only need sufficient conceptual and procedural knowledge, they also need metacognitive skills in order to monitor their solution process. We present a prototype for an online tool that aims at stimulating students’ metacognitive skills for problem solving by offering them problem-specific reflection questions. We discuss a case study of the implementation of the tool within a 1st year mechanics course.

Supporting Metacognition in Physics Problem Solving.

Critical thinking has a natural home in student laboratory experiences, yet labs in most schools are "cookbook" or confirmatory and rarely require students to apply knowledge in new and challenging ways to real world applications and ways of work of scientists engineers and physicists. This talk talks about how we can create authentic laboratoray experiences for students through how we purposely plan laboratories.

Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Laboratory Experiences

Discussion posts have been used to involve students in a greater understanding of class material, particularly in applying it to the world outside the classroom. For online classes, they often serve as the primary channel through which students communicate with each other. We can also use discussion posts to facilitate scientific thinking and analysis by having students explore a question or problem, research it to find sources, and interpret results. These range from watching an educational video and describing the host’s analysis and results for a particular experiment, to doing their own search on everyday phenomena like static electricity in laundry, power generation on a Washington wind farm, or lightning. These types of weekly discussion posts have been added to both my Introductory Physics and Astronomy classes, and student engagement and reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

Scientific Thinking and Exploratory Discussion Posts

After instruction, many students apply basic physics knowledge correctly to solve problems that require straightforward applications of that knowledge. At the same time, some students struggle to apply the same knowledge in situations that elicit alternative intuitive ideas. To recognize an inconsistency between such intuitive ideas and formal knowledge, a process of conflict detection and override must be initiated. However, for this process to be sustained, students must articulate criteria that must be satisfied to accept or reject an intuitive response. It appears that many students need explicit instruction to help them recognize that the same physics knowledge could be used 1) as a tool for solving a given problem and 2) as a criterion for checking for the validity of intuitive responses. We will describe our efforts to design instruction in an introductory calculus-based Mechanics course that focuses on the second aspect of physics knowledge.

Developing skills for validity checking of intuitively appealing responses

The ability to effectively engage in evidence-based decision-making is an important educational outcome. Over the past decade, we have developed and evaluated a lab curriculum in which all activities are designed around the theory-evidence coordination framework to advance select reasoning skills. For each lab, students address a central research question, and guided activities explicitly emphasize causal and hypothetical reasoning embedded in cycles of inquiry, reflection, evaluation, and communication of outcomes. Due to the pandemic, the labs were redesigned for online synchronous delivery where students worked in groups of four in Zoom breakout rooms. The presentation will showcase the underlying reasoning framework that can be used by others to develop their own materials, discuss how students were still able to collect data and create mathematical models in the online format, and compare learning outcome data for both the online and face-to-face settings. Access to the lab materials will also be provided. 
*Partially supported by the NSF IUSE 1431908


Comparing In-person and Online Physics Labs for Developing Scientific Reasoning

Doing Physics and bringing my true authentic self have not always been in alignment. This talk will give insight into my journey from where I've been to where I am now and how I think our physics environment needs to change.

Doing Physics and Being Chicana and Indigena

It can be difficult for introductory physics students to understand the nature of electric fields because electric fields are not tangible nor visible. With the intent of providing students the tools to help them understand electric fields, we conducted a study, via Zoom, in which we tested the efficacy of three technological learning tools in developing student understanding of electric fields. The tools, developed by our team, include a video lesson, an electric field simulator, and an online electric field game. The students in two sections of a second-semester, algebra-based physics course were each randomly assigned to use one of the three tools. All completed pre- and post-activity diagnostics including questions targeting the learning objectives, beliefs about physics, and learning preferences. We will discuss the results of our study and the implications on the development of future tools.

Assessing the efficacy of technological tools to teach electric fields

The introductory physics sequence at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology develops a common knowledge base for 500+ freshman students, with all majors required to complete the first two courses. In pursuit of enhancing our courses with active learning in a hybrid environment due to COVID-19 restrictions, we implemented iOLab-based exercises during the Winter and Spring quarters of the 2020/2021 academic year. The open-ended activities were designed to pique students’ intrinsic curiosity and help students develop more connections between theory and "how things work” through demos and experimental design. Students also identified opportunities to create value by exploring applications of sensors in the world around them. These skills directly relate to the students’ entrepreneurial mindset, which was assessed by a pre- and post-ESEMA survey. We also sought to understand the effectiveness and student perception of the iOLab in a hybrid setting through their written comments and attitudes from a post-StRIP survey.

Developing Entrepreneurial Mindset through iOLab-based Activities in Introductory Physics Courses

Because electric fields cannot be touched or seen, simulations are often utilized to build students' understanding of them by providing them with a visual representation of electric fields and the motion of test charges through them. We developed a game to address these challenges. The goal of the game is to guide a test charge through a racetrack using an electric field that the player creates. As a student plays the game, they will see dynamic electric field lines created by the charges they place on the screen, as well as the trajectory of test charges through the electric field. Our aim in the gamification of a more traditional electric field simulation is to improve motivation and engagement in the material. Both the game and the simulation that we built before it are built in JavaScript, so they will run on most browsers on a computer or mobile device.


Resources in Introductory Physics: Multiple Modes of Engagement and Feedback

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Using Deliberative Democracy to Develop Scientific Skills through Group Collaboration

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