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This presentation describes the current and future plans for the Physics and Astronomy STEM Equity Achievement (SEA) Change project, a collaboration among AAAS and multiple Physics and Astronomy professional societies.

AAPT SM 21

Physics and Astronomy SEA Change Pilot Progress

change work

postsecondary education

equity

inclusion

diversity

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technical paper

Research in physics education has shown that poor student performance on certain physics tasks may stem primarily from domain-general reasoning phenomena rather than a lack of conceptual understanding. The observed reasoning patterns are consistent with dual-process theories of reasoning (DPToR). Efforts are ongoing to design strategies to guide the development of research-based curriculum to help students strengthen their reasoning skills and support cognitive reflection. In one intervention focused on supporting analytical processing, students are asked to set aside their own reasoning and engage in alternative lines of reasoning. Students first respond to a qualitative physics task, then construct reasoning chains in support of answers given by fictitious students, and finally revisit the original physics task. In this talk, we will discuss intervention results in the context of kinematics, examine factors possibly related to its effectiveness, and highlight the implications of our findings for future DPToR-aligned curriculum development.


*This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1821390, DUE-1821123, DUE-1821400, DUE-1821511, and DUE-1821561.

Supporting Student Construction of Alternative Lines of Reasoning

An emerging body of research suggests that the nature of human reasoning itself may impact student performance on physics questions. Analysis of student reasoning patterns through the lens of dual-process theories of reasoning (DPToR) indicates that students may struggle to engage analytical processing productively when responding to physics questions containing salient distracting features (SDFs). While students may reason correctly on one question (screening question), they may abandon that same line of reasoning on an analogous question containing an SDF (target question). As part of a larger effort to investigate and support student reasoning in physics, we have designed and tested an intervention that explicitly guides students to apply the reasoning they successfully used on the screening question to the target question in order to help students reconsider their default responses. In this talk, preliminary results will be presented and implications for research-based curriculum development will be discussed.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1821390, DUE-1821123, DUE-1821400, DUE-1821511, and DUE-1821561.

Supporting Students in Exploring Alternative Lines of Reasoning

Whether it is rearranging a kinematics equation or applying Newton’s second law, introductory physics students are often asked to solve problems that require the manipulation of symbols. After analyzing nearly 7,000 mathematics diagnostics administered at four large state universities, we find that many introductory physics students struggle with basic algebra to a degree that could impact their course performance. Correct-response rates on algebra problems drop significantly when numeric coefficients are replaced with symbols. Even the replacement of one type of symbol (Latin letters) with a less-familiar type (Greek letters) seems to have a significant negative effect on performance. We also find that performance on symbolic-type algebra problems is highly correlated with performance on trigonometry, geometry, and graphing problems. We will report our analysis of these results while providing an overview of our recent findings.

Symbolic Manipulation Fluency Predicts Introductory Physics Students’ Mathematical Preparedness

We are interested in trying to understand ways that students collaborate to solve physics problems. One mechanism we have recently observed in the context of spherical unit vectors in upper-division E&M, is that students first co-construct a visual representation, which we call a shared resource, that they then use to solve the problem. While the resources framework as applied in physics education has usually focused on the thinking of individuals, in this work we expand it to look at that of a small group instead. In this first of two related talks, using data from a think-out-loud interview, we illustrate what we mean by the theoretical lens of shared resources: what they are, how they are shared, and what role they can play in helping students make sense of a difficult physics topic. We also describe how we identified a particular shared resource by analyzing student writing, utterances, and behavior.

Shared-Resources in Student Problem-Solving of Spherical Unit Vectors: Theory, Methodology

It has been extensively documented that introductory physics students tend to struggle with adding and subtracting vectors. The results of a multiple-choice assessment, given to students in large-enrollment, algebra-based courses, were analyzed to identify groups of incorrect responses that were commonly given together. Following the analysis using both module analysis and modified module analysis, the stability of the groups over multiple semesters was examined, and yielded modules of responses that were most closely linked together. These modules were compared across the two analysis methods and classified to identify the underlying mistakes. We now present implications for classroom applications, including the relative prevalence of each kind of mistake, as well as the identification of modules with a high number of contributions per student and modules with the highest number of students contributing. 


Implications of module analysis for instruction of one-dimensional vector manipulation

This presentation details the potential that counterspaces—safe spaces for minoritized groups in physics—have to support students’ persistence in physics. Focussing on undergraduate and graduate learning environments, I describe attributes of a counterspace for minoritized students in physics, and the positive identity resources (relational, ideational and material) students access through it. I will discuss the usefulness of Social Network Analysis to facilitate our understanding of how resources flow through networked relationships established in these spaces, and the affordances and constraints of institutionally-supported counterspaces in physics.

Networks of support for minoritized students in physics

We will discuss our approach to presenting physics as a relevant and engaging discipline to high school students with the constraint of not having participants on our campus. For our outreach program, our goal is to have students build, test, and troubleshoot projects that increase their confidence, present physics as an applied subject, and of course increase their interest in physics. The lack of in-person events makes fulfilling the hands-on element a particular challenge. We designed and implemented two Saturday physics experiences for high school students. Components for the projects were mailed to participants. One benefit to this approach over in-person events was that participants “attended” the event from locations far from our campus. We will discuss design considerations for doing outreach over video conference and the activities we developed.

Informal science for high school students over video conference

In a traditional classroom, the student’s learning is assessed by using three or four exams in a given semester. With standards based grading, the learning is broken down into smaller more manageable learning objectives. Students can be assessed on these learning objectives at multiple different times throughout the semester. As a student understand improves, their grade also improves. Older assessments have less weight in determining a student’s grade. This presentation will discuss success, challenges, and software used to implement standard based grading in an introductory physics course.

Using Standards-based Grading in an Online Physics Course

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic there was an increasing trend in the number of students enrolling in online courses. The flexibility of these courses make them an attractive option, particularly for non-traditional students. This presentation will detail a project at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College to establish an online introductory astronomy course for non-majors. The motivation and methodology for the study will be presented along with an assessment of learning gains compared to a similar, concurrently run face-to-face course.

The Effectiveness of Online Education for Introductory Astronomy

Dual Process Theories of Reasoning suggest that humans reason using System 1 (heuristic) and System 2 (analytic) thinking processes. This research seeks to develop interventions that help introductory undergraduate physics students recognize reasoning inconsistencies and activate System 2 thinking effectively to override initial incorrect responses. In a prior study (Kryjevskaia et al., 2014), screening and target questions aimed to identify students with relevant content knowledge who nevertheless relied on System 1 thinking when answering the target question. In the current study, “intervention” and “consistency” questions were added with the intent of alerting students to their reasoning inconsistencies. Students who indicated that their answers were inconsistent were presented with another opportunity to answer the target question.

Kryjevskaia, M., Stetzer, M. R., & Grosz, N. (2014). Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 10(2), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020109

This study is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE 615418.

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Physics and Astronomy SEA Change Pilot Progress

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