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This research focuses on the experiences of three undergraduate women majoring in physics and astronomy. Specifically we conducted semi-structured, empathetic interviews which reveal how uncomfortable physics environments inside and outside of the classroom exclude undergraduate women. The women give accounts of the behaviors of their male peers and instructors that influenced the physics culture. We use standpoint theory to focus on the experiences of undergraduate women to provide a holistic perspective of physics as well as identify key issues that these women faced in their undergraduate physics program and potential strategies to implement in the future to support undergraduate women in physics. Some of their suggestions include providing mentoring for women, training sessions, and establishing a code of conduct.

AAPT SM 21

Negative Impacts on female physics majors of Cold Physics Environment

experiences in physics and astronomy

undergraduate women in physics and astronomy

physics culture

**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 SM 21

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

technical paper

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.

Listen to internationally known plenary speakers, attend sessions, workshops, and special activities. Attending the virtual summer meeting is an excellent opportunity to share your expertise and learn from and network with leaders in the field.

Please log in with your AAPT account or register for the event if you haven't already.

If you are registered please note that you need to be logged in with your AAPT email / credentials in order to get access.

Both Active Learning and Three-Dimensional Learning (3DL) represent major shifts in how introductory STEM courses are taught. These take two separate approaches, with Active Learning focusing on how students learn and 3DL on what students learn. By pairing Active Learning with 3DL, student-centered learning environments can be more meaningful and promote deeper learning by engaging students with the scientific ideas and skills centrally important to our disciplines. In this talk, I will present 2 years of data from including exam assessment items and in-class video recordings from physics, chemistry, and biology courses. Using of the 3D-LAP and 3D-LOP, we have characterized the learning environment for both the potential to engage students in 3DL and the incorporation of active learning strategies. We will discuss how our findings indicate that placing an explicit focus on engaging students in Scientific Practices is necessary for using 3DL to create more meaningfully active learning environments.

Meaningful Active Learning Environments and the Need for Scientific Practices

As an introduction to atomic physics in an algebra-based introductory physics for the life sciences course, students learn how to calculate the energy levels of organic molecules. They use this knowledge to determine the conjugation lengths of the molecules. The students at our university have taken 4 semesters of chemistry before taking physics, so they have a good understanding of organic chemistry. With this method, students are able to find the wavelengths of photons that are absorbed and emitted by these molecules. Students then create mixtures in lab with these organic molecules to see their absorption peaks at specific wavelengths. Once we move into fluorescence, students are able to use their knowledge of energy levels to discover that chlorophyll fluoresces in the red. Only when they get to lab are they able to see this phenomenon in real life and truly appreciate the ideas behind atomic physics.

Chlorophyll fluoresces red!

Airborne droplets emitted from the mouth during coughing, sneezing and breathing provide the main pathway for transmission of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. We show how classical mechanics (Newton’s Laws) and fluid mechanics concepts (drag force, buoyancy, Reynolds number) can be applied in some simple models to help students understand the motion of aerosols emitted during respiratory events. The results illuminate why aerosols can remain in the air for long times and travel for surprisingly long distances. For those interested in further exploring the physics of respiratory aerosols, we provide links to some recent journal articles and to a computational model by Bazant et al. of risks of respiratory infection in indoor areas with variable ventilation, number of occupants and human behaviors (breathing rates, mask wearing compliance etc.)

Using Introductory Physics to Model Motion of Respiratory Aerosol Droplets

One of the distinguishing attributes of first year physics students is the novice-style approach to solving problems, typically based upon common variables or equation hunting. Having students shift to more expert-like strategies, based upon more over-arching ideas or concepts is often a challenge in physics teaching. This talk will discuss several strategies implemented in an urban-emergent high school for both traditional junior level students, as well as AP level students to help shift student approaches from novice to expert.

Toward Expert Level Approaches

While much of our research centers on recruiting more physics majors, the introductory physics courses serve a variety of STEM majors. Pre-Health majors account for a large portion of student enrollment in introductory physics. In this study, we investigate how Pre-Health majors are motivated to persist in their introductory physics course and how features of the course may shift their perceptions of physics. Pre-Health students are perceived to be extrinsically motivated to persist in their physics class as a means to an end in preparation for their MCAT or curricular requirements. Using Eccles Expectancy Value and Cost Theory, we test and analyze how Pre-Health majors enrolled in Modeling Instruction (MI) course change their perceptions of physics and their physics identity. This study will present results from surveys of about 140 students enrolled in MI in addition to several interviews exploring students’ classroom experiences and their reasons to persist.

The Costs to Persist in Introductory Physics for Pre-Health Majors

This talk will provide both zoomed-out and zoomed-in perspectives of LGBT+ experiences in Physics. Drawing on the results of a study by the American Physical Society, the climate experiences and persistence of LGBT+ physicists will be discussed focusing on intra-group differences: Experiences of exclusionary behavior were found to vary significantly by gender with transgender participants experiencing the most hostile climate; respondents who were out were found to be more comfortable at their workplaces; evidence was also found for differences in experience grounded in intersections with race. The talk will then examine the specific experiences of two LGBT+ individuals as they navigated a course, highlighting key moments where LGBT+ identities foregrounded themselves in the context of disciplinary thinking as well as ways in which existing support structures did not address their needs. These two perspectives will be used to highlight prospects for new research directions around LGBT+ identity in Physics Education.

LGBT+ Physicists: Harassment, Persistence, and Uneven Support Systems

What is queer theory? What are its basic terms of analysis? How might it apply to LGBT physicists? This presentation offers an introduction to this this field of thought, and uses historical examples to question some of the basic tenets of LGBT rights discourse

From LBGT to Queer: Physicists Without Identities

Women make up a shrinking portion of physics faculty in senior positions, a phenomenon known as a "leaky pipeline.'' While fixing this problem has been a priority in academic institutions, efforts have been stymied by the diverse sources of leaks. In this paper we identify a bias potentially contributing to the leaky pipeline. We analyze bibliographic data provided by the American Physical Society (APS), a leading publisher of physics research. By inferring the gender of authors from names, we are able to measure the fraction of women authors over past decades. We show that the more selective, higher impact APS journals have lower fractions of women authors compared to other APS journals. Correcting this bias may help more women publish in prestigious APS journals, and in turn help improve their academic promotion cases.

The Leaky Pipeline in Physics Publishing

While the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have grown in the past twenty years, the proportion of women in these fields has not seen the same growth. This article researches how inquiry-based instructional approaches can better support gender-equity in classrooms. It will look at the effects that confidence, group work, and Socratic questioning have on women in STEM courses, and how small changes in instruction can have large impacts on the experiences women have in STEM courses.

Supporting Gender-Equity in the STEM Classroom

Traditional high school physics curricula focused on meeting the Next Generation Science Standards and specific state standards do not typically address issues of racism and sexism in physics. In the 2020-2021 academic year, I facilitated discussions centered on five units from the Underrepresented Curriculum in three high school physical science classes. The curriculum was modified to focus on issues relevant to and valued by my students, (80% black or African American, 10% Hispanic/LatinX, and 10% white or Caucasian), such as taking into account their racial and ethnic background, gender, interests, and reading levels. I will offer insight into how the Underrepresented Curriculum can be modified to better relate to students, authenticate physics and center students’ learning on social justice.


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