Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2021
Volume 66, Number 5
Saturday–Tuesday, April 17–20, 2021; Virtual; Time Zone: Central Daylight Time, USA
Session Y15: Physics Education ResearchEducation Live Outreach Undergrad Friendly
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Sponsoring Units: GPER Chair: Benjamin Dreyfus, George Mason University |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 1:30PM - 1:42PM Live |
Y15.00001: Rethinking Physics Graduate Admissions for a Post-Covid World Nicholas Young, Nicole Verboncoeur, Marcos Caballero With the pandemic disrupting research, standardized tests, and grading practices as well as programs stepping up efforts to address systematic racism, physics departments are rethinking their graduate admissions processes. In this talk, we provide an overview of our work studying graduate admissions and suggestions to make the process more equitable. Our first study uses 7 years of admissions data from a U.S., public, research intensive university to explore how the introduction of rubric-based admissions that include socio-emotional factors in addition to traditional academic factors affect which application components are emphasized in the admissions process. Our second study uses 2 years of admissions data to five Big Ten and midwestern universities to demonstrate how the physics GRE does not help ``otherwise missed'' applicants stand out in the admissions process and instead rewards those already privileged in the admissions process. Based on the results of these studies, we make recommendations for changes to graduate admissions processes to make them more equitable. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 1:42PM - 1:54PM Live |
Y15.00002: Fairness, Equity, and Values in Grades and Grading Andrew Heckler Course grades are concrete outcomes with real-world consequences for students. To what extent are grades, as currently awarded, consistent and fair? To what extent do they both signal and cause inequity? Do grades award what we value? Higher Educational Institutions hold large amounts of data that can help us to gain more insight into answers for these questions and perhaps lead us to more desired outcomes. I will discuss three data analytics projects we conducted on introductory physics classes. First, I will discuss important distinctions between what is measured by exam and non-exam grade components and show that not only are there problematic demographic disparities, but that we can choose to decrease these disparities by making changes -- some of which are simple---in grading practices. Next, I will demonstrate the extent to which grading is inconsistent between sections, instructors, and semesters by considering measures of prior preparation, such as ACT scores and prior course grade. Finally, I will examine how these inconsistencies extend to the demographic factors of gender and race. Areas of concern are found for all factors and provoke deep questions about traditional testing and whether we are awarding what we value. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 1:54PM - 2:06PM Live |
Y15.00003: Instructional Interventions Designed to Help Undergraduate Physics Students Recognize and Overcome Reasoning Inconsistencies Kristin Kellar, Paula Heron This research draws on Dual Process Theories of Reasoning, which suggest that humans reason using two mental processes: Process 1 (heuristic) and Process 2 (analytic).~The goal of this research is to develop interventions in introductory undergraduate physics courses that will help students recognize reasoning inconsistencies and activate Process 2 thinking effectively to override initial incorrect responses.~In a prior study (Kryjevskaia et al., 2014), screening and target questions were designed to identify students with the relevant content knowledge who nevertheless relied on Process 1 thinking when answering the target question.~In the current study, ``intervention'' and ``consistency'' questions were added with the intent of alerting students to inconsistencies in their reasoning.~Students recognizing inconsistency could re-answer the target question. Preliminary results will be discussed. Reference: Kryjevskaia, M., Stetzer, M. R., {\&} Grosz, N. (2014). Answer first: Applying the heuristic-analytic theory of reasoning to examine student intuitive thinking in the context of physics. \textit{Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research}, \textit{10}(2), 1--12. \underline {https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020109} [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 2:06PM - 2:18PM Live |
Y15.00004: Development of a Thermal and Statistical Physics Assessment James Laverty, Bethany Wilcox, Amali Jambuge, Katherine Rainey, Amogh Sirnoorkar Thermal and Statistical Mechanics courses are a core part of every physics degree. The topics covered in this course can also vary substantially from institution to institution or even instructor to instructor. This makes it difficult to develop an assessment that allows for comparisons of student understanding within and between institutions. In this talk, I will introduce our work to develop an assessment for upper level thermal and statistical physics courses. We use Evidence-Centered Design to insure that questions assess not just conceptual ideas, but also whether students can engage in doing physics with those concepts. Due to the variation in content coverage across instructors and institutions, this assessment will allow instructors to choose what is on the assessment based on their learning goals for the course. Additionally, we are developing a system that provides actionable feedback to instructors (not just a score) on how to modify their courses to help students learn. Finally, this assessment will allow researchers to make comparisons of student learning between semesters and across institutions. The development of this system will establish a new approach to assessment design for undergraduate physics courses. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 2:18PM - 2:30PM Live |
Y15.00005: The Leaky Pipeline in Physics Publishing Clara Ross, Aditya Gupta, Ninareh Mehrabi, Goran Muric, Kristina Lerman 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. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 2:30PM - 2:42PM Live |
Y15.00006: Understanding the Audiences of Informal Physics Programs Bryan Stanley, Dena Izadi, Kathleen Hinko Informal physics programs create learning environments that bring together physicists, physics students, and public audiences in a variety of formats, including demo shows, summer camps, and open houses. However, the program formats alone do not reveal the important underlying factors crucial for the design and implementation of informal physics activities. In our qualitative research study, we conducted surveys, interviews with lead program facilitators, and site visits to multiple programs to investigate critical functional aspects of informal physics programs. We analyzed the data to find key themes and challenges present within the programs. After deep analysis of aspects concerning the personnel comprising the programs, we shift our focus to the aspects of informal physics programs surrounding their audiences. Here, we present our current findings regarding informal physics audiences and discuss our future work in developing tools for program facilitators to assess their programs. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 2:42PM - 2:54PM Live |
Y15.00007: Do admissions metrics predict PhD completion directly, or indirectly through graduate GPA? Mike Verostek, Ben Zwickl, Casey Miller Graduate admissions committees are slowly ending the use of GRE scores due to concerns that they restrict access to underrepresented groups but have limited predictive utility. Similar to previous analyses of PhD completion (Miller et al 2019), this study uses common admissions metrics such as undergraduate GPA (UGPA) and GRE scores to predict PhD completion. Now, a counterfactual mediation framework is used to determine whether these metrics directly predict PhD completion or indirectly predict completion via an intermediate variable (graduate GPA). Consistent with prior work, results show that UGPA is a stronger predictor of completion than Physics GRE scores. However, the analysis reveals that these effects are fully mediated by graduate GPA, suggesting that admissions metrics are not directly measuring characteristics needed to complete a PhD. Rather, they are measuring traits linked to graduate course performance that in turn affect graduate attrition. Poor course performance may negatively influence personal factors (e.g., self-efficacy, identity), limit access to research opportunities (e.g., repeating classes, ease of finding a research lab), or may indicate a lack of preparation for research, all of which could hinder PhD completion; however, more research is needed. [Preview Abstract] |
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