Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2023
Volume 68, Number 6
Minneapolis, Minnesota (Apr 15-18)
Virtual (Apr 24-26); Time Zone: Central Time
Session V12: Student Learning, Classroom Interactions, and Faculty Professional DevelopmentEducation Outreach
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Sponsoring Units: GPER Chair: MacKenzie Stetzer, University of Maine Room: Marquette III - 2nd Floor |
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 3:45PM - 3:57PM |
V12.00001: Active Learning Observation Networks Jesper Bruun, Karen A Voigt, Viktor H Janas Classroom observations protocols have been used to gauge the types of actions made by students and teachers in classrooms [e.g. 1]. Analyses based on protocol observations have been used in middle and high school settings [2] as well as university settings to identify different ways of teaching in physics [3]. We argue that encoding and portraying observations of student and teacher actions in networks, may expand the use of observation protocols to capture the dynamics of teaching [4]. |
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 3:57PM - 4:09PM |
V12.00002: Closeness in a physics faculty online learning community predicts impacts in self-efficacy and teaching Chase W Hatcher, Edward P Price, P. Sean Smith, Chandra Turpen, Eric Brewe
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Tuesday, April 18, 2023 4:09PM - 4:21PM |
V12.00003: Characteristics of departments with high-use of active learning in introductory STEM courses: Implications for departmental transformation Charles Henderson, Alexandra Lau, Melissa Dancy, Marilyne Staines, Christian Merino In 2019, sampling by institution, we conducted a web-based survey of 3,769 instructors who taught introductory chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Some departments had multiple instructors who made high use of active learning instructional strategies. We conducted interviews with 27 instructors in 16 such departments. Using grounded theory methods, we developed a model that highlights the relevant characteristics of departments that have high use of active learning instruction in their introductory courses. According to this model, there are four main characteristics of such departments (motivated people, knowledge about teaching, opportunities, and cultures and structures that support active learning) and two positive feedback loops. There are two main take-away messages for those interested in promoting the use of active learning. The first is that all four components are important. The second is that desired outcomes are obtained and strengthened over time through the two positive feedback loops. |
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 4:21PM - 4:33PM |
V12.00004: Physics Instructors’ Beliefs about and Use of Inclusive Teaching Strategies Md Sanyat Rabby, Charles Henderson Inclusive teaching is a set of instructional strategies that promote more equitable learning outcomes. However, inclusive teaching is not being practiced as extensively as it should be. This research aims to better understand to what extent college-level physics instructors use inclusive teaching strategies as well as their reasons for use or non-use of such practices. I interviewed 12 instructors from different institutions in Michigan who taught introductory calculus-based physics courses in Spring 2022. The participants were asked to describe their use of and beliefs about 21 specific inclusive teaching strategies. Results show that few instructors are aware of the full range of inclusive teaching strategies. Most instructors are aware of some inclusive teaching strategies and frequently articulate valid reasons for implementing these strategies. There are certain types of inclusive teaching strategies that most instructors do not use. Some instructors feel that these strategies are not appropriate for an introductory physics course and others feel that they lack the ability to implement these strategies successfully. Overall, this preliminary study suggests that more work is needed to support the full range of inclusive teaching practices within the physics community. |
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 4:33PM - 4:45PM |
V12.00005: Examining longitudinal impacts of an informal physics program Jessica R Hoehn, Noah D Finkelstein
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Tuesday, April 18, 2023 4:45PM - 4:57PM |
V12.00006: Physicists' motivations and needs in informal physics Shams El-Adawy, Eleanor C Sayre, Alexandra Lau, Claudia Fracchiolla Physicists engage with the public to varying degrees at different stages of their careers. However, their public engagement covers many activities, events, and audiences, making their motivations and professional development needs not well understood. As part of ongoing efforts to build and support community in the informal physics space, we conducted interviews with physicists with a range of different experiences in public engagement. We use personas methodology and self-determination theory to articulate their public engagement motivation, challenges, and needs. We present our set of four personas: the physicist who engages in informal physics for self-reflection, the physicist who wants to spark interest in physics, the physicist who wants to provide diverse role models to younger students and inspire them to pursue a STEM career, and the physicist who wants to improve the relationship between scientists and the public. By developing this set of personas, we are expanding on the informal physics community's understanding of the motivations and needs of practitioners in this space. This work also informs the development of tailored resources for the Joint Network for Informal Physics Education and Research (JNIPER) program. |
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 4:57PM - 5:09PM |
V12.00007: Impact of informal physics programs on university students who facilitate them Tatiana Erukhimova, Jonathan Perry, Jonan P Donaldson, Jessi Randolph, Carlee Garrett, Callie Rethman We employed a mixed methods study combining a survey instrument (117 responses) and interviews (35) with current and former undergraduate and graduate students who participated in five informal physics programs through a physics and astronomy department at a large land-grant university. Our findings show that students who facilitated informal physics programs positively developed their physics identity, experienced increased sense of belonging to the physics community, and developed 21st century career skills. The benefits of these programs can be achieved by departments of any size without significant commitment of funds or changes to curriculum. |
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 5:09PM - 5:21PM |
V12.00008: Equitable approach to introductory calculus-based physics courses focused on problem solving Eric Burkholder A major challenge with calculus-based physics 1 is the large spread in the students' incoming physics preparation. This level of preparation is strongly predictive of a students' performance and because the level of students' incoming preparation is largely determined by the quality of their high school physics courses, Physics 1 can amplify K–12 educational inequities. Here, we present a novel introductory course design to address this equity challenge. The design and implementation are based on the concept of deliberate practice as applied to learning real-world problem solving. The problems used in the course and their solutions have little resemblance to what students encounter in high school physics, thereby reducing the dependence of course performance on high school physics preparation.The students who took the course learned the physics content knowledge they needed for future courses, particularly in engineering, and their problem-solving skills improved substantially. Furthermore, their course performance had much less correlation with their incoming physics preparation than was the case for the outcomes from the traditional Physics 1 courses at both institutions: in one case the correlation dropped from r=0.62 to 0.14, and on the other case the correlation dropped from r=0.56 to 0.26. These findings suggest this course design can be a more equitable version of the traditional Physics 1 course, and hence particularly beneficial for marginalized students. |
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