Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2014
Volume 59, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 3–7, 2014; Denver, Colorado
Session A38: Invited Session: Bringing Newcomers into the Physics Community - The Importance of Growth and Community Support |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Angela Little, University of California, Berkeley Room: 709/711 |
Monday, March 3, 2014 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
A38.00001: Developing mindful, collaborative, and resilient physics students through regular reflection and empathetic feedback Invited Speaker: Dimitri Dounas-Frazer Low retention in the sciences is due in part to students' perceptions of grading practices as harsh and of faculty as unapproachable. Improving retention of science students therefore requires the creation of educational spaces where students feel better supported in their development as learners. To this end, we are piloting a system that facilitates regular student reflection and personalized instructor feedback to support students in becoming mindful, collaborative, and resilient scientists. Students choose one of four topics to guide their reflections, and instructor responses aim to acknowledge and empathize with students' difficulties, recognize their efforts to improve, and provide them with additional resources whenever appropriate. In addition to fostering a supportive learning environment, this system further acts as a vehicle for continual formative assessment, enabling instructors to modify the learning environment to respond to students' needs in real time. In this talk, we report preliminary results on how regular reflection and feedback shape students' experiences in a physics course and how students' reflections evolve over time. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 3, 2014 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
A38.00002: Building Bridges to Belonging: Mindsets that Reduce Stereotype Threat and Increase Participation, Achievement, and Learning in STEM Invited Speaker: Catherine Good Ability-impugning stereotypes have been implicated in race and gender gaps in students' STEM achievement, aspirations, and learning, a phenomenon known as stereotype threat. Research-based interventions to help students overcome the impact of stereotype threat include shaping their mindsets about learning and achievement. In particular, combating the culture of talent in STEM by encouraging students to view intelligence as a malleable quality rather than a fixed trait has been shown to reduce race and gender gaps in achievement. Furthermore, fostering students' sense of belonging—their feelings of being an accepted member of an academic community whose contributions are valued—has been linked to increased achievement and motivation, especially when those feelings of belonging are based on effort and engagement rather than underlying ability. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 3, 2014 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
A38.00003: Enlightened Searches for Talent are Needed to Bring Newcomers into Physics Invited Speaker: Casey W. Miller The National Academies have suggested that increasing diversity in STEM will be critical to the future competitiveness of the US in these areas [1], and the leadership of both the NSF [2] and the APS is taking this seriously. Physics and Astronomy programs grant, on average, only one PhD every 5 and 10 years, respectively, to members of underrepresented groups [3]. We are therefore not surprisingly the least diverse of the sciences [4]. In this talk, I will discuss several opportunities that may help our community move toward meeting these goals. The most universally applicable regard perturbing graduate admissions policies and practices [5], and employing key features of successful Bridge Programs into graduate programs [6]. For the former, we need to reevaluate the use of the GRE exams [7], and develop and implement more enlightened searches for talent. \\[4pt] [1] ``Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads,'' The National Acadamies Press (2011);\\[0pt] [2] Joan Ferrini-Mundy, ``Driven by Diversity,'' Science \textbf{340}, 278 (2013).\\[0pt] [3] Stassun, K.G., ``Building Bridges to Diversity'', Mercury, \textbf{34}, 3 (2005).\\[0pt] [4] http://www.aps.org/programs/education/statistics/minoritydegrees.cfm\\[0pt] [5] Casey W. Miller, ``Admissions Criteria and Diversity in Graduate School,''APS News, The Back Page, February 2013. http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201302/backpage.cfm\\[0pt] [6] Stassun, K.G., Sturm, S., Holley-Bockelmann, K., Burger, A., Ernst, D., {\&} Webb, D., Am. J. Phys. \textbf{79}, 374 (2011).\\[0pt] [7] http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/news/GREandDiversity.html [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 3, 2014 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
A38.00004: Supporting the Physics Identity and Practices of Both University and K-12 Students through Outreach Invited Speaker: Katie Hinko Many physics departments seek to bring newcomers of all ages into the field through the facilitation of outreach programs. Through careful design, such informal learning environments act as hybrid spaces wherein public audiences and physicists build and redefine physics community together. Participation in outreach has the potential to reinforce students' identification with physics, reshape their view of the field, and hone their scientific and communication practices. Through interactions, participants negotiate roles, engage in authentic physics practices and provide feedback to each other. In this talk, I will discuss ways that outreach can affect the perceptions and practices of physics novices (K-12 students) and apprentices (undergraduate and graduate students) with regard to the physics community. I will also present findings from studies of undergraduates, graduate students and children who participate in an afterschool physics program sponsored by the University of Colorado Boulder and JILA. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 3, 2014 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
A38.00005: Panel Discussion: Common Themes Across ``Bringing Newcomers Into The Physics Community'' Invited Speaker: Angela Little I will be facilitating a discussion between the audience and the four speakers in this session: Dimitri Dounas-Frazer, Catherine Good, Casey Miller, and Katie Hinko. They will all be speaking on the same general topic of supporting newcomers to the physics community at critical transition points but come from a set of diverse contexts and perspectives. Their work spans a wide age range of STEM students and they approach their work through many different lenses: as physics faculty, program directors, education and psychology researchers, and combinations thereof. Broad themes across these contexts and perspectives will be explored such as the role of growth mindset, community, and professional development. [Preview Abstract] |
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