Crafting Diverse Classroom Experiences: What is Missing and How Can we Fix it?*

How do we make college science classes a place where students thrive? More than half of intended STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors switch out of STEM or leave college entirely, with first-generation college students, students from marginalized racial and ethnic communities, and female students most effected. Physics, as a discipline, represents a severe case of this larger national problem with only 21% of bachelor’s degrees going to women, and only 8.3% being awarded to students from traditionally marginalized racial and ethnic communities. For everyday instructors to have an impact on retention, we need to understand the role an individual experience plays in the retention story. The work from higher education has taught the university community important lessons about developing communities of learners and developing students’ sense of belonging in college. However, the majority of this work takes place at a large scale - across colleges and universities. What is missing from the current research is the mechanism of how programs and classrooms impact student success.

 

In this presentation I will share work that our research group has done to explore self-efficacy as a mechanism for understanding retention in STEM. I will center this work in the contexts of (1) supporting community college students through transfer to university bachelor’s degree programs, (2) designing an introductory physics for life science major class, and (3) developing curricular activities that center students’ identities as part of learning physics. I will detail our process of collecting systematic data that listens to and values students perspectives and highlight how our courses can adapt to better support diverse student learners.