Related papers: Nonlinear Psychometric Thresholds for Physics and …
A recent paper in Sci. Adv. by Miller et al. concludes that GREs do not help predict whether physics grad students will get Ph.D.s. The paper makes numerous elementary statistics errors, including introduction of unnecessary collider-like…
Physics is considered as one of the most prevailing and problematic subjects by the students in the realm of science. Students perceived physics as a difficult subject during high school days and become more evasive when they reach college.…
This work reports on results from the first national study of the impact of student facilitation of informal physics outreach programs on their physics identity, sense of belonging, and essential career skill development. Drawing on results…
Propositional satisfiability (SAT) is one of the most fundamental problems in computer science. The worst-case hardness of SAT lies at the core of computational complexity theory. The average-case analysis of SAT has triggered the…
We derive a new lower bound on the success probability of the Pretty Good Measurement (PGM) for worst-case quantum state discrimination among $m$ pure states. Our bound is strictly tighter than the previously known Gram-matrix-based bound…
In 2016, the Department of Physics at Oregon State University began a process to revise our Paradigms in Physics curriculum for physics majors. We began with a colloquium to inform the department of our plans and request their assistance,…
Let F be a random k-SAT formula on n variables, formed by selecting uniformly and independently m = rn out of all possible k-clauses. It is well-known that if r>2^k ln 2, then the formula F is unsatisfiable with probability that tends to 1…
Analysis of institutional data for physics majors showing predictive relationships between required mathematics and physics courses in various years is important for contemplating how the courses build on each other and whether there is…
When considering performing an Introductory Physics for Life Sciences course transformation for one's own institution, life science majors' achievement goals are a necessary consideration to ensure the pedagogical transformation will be…
We examine the relationship between homework completion and exam performance for students having different physics aptitudes for five different semesters of an introductory electricity and magnetism course. In our analysis, we plot exam…
Math anxiety negatively relates to math performance. This negative relationship may be exacerbated in low-progress math learners. However, there are limited studies on math anxiety among low progress learners in a paradoxically high…
Particle physics experiments rely on the (generalised) likelihood ratio test (LRT) for searches and measurements, which consist of composite hypothesis tests. However, this test is not guaranteed to be optimal, as the Neyman-Pearson lemma…
We propose upper and lower bounds on the maximum success probability for discriminating given quantum states. The proposed upper bound is obtained from a suboptimal solution to the dual problem of the corresponding optimal state…
An analysis of barriers to women's participation in physics education is presented. It is expected that in undergraduate physics the most common situation for a women is that she is cisgender and one of a numerical minority in the…
Problem Roulette (PR), an online study service at the University of Michigan, offers points-free formative practice to students preparing for examinations in introductory STEM courses. Using four years of PR data involving millions of…
We introduce PHYSICS, a comprehensive benchmark for university-level physics problem solving. It contains 1297 expert-annotated problems covering six core areas: classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical…
Gaining recognition as a physics person by peers is an important contributor to undergraduate students' physics identity and their success in physics courses. Previous research has separately demonstrated that women perceive less…
Random instances of constraint satisfaction problems such as k-SAT provide challenging benchmarks. If there are m constraints over n variables there is typically a large range of densities r=m/n where solutions are known to exist with…
To develop an increase in societal interest in the fundamental sciences of particle physics and particularly for maintaining the support structures needed to succeed in experiments that take several decades to develop and complete, requires…
The entrance to public universities in Brazil depends on scores obtained by students in Enem, Brazilian National Assessment of High School Education. This exam consists of four multiple choice tests (Language, Maths, Natural and Human…