Related papers: Comparing introductory physics and astronomy stude…
Collaboration with peers both inside and outside the classroom can be an invaluable tool for helping students learn physics. We investigated the impact of peer collaboration on learning physics by examining the characteristics of women and…
Introductory physics labs can be designed and studied using the Communities of Practice framework, where a group of members pursues a common set of goals by learning and implementing a set of practices. Studies of student preferences and…
Previous research has suggested that changing the percentage of the course grade associated with exam grades in STEM courses can change the gender gap in the course. It has also been shown that assessments with the highest stakes have the…
The American Physical Society calls on its members to improve the diversity of physics by supporting an inclusive culture that encourages women and Black, Indigenous, and people of color to become physicists. In the current educational…
Underrepresentation in STEM fields starts early, with elementary students already showing differences based on gender and race in their interest in science, belief in their ability to do science, and belief that their personal identity…
We analyze the problem solving strategies of physics professors in a case where their physical intuition fails. A non-intuitive introductory-level problem was identified and posed to twenty physics professors. The problem placed the…
Test anxiety is beginning to be recognized as a significant factor affecting student performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, potentially contributing to gender inequity within these fields.…
A common learning goal for modern physics instructors is for students to recognize a difference between the experimental uncertainty of classical physics and the fundamental uncertainty of quantum mechanics. Our studies suggest this…
Decades of research show that students learn more in classes that utilize active learning than they do in traditional, lecture-only classes. Active learning also reduces the achievement gaps that are often present between various…
Students must learn effective problem solving strategies in order to develop expertise in physics. Effective problem solving strategies include a conceptual analysis of the problem followed by planning of the solution, and then…
We have previously described the reformed introductory physics course, Collaborative Learning through Active Sense-Making in Physics (CLASP), for bioscience students at a large public research one university (Original University) and…
The ability to flexibly transform between different representations (e.g., from mathematical to graphical representations) of the same concept is a hallmark of expertise. Prior research suggests that many introductory physics students show…
Physics has a reputation among majority of life sciences students for being very complicated and tough. If we leave students with this impression, it is likely that students see physics class as useless and irrelevant to life sciences.…
We report on ongoing work to gain insight into the astronomy knowledge and perspectives of pre-service teachers and middle school students in Norway. We carefully adapted and translated into Norwegian an existing instrument, the…
We report on a multi-year study of student attitudes measured with the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in calculus-based introductory physics taught with the Modeling Instruction curriculum. We find that five of six…
Many students in upper-division physics courses struggle with the mathematically sophisticated tools and techniques that are required for advanced physics content. We have developed an analytical framework to assist instructors and…
When assessing student work, graders will often find that some students will leave one or more problems blank on assessments. Since there is no work shown, the grader has no means to evaluate the student's understanding of a particular…
Physics education researchers have developed many evidence-based instructional strategies to enhance physics students' conceptual learning. These strategies have historically been tested using assessments such as the Force Concept Inventory…
Nine interviews were conducted with astronomers from Leiden University, and a document analysis was performed on relevant institutional (self-) evaluation documents, annual reports, and CVs of the interviewees. The aim was to perform a…
A recent paper by Salehi et al. claims that the differences found between major demographic groups on scores in introductory college physics tests are due to differences in pre-college preparation. No evidence is produced, however, to show…