Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) described in Ladson-Billings’ framework has three conceptions: conceptions of self and others, conceptions of knowledge, and conceptions of social relations. Instructors can support students with positive learning experiences when they are cognizant of all three conceptions. In 13 interviews of physics instructors about CRP, we found many instructors shared only two productive conceptions: conceptions of self and others and conceptions of social relations. However, we found two instructors who effectively described all three conceptions. Their conceptions of knowledge focused on physics knowledge as constructed, reconstructed, and in some aspects containing subjectivity. They both articulated a critical approach to examining the historical and contextual factors that influence physics learning today. Our findings indicate that instructors’ beliefs about the nature of science can be entangled with their own enactment of CRP and we show how a sophisticated epistemology can be one route to more culturally relevant instruction.

We developed the Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy (PIQL) to assess students’ quantitative reasoning in introductory physics contexts. The PIQL includes several “multiple-choice-multiple-response” (MCMR) items (i.e., multiple-choice questions for which more than one response may be selected) as well as traditional single-response multiple-choice items. In this paper, we discuss differences in performance on MCMR items that seems to result from differences in administration method (paper versus online). In particular, we find a tendency for “clickiness” in online administration: students choose more responses to MCMR items when taking the electronic version of the assessment. Student performance on single-response multiple-choice items was not affected by administration method. These results suggest that MCMR items may provide a unique opportunity to probe differences in online and on-paper administration of low-stakes assessments.

In the context of quantum mechanics, students are often asked to use delta functions to solve problems. Here, we investigate three typical problem-solving processes using delta functions: a delta function potential well problem, a position space delta function problem, and a momentum space delta function problem. We studied students’ solutions in written exams and conducted think-aloud interviews. We use the activation, construction, execution, and reflection framework for our analysis. We find that students encountered various difficulties in solving quantum mechanics problems using delta functions. Common challenges included difficulty with establishing expressions of delta functions for position eigenstates, difficulty with expressing the orthonormality of eigenfunctions with continuous spectra using delta functions, difficulty with boundary conditions for delta function potentials, and difficulty with calculating integrals involved delta functions. In particular, students rarely used effective reflective methods to gain confidence in their solutions. We commonly observed this challenge for students in all questions we investigated. In addition, we compare the similarities and differences in the use of delta functions in electrostatics and in quantum mechanics, and discuss possible explanations for the reasoning mechanisms that cause these difficulties. Finally, we discuss the potential pedagogical implications of our findings.

Identifying students’ difficulties in understanding Gauss’s and Ampere’s laws is important for developing educational strategies that promote an expertlike understanding of the field concept and Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetic phenomena. This study aims to analyze and compare students’ understanding of symmetry when applying Gauss’s and Ampere’s laws to calculate the electric or magnetic field. We conducted a study to analyze how students reason regarding the symmetry conditions necessary to apply Gauss’s or Ampere’s laws to calculate the electric or magnetic field in three inverse problems. We applied two open-ended questionnaires with parallel surface features, one for Gauss’s law and the other for Ampere’s law, to 322 engineering students. The three inverse problems present different scenarios with the common characteristic that there is no sufficient symmetry to solve the electric or magnetic field from its corresponding equation. We analyzed students’ answers with a phenomenographic approach, focusing on students’ answers to a yes or no question and their reasoning. The main findings of the study are the descriptive categories of understanding and the comparison of the categories between contexts (outcome space). The correct reasoning is identifying the necessary symmetry to apply Gauss’s or Ampere’s law. The other categories refer to the surface features of each scenario to explain students’ answers, applying Gauss’s or Ampere’s law in an oversimplified way and thinking that it would be possible but more complicated in these scenarios. The descriptive categories are related to some of the difficulties previously reported in the literature with standard problems involving Gauss’s and Ampere’s laws. However, inverse problems elicited variations in the types of reasoning related to the surface features of the scenarios and their parallel representations. The comparative analysis between the electricity and magnetism contexts allowed for identifying that analyzing currents can be more challenging for students than analyzing point charges. This study’s findings can guide introductory and intermediate electricity and magnetism instructors to redirect their approach to Gauss’s and Ampere’s laws by introducing the analysis of inverse problems.

In 2017 the University of Utah experienced a tragedy which catalyzed already active changes in the department. In the aftermath, admissions to the graduate program was paused while new policies were developed and implemented. This article outlines this change process through the perspectives and accounts of those involved. Through in-depth interviews with students, staff, faculty, and administrators the process of change was found to be a complex path that involved robust practices of gathering input. This input was considered by a centralized group (the executive committee) advising the department chair and administrators. Findings indicated that the collective desire to reopen the program inspired most faculty to work together to find solutions, while some stakeholders did not fully buy in to large-scale programmatic changes. Further, interviews revealed the persistence of deep cultural challenges after the development and implementation of new policies. A new metaphor for this change is suggested to be a bonfire, as a tragedy sparked the fire of change structures which had already been built, and continual fuel is needed to sustain these changes. Moving forward the department is extending their graduate reform into undergraduate initiatives and normalizing evidence-based teaching practices. Content warning: This paper discusses the death by suicide of a graduate student.

We present a study on the development of Finnish first-year physics majors’ attitudes towards physics, as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey, before, during, and after the period of mandatory remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. We find that in the years before the pandemic, these attitudes did not change, but the period of extended remote learning due to the pandemic had a negative effect on the students’ expertlike views. Similarly, the students who experienced the remote learning period in high school displayed a lower level of expertlike thinking as they entered university. As contact teaching resumed, moderate positive gains were seen, bridging some but not all of the gap in student attitudes left by the pandemic.

Students’ social belonging in introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses has repeatedly been shown to be an important influence on students’ outcomes in these courses. Previous studies have further identified students’ sense of belonging and belonging uncertainty as related but unique components of their broader social belonging that can independently affect outcomes. High belonging uncertainty (doubts about the quality of one’s social connections or academic ability in a course) may particularly disadvantage historically marginalized groups in physics, such as women or students of color who face negative stereotypes based on their identity. Additionally, high-stakes exams, such as traditional final exams in introductory physics classes, can disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized groups. In this study, we investigated the effect of social belonging on students’ performance across two Introductory Physics 1 sections with two variations of final assessment: one section that took a traditional final exam and one section that completed a nontraditional final course project. Both assessment types were high stakes and constituted a similar, substantial proportion of students’ final course grade. We found that both students’ sense of belonging and belonging uncertainty impacted their final assessment score, regardless if they took the traditional final exam or completed the nontraditional final project. The findings of this study illustrate how students’ social belonging can impact performance even on nontraditional assessments if such assessment is of similar high stakes to a traditional exam.

To investigate how physics students perceived the sudden shift to online learning at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with university students in Austria, Croatia, and Germany. Based on the interviews, a questionnaire was developed and data from $N=578$ physics students from five universities in Germany, Austria, and Croatia were gathered. In this paper, we report how students perceived synchronous and asynchronous physics lessons, how their perception correlates with their self-organization skills, which activities and teaching methods were perceived as helpful, and what are the implications for future physics courses. The most common advantages of synchronous course elements reported by students were the possibility to immediately ask questions, the feeling of community and interaction with other students, and the defined daily structure, whereas the most common advantages of asynchronous course elements reported were flexible time management and the possibility to watch videos at their own pace. The data indicate a correlation between preference for synchronous courses and their general self-organization, so instructors should be aware of this connection when planning future courses. Face-to-face lectures at university were perceived as the most helpful course element, followed by the recorded lectures from the instructor and the group work on the assignments, projects, and problems with other students. Furthermore, our results suggest that most students would in the future like to preserve the upload of learning materials and recorded video of the lectures in addition to classroom lectures. Overall, the results of this study suggest that both synchronous and asynchronous course elements should be combined in future online and in-person physics courses.

Researchers have pinpointed recognition from others as one of the most important dimensions of students’ science and engineering identity. Studies, however, have found gender biases in students’ recognition of their peers, with inconsistent patterns across introductory science and engineering courses. Toward finding the source of this variation, we examine whether a gender bias exists in students’ nominations of strong peers across three different remote, introductory physics courses with varying student populations (varying demographics, majors, and course levels). We also uniquely evaluate possible racial or ethnic biases and probe the relationship between instructional context (whether lecture or laboratory) and recognition. Some of our results replicate previous findings (such as the association of course grade and small class section enrollment with nominations), while others offer contradictions. Comparing across our three courses and the prior work, results suggest that course level (whether first-year students or beyond-first-year students) might be more associated with a gender bias in peer recognition than other variables. Surprisingly, we also find instances of racial or ethnic biases in favor of students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in science. Finally, we find that the nomination patterns differ when students nominate individuals strong in the lecture material versus the laboratory material. This work serves as an important step in determining which courses and contexts exhibit biases in peer recognition, as well as how students’ perceptions of one another form in remote teaching environments.

We discuss an investigation of students’ motivational beliefs and performance on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) in a calculus-based introductory physics course at a large public university in the U.S. We investigated how students’ perception of the inclusiveness of the learning environment (including perceived recognition, perceived effectiveness of peer interaction, and sense of belonging) predicts students’ FCI scores and physics motivational beliefs (including self-efficacy, interest, and overall physics identity) at the end of the course after controlling for students’ high school performance and their FCI scores and motivational beliefs at the beginning of the course. We find signatures of noninclusive learning environment in that female students’ mean scores in physics motivational beliefs and perception of the inclusiveness of the learning environment were lower than male students’, and the gender gap in students’ self-efficacy increased from the beginning to the end of the course. Using structural equation modeling, we find that the gender differences in students’ motivational beliefs and FCI scores were mediated by the different components of students’ perception of the inclusiveness of the learning environment. In particular, students’ perceived recognition, e.g., by instructors, was an important predictor of their overall physics identity, and their sense of belonging predicted their self-efficacy and FCI scores. Our findings can be valuable for contemplating guidelines for creating an inclusive learning environment in which all students can excel.

Students sometimes learn about a model of the “scientific method” that is linear and clear cut. While this approach may have pedagogical advantages, it does not reflect how science is often done in practice. The Experimental Modeling Framework (EMF) describes the complex and iterative process of experimentation in the domain of physics, including comparing predictions with experimental data and enacting revisions to models and apparatus. We conducted interviews with 10 undergraduate students who had just completed an advanced physics lab course in order to investigate their views about the EMF as a depiction of the process experimental physics. We report the results of a thematic analysis that investigates students’ views about the EMF and explores the extent to which students identified iteration as an important aspect of experimental physics. Generally, the students in this study found the EMF to be reflective of the process of experimental physics. They identified several distinct differences between the EMF and a traditional depiction of a linear scientific method (SM), including the lack of iteration in the SM, as well as the importance of asking questions and reporting results, which is absent from the EMF. Additionally, student discussions of the fundamentally iterative nature of science were most likely to occur during direct comparisons of the EMF and SM. We discuss implications of this study for both research and instruction. We suggest that, in a lab course where iteration is a goal, explicit in-class discussions and comparisons of models of the process of experimentation could be beneficial for students’ epistemological development.

Informal physics programs bring physicists together with youth and adults from local communities to engage with physics content outside of classroom settings. These public engagement or “physics outreach” programs are a significant endeavor of the physics community; however, we lack a systemic documentation of these efforts, which makes it difficult to situate physics education research on individual informal physics programs into a broader narrative. Additionally, informal physics programs have many formats and vary in terms of their audience, content, activities, and resources. It is important to understand these aspects of programs if we want them to be more equitable and inclusive. This work shows our early steps of a large project aiming to map the landscape of informal physics programs in the United States. Drawing from organizational theory, and using data collected from a national sample of programs, we have created and validated a survey for lead facilitators to capture the who, what, where, when, and why for their informal programs. After validation, we completed targeted data collection within one state as a test case for broader implementation. Our analysis of the sample ($n=18$ programs at 6 institutions) shows that there are many different factors other than common presentation-style labels that are relevant, such as geographic reach, audience demographics, funding, and involvement of physics students. One notable finding is that university physics students play a big role in the operation of these programs, making them rich environments for the attention of physics education researchers and administrators at academic institutions.

Affective and cognitive outcomes of science teaching in schools may be enhanced by science outreach labs (SOLs). Particularly interesting is whether and how to connect SOL visits to in-school science learning. Recent studies—among others, in this journal—have confirmed SOLs’ positive affective effects. However, research remains inconclusive regarding cognitive outcomes, the effects of connecting SOLs to classroom teaching, and effects beyond the short term. This study more closely investigates the short- and medium-term effectiveness of SOLs on affective (interest, self-concept) and cognitive variables (conceptual and procedural knowledge), as well as the effects of integrating lab work with school-based preparation and post-lab activities. A quasi-experimental intervention study via a repeated measures design and two SOL treatment groups (TG1/2: with and without integration), and an in-school control group (CG; also with integration of pre- and postlab activities, in accordance with good practice) was undertaken. It took place in a lab work unit on “pressure and buoyancy” for the lower secondary level, with identical instruction and the same instructor across groups, and with several further control measures. The main findings are as follows: (i) SOLs can have substantial learning and affective outcomes [pre-post learning gains: Cohen’s $d>1$; increases in interest ($d>0.8$) and self-concept ($d\approx 0.5$) immediately after the visit]. (ii) Learning gains were still present at medium term ($d>0.7$) but not affective ones. (iii) Integration with classroom teaching was necessary for learning (TG1 vs TG2: $d=0.72$), and not harmful for interest. (iv) Learning and affective outcomes of an integrated SOL are as good as those of a well-prepared classroom setting, but not better. (v) No interactions of the outcome variables with gender and other covariates were found; the lab work units appeared suitable for both sexes and different kinds of learners. These findings are discussed with respect to current theories of learning and interest development, and SOLs’ added value to science education.

Understanding how physicists solve problems can guide the development of methods that help students learn and improve at solving complex problems. Leveraging the framework of cognitive task analysis, we conducted semistructured interviews with theoretical physicists ($N=11$) to gain insight into the cognitive processes and skills that they use in their professional research. Among numerous activities that theorists described, here we elucidate two activities that theorists commonly characterized as being integral to their work: making assumptions and using analogies. Theorists described making assumptions throughout their research process, especially while setting their project’s direction and goals, establishing their model’s interaction with mathematics, and revising their model while troubleshooting. They described how assumptions about their model informed their mathematical decision making, as well as instances where mathematical steps fed back into their model’s applicability. We found that theorists used analogies to generate new project ideas as well as overcome conceptual challenges. Theorists deliberately sought out or constructed analogies, indicating this is a skill students can practice. When mapping knowledge from one system to another, theorists used systems that shared a high degree of mathematical similarity; however, these systems did not always share similar surface features. We conclude by discussing connections between the ways theorists use assumption and analogy and offering potential new avenues of research regarding applications to instruction.

Students’ self-efficacy in physics classes can play a key role in shaping course outcomes. Prior research has shown that women have a lower self-efficacy than men in calculus-based introductory physics courses. We administered a validated survey to 564 students to investigate the gender differences in self-efficacy and how it predicts student grades at the end of a mandatory two-semester introductory physics course sequence primarily for bioscience majors in which women outnumber men. We used structural equation modeling to investigate how students’ self-efficacy predicts female and male students’ grade at the end of the course. We found that women had a lower self-efficacy and grade than men and that the students’ self-efficacy played a major role in predicting students’ grade even though women outnumbered men in this physics course. This study hints at the fact that numerical representation alone is not sufficient, e.g., to mitigate the effects of deep-rooted societal stereotypes and biases related to who belongs in physics and can excel in it. Thus, it is important for physics instructors to be intentional about creating equitable and inclusive learning environments in which all students, particularly those from traditionally marginalized groups such as women, have high self-efficacy and can thrive.

Engaging in interactions with peers is important for student learning. Many studies have quantified patterns of student interactions in in-person physics courses using social network analysis, finding different network structures between instructional contexts (lecture and laboratory) and styles (active and traditional). Such studies also find inconsistent results as to whether and how student-level variables (e.g., grades and demographics) relate to the formation of interaction networks. In this cross-sectional research study, we investigate these relationships further by examining lecture and lab interaction networks in four different remote physics courses spanning various instructional styles and student populations. We apply statistical methods from social network analysis—exponential random graph models—to measure the relationship between network formation and multiple variables: students’ discussion and lab section enrollment, final course grades, gender, and race or ethnicity. Similar to previous studies of in-person courses, we find that remote lecture interaction networks contain large clusters connecting many students, while remote lab interaction networks contain smaller clusters of a few students. Our statistical analysis suggests that these distinct network structures arise from a combination of both instruction-level and student-level variables, including the learning goals of each instructional context, whether assignments are completed in groups or individually, and the distribution of gender and major of students enrolled in a course. We further discuss how these and other variables help to understand the formation of interaction networks in both remote and in-person physics courses.

As systematic inequities in higher education and society have been brought to the forefront, graduate programs are interested in increasing the diversity of their applicants and enrollees. Yet, structures in place to evaluate applicants may not support such aims. One potential solution to support those aims is rubric-based holistic review. Starting in 2018, our physics department implemented a rubric-based holistic review process for all applicants to our graduate program. The rubric assessed applicants on 18 metrics covering their grades, test scores, research experiences, noncognitive competencies, and fit with the program. We then compared faculty’s ratings of applicants by admission status, sex, and undergraduate program over a three-year period. We find that the rubric scores show statistically significant differences between admitted and nonadmitted students as hoped. We also find that differences in rubric scores based on sex or undergraduate program reflected known systematic inequities such as applicants from smaller and less prestigious undergraduate universities scoring lower on the physics GRE and women performing more volunteer work in academia. Our results then suggest rubric-based holistic review as a possible route to making graduate admissions in physics more equitable.

At a large, diverse, hispanic-serving, master’s-granting university, the Alma Project was created to support the rich connections of life experiences of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students that come from racially diverse backgrounds through reflective journaling. Utilizing frameworks in ethnic studies and social psychology, the Alma Project aims to make learning STEM inclusive by affirming the intersectional identities and cultural wealth that students bring into STEM classrooms. Approximately once per month students who participate in the Alma Project spend 5–10 min at the beginning of class responding to questions designed to affirm their values and purpose for studying STEM in college. Students then spend time in class sharing their responses with their peers, to the extent that they feel comfortable, including common struggles and successes in navigating through college and STEM spaces. For this study, we analyze 180 reflective journaling essays of students enrolled in General Physics I, an algebra-based introductory physics course primarily for life science majors. Students were enrolled in a required lab, a self-selected community-based learning program (Supplemental Instruction), or in a small number of instances, both. Using the community cultural wealth framework to anchor our analysis, we identified 11 cultural capitals that students often expressed within these physics spaces. Students in both populations frequently expressed aspirational, attainment, and navigational capital, while expressions of other cultural capitals, such as social capital, differ in the two populations. Our findings suggest that students bring rich and diverse perspectives into physics classrooms when asked to reflect about their lived experiences. Moreover, our study provides evidence that reflective journaling can be used as an asset-based teaching tool. By using reflective journaling in physics spaces, recognizing students’ assets has the potential for physics educators to leverage students’ lived experiences, goals, and values to make physics learning more meaningful and engaging.

Visual representation in school textbooks plays an important role for physics teaching and learning. The integration of graphics with text has drawn attention of physics educators in recent years due to the close relationship between graphics and relevant text. The purpose of this study is to examine visual representation of optical content in three physics textbooks commonly used in China and Singapore. Based on a revised version of graphical analysis protocol, this study focuses on two aspects of visual representation: (i) presentation of graphics, and (ii) integration of graphics with corresponding text. The content analysis approach was adopted as the research methodology with 115 graphics taken from the three physics textbooks being the analysis target. The results show that the three textbooks had considerable differences in terms of graphical presentations and that they contained a small percentage of high systematical representations. On integration of graphics with text, each textbook was found to be unique. Based on the results of this study, some recommendations are provided for visual representation in physics textbooks so as to enhance the effectiveness of textbooks on teaching and learning, such as highlighting physical and semantic integration of text with graphics.

Two-stage collaborative exams are an increasingly popular form of formative assessment which have shown promising results in promoting student learning. While the benefit of two-stage collaborative exams is well researched, there is no clear consensus on the best way of implementing them—specifically with respect to forming student groups. In some studies students self-select their groups, and in others they are assigned by the instructor (either randomly or with a specific grouping algorithm). Research has shown that performance and satisfaction in group learning situations improves when faculty, not students, select the groups. Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that students’ learning benefits from working in groups with diverse learning styles, abilities, gender, and race. In this study, we report on a controlled experiment conducted during a two-stage collaborative exam in an introductory physics course at Harvard University. For the group stage of the exam, half of the groups were formed by the instructor (based on balancing gender and performance on previous exams) and the other half were student selected. We compared performance on both the individual and group stage of the exam for the instructor-formed versus student-formed groups. We also surveyed students on their experiences during the group exam. We found that female students perform better on two-part collaborative exams when they are in student-formed groups. We also found that in the student-formed groups students (especially female students) felt more comfortable speaking up and felt that their groups were both “more effective and productive” and “more receptive to their ideas” than in the instructor-formed groups. This study provides important insights into best practice implementation of two-stage collaborative exams.