Studying Equity in Undergraduate Physics Labs

在本科物理实验室研究公平

• 批准号: 1836617
• 负责人: Natasha Holmes
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-10-01 至 2024-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1836617&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Studying; Equity; Undergraduate; Physics; Labs

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by studying how fairness in group interactions during laboratory classes affects students' decisions to persist in physics. Despite extensive efforts to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, many students who declare a STEM major early in their college years do not persist to graduation. Although the many variables that affect student persistence are complex and intertwined, an important observation is that students do not leave STEM simply due to poor grades. This study, in the Exploration and Design tier of the Engaged Student Learning track, will evaluate how lab experiences affect student perspectives of what it means to do physics and whether they will continue to do it. The work will focus on lab courses where students conduct experiments together, requiring coordinated decision-making between the group members. The project will gather data about student experiences though structured observations of students in labs, paired with interviews of their experiences. By linking direct observations with interviews, this project provides a rare opportunity to connect persistence to actual in-class activities. The significance of this work is increased by the observation that inequities in group interactions may more negatively impact the persistence of some groups of students, such as women and minority students. The proposed study aims to answer two research questions: 1) What are the characteristics of equitable lab groups and lab activities? 2) How do students' lab experiences (equitable or not) affect their perspectives of what it means to do physics and whether they will persist in physics studies? Students' experiences in group work will be evaluated through observations of talk time and turn taking, bids for inclusion and exclusion, assuming leadership roles, equipment handling, and ownership of ideas. Targeted interviews and surveys will probe students' views about what it means to do physics, who can do it, and whether they plan to continue to do it, while also drawing connections to their group work experiences in the lab. A significant focus will be on evaluating interactions between common predictors of persistence (students' self-efficacy, sense of belonging, science identity, and sense of agency) and their experiences in lab. The goal of this work is to generate a set of implications for how lab instruction can affect student persistence in STEM and recommendations for improvements to physics labs. Its research methodology will enable the investigators to probe how lab experiences affect different groups of students, including groups that have been historically underrepresented in physics. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在 NSF 改善本科生 STEM 教育计划：教育和人力资源（IUSE：EHR）的支持下，该项目旨在通过研究实验室课堂上小组互动的公平性如何影响学生坚持物理学的决定来服务于国家利益。尽管为改善科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 教育付出了巨大努力，但许多在大学早期就选择 STEM 专业的学生并没有坚持到毕业。尽管影响学生坚持的许多变量复杂且相互交织，但一个重要的观察结果是，学生不会仅仅因为成绩不佳而离开 STEM。这项研究属于学生参与学习轨道的探索和设计层，将评估实验室经验如何影响学生对物理研究的意义以及他们是否会继续这样做的看法。这项工作将侧重于学生一起进行实验的实验课程，需要小组成员之间协调决策。该项目将通过对实验室中学生的结构化观察并结合对他们经历的采访来收集有关学生经历的数据。通过将直接观察与访谈联系起来，该项目提供了一个难得的机会，将坚持与实际的课堂活动联系起来。这项工作的意义在于观察到群体互动中的不平等可能会对某些学生群体（例如女性和少数族裔学生）的坚持产生更负面的影响。拟议的研究旨在回答两个研究问题：1）公平的实验室群体和实验室活动有哪些特征？ 2）学生的实验室经历（公平与否）如何影响他们对物理研究意义的看法以及他们是否会坚持物理研究？学生在小组工作中的经验将通过观察谈话时间和轮流、争取包容和排除、担任领导角色、设备处理和想法所有权来评估。有针对性的访谈和调查将探讨学生对物理研究的意义、谁可以做物理以及他们是否打算继续做物理的看法，同时也与他们在实验室的小组工作经验联系起来。一个重要的重点将是评估持久性的常见预测因素（学生的自我效能、归属感、科学认同和代理感）与其在实验室的经历之间的相互作用。这项工作的目标是就实验室教学如何影响学生对 STEM 的坚持产生一系列影响，并提出改进物理实验室的建议。其研究方法将使研究人员能够探究实验室经历如何影响不同的学生群体，包括历史上在物理学领域代表性不足的群体。 NSF IUSE：EHR 计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生 STEM 教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

So Unfair it's Fair: Equipment handling in remote versus in-person introductory physics labs

如此不公平，却如此公平：远程物理介绍实验室与现场物理实验室的设备处理

• DOI: 10.1119/perc.2022.pr.dew
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: 2022 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings
• 作者: Dew, Matthew;Phillips, Anna McLean;Karunwi, Samuel;Baksh, Ariel;Stump, Emily M.;Holmes, N. G.
• 通讯作者: Holmes, N. G.

Examining the effects of lab instruction and gender composition on intergroup interaction networks in introductory physics labs

检查物理入门实验室中实验室教学和性别构成对组间互动网络的影响

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.18.010102
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Physical Review Physics Education Research
• 影响因子: 3.1
• 作者: Sundstrom, Meagan;Wu, David G.;Walsh, Cole;Heim, Ashley B.;Holmes, N. G.
• 通讯作者: Holmes, N. G.

Understanding interaction network formation across instructional contexts in remote physics courses

了解远程物理课程中跨教学环境的交互网络形成

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.18.020141
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Physical Review Physics Education Research
• 影响因子: 3.1
• 作者: Sundstrom, Meagan;Schang, Andy;Heim, Ashley B.;Holmes, N. G.
• 通讯作者: Holmes, N. G.

What topics of peer interactions correlate with student performance in physics courses?

• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6404/ad358b
• 发表时间: 2024-05-01
• 期刊: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
• 影响因子: 0.7
• 作者: Simpfendoerfer，L. N.;Sundstrom，Meagan;Holmes，N. G.
• 通讯作者: Holmes，N. G.

Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency

重组物理实验室以培养学生的能动性

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevphyseducres.17.020128
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Physical Review Physics Education Research
• 影响因子: 3.1
• 作者: Kalender, Z. Yasemin;Stump, Emily;Hubenig, Katelynn;Holmes, N. G.
• 通讯作者: Holmes, N. G.