More Like this

1. Systemic inequities in introductory physics courses: the impacts of learning assistants

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2017.pr.095  

   Van Dusen, Ben; Nissen, Jayson M. (January 2018, Proc. 2017 Physics Education Research Conference)

   Creating equitable performance outcomes among students is a focus of many instructors and researchers. One focus of this effort is examining disparities in physics student performance across genders, which is a well-established problem. Another less common focus is disparities across racial and ethnic groups, which may have received less attention due to low representation rates making it difficult to identify gaps in their performance. In this investigation we examined associations between Learning Assistant (LA) supported courses and improved equity in student performance. We built Hierarchical Linear Models of student performance to investigate how performance differed by gender and by race/ethnicity and how LAs may have moderated those differences. Data for the analysis came from pre-post concept inventories in introductory mechanics courses collected through the Learning About STEM Student Outcomes (LASSO) platform. Our models show that gaps in performance across genders and races/ethnicities were similar in size and increased from pre to post instruction. LA-support is meaningfully and reliably associated with improvement in overall student performance but not with shifts in within-course performance gaps. 

   more » « less
2. Bias on the Force Concept Inventory across the intersection of gender and race

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2021.pr.Buncher  

   Buncher, John B.; Nissen, Jayson M.; Van Dusen, Ben; Talbot, Robert M.; Huvard, Hannah (October 2021, 2021 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings)

   Education researchers often compare performance across race and gender on research-based assessments of physics knowledge to investigate the impacts of racism and sexism on physics student learning. These investigations' claims rely on research-based assessments providing reliable, unbiased measures of student knowledge across social identity groups. We used classical test theory and differential item functioning (DIF) analysis to examine whether the items on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) provided unbiased data across social identifiers for race, gender, and their intersections. The data was accessed through the Learning About STEM Student Outcomes platform and included responses from 4,848 students posttests in 152 calculus-based introductory physics courses from 16 institutions. The results indicated that the majority of items (22) on the FCI were biased towards a group. These results point to the need for instrument validation to account for item bias and the identification or development of fair research-based assessments. 

   more » « less
3. Detailing Racialized and Gendered Mechanisms of Undergraduate Precalculus and Calculus Classroom Instruction

   https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2020.1849218  

   Leyva, Luis A.; Quea, Ruby; Weber, Keith; Battey, Dan; López, Daniel (January 2021, Cognition and Instruction)

   null (Ed.)

   Undergraduate mathematics education can be experienced in discouraging and marginalizing ways among Black students, Latin
   students, and white women. Precalculus and calculus courses, in particular, operate as gatekeepers that contribute to racialized and gendered attrition in persistence with mathematics coursework and pursuits in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). However, student perceptions of instruction in these introductory mathematics courses have yet to be systematically examined as a contributor to such attrition. This paper presents findings from a study of 20 historically marginalized students’ perceptions of precalculus and calculus instruction to document features that they found discouraging and marginalizing. Our analysis revealed how students across different race-gender identities reported stereotyping as well as issues of representation in introductory mathematics classrooms and STEM fields as shaping their perceptions of instruction. These perceptions pointed to the operation of three racialized and gendered mechanisms in instruction: (i) creating differential opportunities for participation and support, (ii) limiting support from same-race, same-gender peers to manage negativity in instruction, and (iii) activating exclusionary ideas about who belongs in STEM fields. We draw on our findings to raise implications for research and practice in undergraduate mathematics education. 

   more » « less
4. Student views of what counts as doing physics in the lab

   https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2022.pr.Stump  

   Stump, Emily M.; Holmes, N. G. (September 2022, 2022 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings)

   Frank, Brian W.; Jones, Dyan L.; Ryan, and Qing (Ed.)

   Numerous studies have identified gender inequity in how students divide roles in lab courses. Few studies, however, have probed how these inequities impact women's experimental physics identity development. In this work, we used closed-response surveys to investigate which lab tasks students view as part of "doing physics" and how these designations varied by gender. In both courses, we found that most students viewed working with the experimental apparatus, taking lab notes, doing data analysis, and thinking about the physics theory behind the experiment as part of doing physics. Only 50% of students, however, viewed managing the group progress as part of doing physics. While men and women's views did not vary in the first-semester lab course, in the third-semester course women were more likely to view notes and managing as part of doing physics than were men. Given that previous research has indicated that women are more likely to take on managing and note-taking roles than men, our results suggest that women may be receiving less recognition as physicists from their peers, which may hinder their experimental physics identity development. 

   more » « less
5. Using a research-based assessment instrument to explore undergraduate students’ proficiencies around measurement uncertainty in physics lab contexts

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.020105  

   Geschwind, Gayle; Vignal, Michael; Caballero, Marcos D; Lewandowski, H J (July 2024, Physical Review Physics Education Research)

   Concepts and practices surrounding measurement uncertainty are vital knowledge for physicists and are often emphasized in undergraduate physics laboratory courses. We have previously developed a research-based assessment instrument—the Survey of Physics Reasoning on Uncertainty Concepts in Experiments (SPRUCE)—to examine student proficiency with measurement uncertainty along a variety of axes, including sources of uncertainty, handling of uncertainty, and distributions and repeated measurements. We present here initial results from the assessment representing over 1500 students from 20 institutions. We analyze students’ performance pre- and postinstruction in lab courses and examine how instruction impacts students with different majors and gender. We find that students typically excel in certain areas, such as reporting the mean of a distribution as their result, while they struggle in other areas, such as comparing measurements with uncertainty and correctly propagating errors using formulas. Additionally, we find that the importance that an instructor places in certain areas of measurement uncertainty is uncorrelated with student performance in those areas. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

   more » « less