United States

A diverse physics workforce benefits society and the economy; yet, physics graduates do not re?ect an inclusive community. Over 18% of the American population identifies as non-white Hispanic, though American Institute of Physics data show that only 9% of physics bachelor degrees were awarded to Hispanic students as of 2018. Community colleges are more representative of community demographics with 27% of students identifying as Hispanic and over 200 colleges federally recognized as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), but community colleges do not serve as many physics majors compared to baccalaureate-granting institutions. The TRAINS project supports physics URM transfer students in navigating cultural interfaces and the transition from a community college to a baccalaureate-granting institution. This study focuses specifically on Hispanic community college students’ early expectations for building relationships with mentors and peers. Understanding these expectations will help faculty support URM students through their undergraduate research experiences and transitions to baccalaureate-granting physics programs.

AAPT SM 22

Understanding Hispanic Physics Majors’ Expectations of Relationship-Building at Community College

AAPT meetings are a great way to reflect on your teaching, recommit to best practices and re-energize your career with new research, products, and techniques. Listen to internationally known plenary speakers, attend sessions, workshops, and special activities. This meeting is an excellent opportunity to share your expertise and learn from and network with leaders in the field.



technical paper

At the 2020 AAPT Winter Meeting, research on the effect of Community Building on underrepresented groups in an Introductory Physics course at San Diego Mesa College was presented. Data was presented showing an increase in success as these techniques were implemented. Then the pandemic hit. This presentation shows how these techniques were implemented in a remote setting and the effect on student success. It also reports on student success in different demographics in the aftermath of the pandemic and asks the question "How are our students doing?"

Community Building in Physics Classroom: A Pandemic Update

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An Update on Women’s Leadership in Physics Education

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Impact of a Physics Camp on Girls’ Critical Physics Identities

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Deserving of Nobel? The Harvard Computers and other Neglected Pioneers

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Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project Engineering Systems Overview

Galactic cosmic rays are high-energy particles that impinge on Earth’s atmosphere, in the form of positively charged particles, protons. The protons interact with atmospheric nuclei to produce a cascade of secondary particles known as a galactic cosmic ray shower. This post-collision secondary shower depends on altitude, latitude, solar activity, and air pressure. The Regener-Pfotzer (R-P) maximum, which is stated to be between 15-25 km, is the altitude where the maximum number of charged particle detections is measured with a Geiger-Müller detector. In order to better understand the dynamics of the collisions, a flight stack containing two payloads was flown. One payload contained four pancake shaped Geiger counters measuring vertical and horizontal charged particle coincidences. The other payload measured the omnidirectional charge particle interactions. Data show that a R-P maximum occurs at different altitudes depending on direction of the coincidences consistent with previous research in this area.

High Altitude Balloon Directional Measurements of Cosmic Ray Shower Events

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Learning Vectors Online: Comparing Multiple-Choice to Drawing Vectors

Research suggests that certain incorrect patterns of student reasoning remain even after instruction. Many challenging tasks seem to elicit strong intuitively appealing (but incorrect) responses. Even those students who demonstrate that they possess the formal knowledge necessary to analyze given situations correctly tend not to use this knowledge. Dual-process theories of reasoning suggest that to catch a mistake, (1) a reasoning red flag must be raised, and (2) the validity of a response must be checked. The last step is particularly challenging for many introductory physics students. In this talk, we will discuss the results of a study intended to help students develop validity checking strategies in various situations that require the application of Newton's second law. We will discuss implications for instruction and research.

Teaching Reasoning Skills Necessary to Validate or Reject a Response

We report on a study of response time data on basic algebra questions in undergraduate introductory Physics courses to learn more about its relationship with accuracy. Of specific interest is the importance of familiarity with Physics symbols in algebraic expressions. For isomorphic questions, we investigate the differences in response time and accuracy distributions between two groups of students - one trained with common Math symbols and the other with Physics symbols. We also investigate and compare changes in the response time-accuracy relation for the two symbol formats. To improve the analysis, a response time effort index is created based on the distributions to estimate the number of students making rapid guesses. Important goals of this analysis include gaining insights into how to construct valid and reliable measures of algebra skills relevant for introductory physics, and the extent to which students can improve these skills on time scales of weeks.

Algebra Accuracy and Response Time: Physics vs Common Math Symbols

If you ask a director of recruitment “What’s that thing you do to recruit students?,” you’ll likely get an awkward look. It would be a look similar to the one you would give them if they asked you “What do you teach your majors?” The truth is, effective recruiting requires a strategy, multiple actions, sustained effort, and mindful messaging to effectively market your program. This is especially true for teacher preparation programs because the recruitment efforts need to include marketing the profession itself, not just the discipline that hosts the major. And some marketing will need to be directed toward fellow faculty. Fortunately, Get the Facts Out has vetted resources to help departments tailor media/content to best meet those needs. From presentations, posters, and postcards to shared Google sheets, LFD slides, and mass mailings, I will share my experiences making use of these resources in my local context.

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Understanding Hispanic Physics Majors’ Expectations of Relationship-Building at Community College

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