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Over the past couple decades, computational thinking has emerged as an important problem-solving strategy for physics students to possess. However, an understanding of how students engage in computational thinking has remained somewhat elusive. Our study focuses on student think-aloud interviews involving two different computational tasks – one where students are asked to talk through an already built and working program and one where they have to edit and add to a given minimally working code to model a given situation. Applying a computational thinking framework that identifies fourteen different computational practices, we analyzed the interviews of four different students in an introductory physics course.

Here, we present the type and frequency of practices students engaged in and we compare across students and tasks. We will discuss the application of the framework and the impact of task design on elicited practices.

PERC SM 22

Case studies of computational thinking practices displayed by introductory physics students

Join us in exploring emergent themes in PER as a scholarly endeavor and as a research community!  Since its inception, PER has served as a confluence of discipline, theory, research methodology, practice, and application.  How have these facets and the interplays among them been fruitful for physics education globally, regionally, locally, or otherwise?  And, how have our successes and interactions influenced the very nature of PER itself?
Following the lead of AAPT for the summer meeting, PERC 20/20 was virtual. Enjoy browsing the content.

PERC SM 20

Since its inception, PER has served as a confluence of discipline, theory, research methodology, practice, and application.  How have these facets and the interplays among them been fruitful for physics education globally, regionally, locally, or otherwise?  And, how have our successes and interactions influenced the very nature of PER itself?

poster

PERC 2022 is focused on "queering physics education" through an intersectional lens. By "queering," we are centering queer theory which breaks down social constructions and hierarchies to unpack normalized assumptions. In the context of physics education, we want to apply the theory to unpack who has power in physics to control the production of future physicists, how physics policies and practices are sometimes built on ideas of punishment and power, and how PER embeds binaries in both its content and sociological research. Further, we want to encourage a dialogue that is both a critique and an imagining of a queer future for PER.

Explicit attention will be given to constructions of race, (dis)ability, gender, sexuality and how they interact and impact lived experiences.

We have had such a fun time organizing this year’s PERC. You might be aware that we were committed to transparency and documenting our processes and decision making which we outlined here. This year has also been challenging to be a queer or otherwise marginalized person in the US. And we continue to seek and provide support for those individuals.

As such, we recommend that folks visiting Grand Rapids who have the means consider giving to some local organizations who are working to advocate for those impacted by historic and ongoing marginalization and violence.


PERC 2022 focused on "queering physics education" through an intersectional lens. By "queering," we centered queer theory which breaks down social constructions and hierarchies to unpack normalized assumptions. In the context of physics education, we apply the theory to unpack who has power in physics to control the production of future physicists, how physics policies and practices are sometimes built on ideas of punishment and power, and how PER embeds binaries in both its content and sociological research. Further, we wanted to encourage a dialogue that is both a critique and an imagining of a queer future for PER. Explicit attention was given to constructions of race, (dis)ability, gender, sexuality and how they interact and impact lived experiences.

Working in groups is often an essential part of courses with an emphasis on engaging in the practices of physics. While how students work together has been studied in the context of introductory physics laboratories and tutorials, it is under-studied in upper division physics courses. Here, we present case studies from a group project-based computational physics class, drawing on self-assessments in which students evaluated both themselves and their peers, as well as video data of students working in groups. We find that how students see themselves within groups and the types of intellectual contributions they make to work shift over time. Understanding these students' experiences can provide the foundation for future research in group dynamics in upper division, computational, and project-based physics courses.

Navigating group work in computational projects:Case studies using self-assessments

Engaging in the scientific process through laboratory experiments is a significant component of learning physics.   The Introductory Physics for Life Science (IPLS) laboratories at the University of Utah are facilitated by a team of teaching assistants (TAs) and learning assistants (LAs), who are responsible for providing resources and support for the students to perform the experiments that they design.  The frequency of interactions between students and TAs/LAs has important effects on the engagement of students in the lab and performance on lab tests (Stang and Roll, 2014).  We use a qualitative research study to explore how TAs/LAs interact with students to support laboratory engagement, and the varied amount of interactions that TAs/LAs have with students.  Several sections of the laboratory were recorded and moments where students interacted with TAs/LAs were analyzed to describe how student-TA/LA interactions facilitate engagement with science.

Investigating Interactions Between Students and TAs/LAs in a Reform-Based Introductory Physics Laboratory

In an earlier study we showed that small amounts of extra credit offered for early progress on online homework assignments can reduce cramming behavior in introductory physics students. This work expands on the prior study by implementing a planning prompt intervention inspired by Yeomans and Reich's similar treatment. In the prompt we asked students to what degree they intended to earn extra credit offered for early work on the module sequence, and what their plan was to realize their intentions. The survey was assigned for ordinary course credit and due several days before the first extra credit deadline. We found that students who completed the prompt earned on average 0.6 more extra credit points and completed the modules an average of 1.0 days earlier compared to a previous semester. We detect the impact of the survey by creating a multilinear model based on data from students exposed to the intervention as well as students in a previous semester. Data from five homework sequences are included in the model to account for differences between the two semesters that cannot be attributed to the planning prompt intervention.

Using a Planning Prompt Survey to Encourage Early Completion of Homework Assignments

How do undergraduate students imagine their future professional lives after graduation? We conducted longitudinal semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students about their career goals and resources needed to develop professional identities using future possible self theory. We present multiple case studies of physics students exploring, adjusting, and refining their possible future selves. Overall, participants had elaborated future possible selves that were influenced by both academic and sociocultural experiences. High self-efficacy and positive interactions in the field positively impact students' imagined futures, whereas low self-efficacy and low recognition sabotage students' future possible selves; these ideas intersect with students' personality, lifestyle, and social identity. In this poster, we'll share two ways in which students refine their future possible selves: a path of narrowing and refining imagined futures; and a path of trying new selves in series

Undergraduates develop professional future possible selves after graduation

We have developed and validated a rubric for the assessment and scaffolding of problem-solving process in introductory physics courses via an iterative approach. The current version of the rubric consists of eight criteria based on research in expert-like problem solving practice and aspects of Cooperative Group Problem Solving (CGPS) pedagogy. In contrast to recent work on problem-solving assessment for use in research and curriculum development, this rubric was specifically designed for instructor use in the assignment of grades and for student use as a scaffold. The rubric was used to score N=166 student solutions to 6 problems covering content in introductory mechanics. Inter-rater and re-rater reliability was high for undergraduate Learning Assistant raters receiving only moderate training (approximately 4 hours). Exploratory factor analysis identified two factors that have been categorized as: (1) framing & defining, and (2) planning & execution. These factors align with our initial theory of the construct, suggesting evidence for criterion-related validity. Tau-equivalent reliability was found to be 0.76, and an item-total correlations test demonstrated all criteria correlations consistent with averaged behavior

Reliability and Validity of an Introductory Physics Problem-Solving Grading Rubric

Calculus-based introductory physics classes are prerequisite courses for many STEM majors and traditionally have a large attrition rate. One way to improve student learning outcomes is by creating open-access supple-mental materials. In this study, we investigated the relation between student engagement with supplemental materials and their performance in a calculus-based introductory course on electricity and magnetism. The re-sources examined in this study included video resources, summarizing important concepts, showing example problems, and covering in-depth problem-solving techniques, as well as prior years' exams. These resources were offered to support the learning of a diverse student population beyond the formal class structure. We an-alyzed student scores from midterm and ﬁnal exams, their ﬁnal letter grade, and their responses to anonymous questionnaires administered three times throughout the semester. Results from a statistical analysis of student performance found that those who engaged with supplemental materials (videos and previous years' exams) showed consistently higher performance on almost all exams and in their ﬁnal course grades. Responses to the anonymous questionnaires showed that large majorities (80-90%) of students felt the supplemental materials had a positive impact on their learning of the material and their performance on exams.

Impact of supplemental resources on student outcomes in introductory Electricity & Magnetism

Our department is working to incorporate computational methods in all undergraduate courses. As part of this effort, we have developed and validated an instrument to measure students' affect with respect to computation. This paper reports on changes in students' self-efficacy (SE) with respect to several computational techniques. Each semester that a student takes physics they are asked, as a portion of this instrument, to rate their ability with respect to 11 categories. They are also asked to retrospectively rate their ability when they began the program. This allows us to explore the development of our students SE in two ways: (1) we investigate the "raw" SE values and compare advanced students to beginners, and (2) we investigate the "difference" values advanced students indicate. We find that as students' progress, their retrospective estimates decline sharply. As a result, the difference-based figures show substantially larger changes in most categories.

Evaluating Changes in Students’ Self-Efficacy Regarding Computational Tools and Methods

In order to better understand how computational activities can help students learn quantum mechanics, we present a case study of a student Mary talking about her understanding of how to represent a wavefunction as a discretized column vector. We used a video elicitation interview technique, where Mary was shown a video of her working with her programming partner on a computational task and then asked to discuss how her understanding of the task has changed over time. Mary's experience as an undergraduate teaching assistant allowed her to have more interactions with the course material than most students and gave her experience in communicating her understanding to students, making her a particularly effective candidate for this case study. From this interview, we have identified some of the challenges students face in coordinating discrete and continuous aspects of quantum systems in the computational context.

Discrete and Continuous Challenges in Quantum Mechanics: A Reflective Interview

Studio physics is an interactive teaching method that benefits students' learning over traditional physics teaching approaches. A hallmark of studio physics is that instructors minimize lecture time and maximize time spent with students working in groups. However, students need to be well-supported in the group discussions to achieve optimal learning outcomes. In this study, we distributed a student survey and conducted instructor interviews to investigate the support(s) students requested so they could actively engage in group work. The student survey data revealed that students wanted instructors to be approachable during group work and to have a mechanism that guarantees equal group contribution. However, there is a mismatch between the support provided by instructors and the detailed support requested by students. Unified and rigorous guidance for instructors is a necessity for students to actively engage in effective and inclusive group work.

They’re not buying what we’re selling: Comparing student-requested supports with instructional practice during group work

We draw on methods from lines-of-argument analysis in Critical Interpretive Synthesis to synthesize and critique pathways through which disabled students access supports in postsecondary STEM. Integrating recent literature about pathways to access in postsecondary education as well as our ongoing research, we describe various mechanisms through which disabled students are currently provided (or not provided) access in postsecondary STEM and identify strengths and weaknesses with these various pathways. Specifically, we describe and problematize the typical accommodations process, which requires students to register with a Disability Resource Center which then negotiates accommodations with the disabled student and their instructors. Next, we describe alternatives to the traditional accommodations model, such as normalizing discussion of access needs (a tenant of disability justice), allowing individual instructors to validate students' needs and appropriate accommodations, and access through interdependence (another tenant of disability justice). We describe dimensions along which these pathways vary, such as process, disclosure, requirements for validity, and burden. We suggest instructors and mentors pull from all these models to create a transparent ecosystem of supports.

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