This project aims to create and evaluate an environment where students of different backgrounds can collaborate in physics public engagement work in order to foster communication skills and develop intersecting identities. In collaboration with Science Gallery Detroit, a team of four undergraduate students, two physics and two design, are working together to create an online platform for public engagement in physics. This team is aiming to create a visually appealing website that allows users to engage with different physics topics. The students choose their favorite topics and a narrative that connects the concepts through everyday life phenomena. In this poster, we present the work in progress platform as well as the research aspect. We use interviews, audio recordings, and weekly reflections to understand how the students develop or expand their physics identities and how the project evolves as the students' understanding of both physics and art evolves.

Physics Communication through Art: Development of Intersecting Identities

There are multiple ways for K-12 students to learn about physics and communicate science. One example is informal physics programs, which provide significant science resources in their communities. These programs house unique collections of physics artifacts and experiences for K-12 and are facilitated by educators who are experts at motivating interest and involvement in students. As part of our nationwide effort to develop a systemic understanding of the landscape of informal physics, we have developed a framework to investigate how these programs are structured and facilitated. Our study is focused on a number of important aspects, including the curriculum used by practitioners, how informal physics programs are facilitated, how they are socially constructed, how they attract their audience, and what type of assessment they use to evaluate their own effectiveness. In addition, we will share our experiences combining physics for K-12 students with other disciplines, including art, in program curricula.

Dena Izadi

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