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The Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) Survey has been used to analyze students in introductory calculus-based physics, introductory math-based astronomy, upper division/graduate-level physics, as well as Turkish students in high school and introductory university physics. In this study, post-test survey results from introductory algebra-based physics course sections in 2019 and 2020 will be checked for statistical relationship with the following variables: 1) students’ self-reported learning goals in introductory algebra-based physics courses; 2) students’ choice of major (in particular, life science majors dominate the student population). From prior studies regarding these two variables, it is anticipated that students that express a mastery learning goal (as opposed to a performance learning goal or otherwise) may have more expert-like views than other students; discussion will focus on the accuracy of this statement and potential explanations for results.

AAPT SM 20

Attitudes and Approaches to Physics Problem Solving Survey: Life Science Majors

attitudes problem solving

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?

technical paper

The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. The program featured plenary speakers, sessions, workshops and many special activities.

For more information please visit the 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting page at: https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm.


The 2020 AAPT Virtual Summer Meeting brought together physics educators from around the globe to learn about the latest in physics theory, research methodology and education from leaders in their field. 

The Big Astronomy Project is a multi-institutional effort that aims to share the stories of the people and places that make big astronomy possible in Chile. We have developed a model, the Dome+ model, to identify best practices for extending engagement beyond planetarium shows. The model’s main component is a planetarium show, where planetarium visitors are shown NSF ground-based observatories in Chile. To support STEM identity, interest, and agency for planetarium visitors, we are creating additional resources such as weekly virtual sessions with STEM professionals, a web portal with additional content, and a suite of hands-on activities. The project strives to 1) promote awareness of the investments in astronomy being made by the US in Chile, 2) encourage interest in diverse STEM career opportunities at large observatories, 3) share knowledge of the science enabled by big astronomy, 4) increase perceptions by Latinx youth and adults about careers at observatories.

Extending Engagement Beyond the Planetarium: Big Astronomy in Chile

Diagraming physical scenarios is ubiquitous in physics problem solving and a key focus of physics education. In this talk, we discuss and compare unprompted and prompted diagrams generated by 19 physics majors (ranging from lower-division to graduate students) during one-on-one problem-solving interviews. These interviews included multiple-choice introductory-level physics problems (that neither contained nor asked for diagrams) followed by explicit diagraming tasks for similar scenarios. We discuss patterns and surprises in student-generated diagrams as well as implications for instruction and assessment.

Similarities and Differences between Unprompted and Prompted Student-generated Diagrams

There is a growing interest in the scientific practice of Developing and Using Models as it is included in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013). However, often the focus has been on models that capture how a given phenomenon looks, rather than models for explaining and predicting how scientific phenomena work. We developed a curriculum focused on supporting students in creating mechanistic (or explanatory) models of magnetism that can be used to make predictions. In this curriculum, students: explore an anchoring phenomenon, create models, investigate additional magnetic properties while collecting data, revise their models, and finally, through consensus building activities, create a consensus model that they present to the class. We have found that this process allows students to create models of magnetism that are both explanatory and predictive. We will present this curriculum and show examples of student work to help participants use this in their own classrooms.

Creating Explanatory and Predictive Models of Magnetism in the Middle-Grades

There is a dramatic underrepresentation of ethnic minorities and women within physics. The reasons for this underrepresentation are not fully understood. To explore this, we have surveyed high school physics students in order to investigate their perception of the various physics career paths. We paid special attention in our analysis to how a student’s demographic data affected these variables. In this presentation, we will detail the trends we found between the students’ perception of various physics career paths, their likelihood to pursue a career in physics, and their demographics.

Physics Career Expectations and Diversity among Secondary School Students

Over the last 10 years the Department of Physics at Simon Fraser University has installed a variety of science outreach displays in the main hallway leading into our building. These include hands-on physics demonstrations of electromagnetism, optics and chaos that people can try themselves. We have also installed monitors showing videos of our activities at TRIUMF and the Trottier Observatory. An additional monitor pays tribute to the generous alumni who have made donations to the department. The walls are painted with images of diagrams and equations from physics lectures, and a schematic of the TRIUMF accelerator. All of this makes for a welcoming entrance to our department that people from all walks of life, from preschool-aged children to seniors, enjoy. We will discuss how various members from the SFU Physics Dept. came together to design and build these displays, and the impact they have had on visitors to our campus.

Welcome to the Dept of Physics

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.

Physics content and practices across the landscape of informal physics

The Next Generation Science Standards have elevated doing science to the same level of importance as knowing science. Three-Dimensional Learning, on which the NGSS is based, is shifting the way we think about what we want students to learn. This change in learning objectives pushes us to think differently about what we assess: It's not just what students know, but also what they can do with their knowledge. We have developed the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP), which can be used to characterize assessments as aligning (or not) with scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas; or to develop assessment tasks that align with these three dimensions. In this talk, I will demonstrate these uses of the 3D-LAP and show results from our larger transformation project using the protocol.

3DL4US Project: Examining College Assessments in the Age of NGSS

Understanding how one builds a physics identity is an important step to creating structures and practices that support physics students both in and out of the classroom. We have investigated how university students’ physics identities can be fostered through teaching youth in informal physics programs. We collected reflections and interviews from participants in three different informal programs and analyzed them with an operationalized Communities of Practice framework. Our analysis shows that students’ identities can be supported through different structures and practices within each program. We find that students’ personal values aligning with the program’s mission was the biggest predictor of membership, while interactions with members of the community served as the most important mechanism for integration into the community. This work illuminates the specific aspects of informal physics programs that facilitate physics identity formation among the university students who choose to participate.

Structures that support students’ identities in informal physics programs

College courses are attempting to apply three-dimensional learning to both the instruction and assessment. This transformative way engages students in doing scientific practices and deepening disciplinary knowledge in physics. We used Evidence-Centered Design and the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol to assess students’ ability to engage in the scientific practice of Planning Investigations. We conducted a written exam and Think-Aloud interviews to collect data from physics students in introductory college course. We analyzed interviews using the lenses of planning theory and model-based reasoning in laboratory. The analysis helped us to identify the model of planning investigations process conducted by college students during assessment. Results from this analysis will help us interpret students’ written work and support the development of assessment tasks in the future.

Examining students' engagement in Planning Investigations practice in a written exam

Computer simulations have been used to support student learning in physics to boost conceptual understanding and make labs more widely accessible. To better understand their impact on student learning outcomes, the use of HTML5-based computer simulations for topics in mechanics were investigated in a large, algebra-based, studio physics course for life science students at a private, research-intensive institution. For the past three years, we have used an A/B testing methodology to compare learning outcomes associated with a lab activity on simple harmonic motion. Different groups in this study included students using traditional hands-on equipment only, a simulation only, or, a hybrid combination of both. We will present our findings of this study in the context of previous work and discuss the larger implications of the use of simulations in physics education.

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Extending Engagement Beyond the Planetarium: Big Astronomy in Chile

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