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Working in groups has been shown to be an effective way to improve student learning outcomes in physics. However, there are not many conceptual models to better understand how students think about group work. We revised a previously existing conceptual model to address both enacted and stated student beliefs, utilizing both survey responses and classroom observations. We found that our quadrant model was able to categorize most of the responses and observations. This new model can be used to describe enacted and stated student beliefs about group work in various fields.

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Development and use of validated assessments in physics provide insight into student un- derstanding of physics concepts and can be utilized to track student learning across time and instructional strategies. These tools can be used to gauge the efficacy of interventions designed to support students  and persistence, and allow instructors to make data-based decisions about how they structure their classrooms to support student learning. Unfortunately, gaps in performance based on demographic groups can often appear in physics assessments. However, some statistical approaches can allow for  identification of bias in assessment items, allowing for potential to reduce these “performance gaps.” Additionally, studying how student identity influences their experiences can inform how these gaps are understood if they remain after bias within items has been addressed. This dissertation reports two  distinct but complementary studies. The first study discusses development of a novel upper-division thermal physics assessment composed of coupled, multiple- response items. This study includes assessment item development and refinement; assessment implementation; and assessment validation,  with an explicit focus on differential item functioning and item response theory in addition to classical test theory approaches. The second, qualitative study focuses on how students’ experiences in STEM vary based on race and gender. This includes investigations of perceptions of professor care and  instruction styles; sense of belonging; and student perceptions of how race and gender impact those pursuing STEM. These studies in combination can inform practices intended to support students of all backgrounds in pursuing STEM and physics degrees.

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The use and understanding of mathematics is a crucial component of the physical sciences. Much work has been done in physics education research and science education more broadly to determine persistent difficulties with mathematics. This work has led to the development of nu- merous problem  solving strategies aimed at helping learners approach problems more like experts as well as frameworks used by researchers to describe the role of mathematics in physics problem solving. A focus on how students understand the meaning of mathematical formalisms in physical contexts has led to  studies of mathematical sense making (MSM), though no specific definition of this concept exists. We present a novel framework that operationalizes MSM through the catego- rization of student moves that contribute to the larger activity of sense making. This framework links prior work on MSM,  mathematical problem solving, and conceptual understanding and has utility for both researchers and instructors. In detailed studies of student reasoning, we show that the framework can be applied to describe student sense making across multiple modalities of work (verbal, written, multiple choice) and  across contexts (think-aloud interview settings as well as homework, exams, and other artifacts more commonly seen in physics and PER). The framework has descriptive utility for both the nuanced, individual reasoning evident in extended episodes as well as sparser forms of reasoning with much  larger sample sizes. In certain instances, the framework also has predictive utility in terms of student sense making and answer making. This predictive utility supports the use of the framework in the analysis and design of curriculum meant to support sense making. In this work, we additionally present  two in-depth case studies of extended, collaborative reasoning to show how the framework can be used to describe sense making in terms of the com- bination and coordination of smaller scale modes of MSM. This study is then expanded to sparser forms of reasoning present on homework and exam questions for N > 100. Finally, the fine-grained approach presented in the case studies is extended to analyze individual curricular items for the reasoning structures they support and the sparser approach is used in a cross-curricular analysis, indicating the varying opportunities for MSM provided by several nationally  recognized curricula developed at other institutions.

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While much physics education research focuses on students’ learning, this thesis explores physics faculty members’ teaching practices. This focus is needed given the role faculty play as an essential link between students and physics content, culture, and practices. Commonly used change strategies  in science education target faculty as change agents, yet these strategies have shown to be insufficient in supporting faculty in making long-lasting instructional change. This thesis explores a novel model of professional development for educational change— Faculty Online Learning Communities  (FOLCs). A FOLC connects faculty from different institutions via facilitated videoconferences and an asynchronous communication platform as they collaboratively work toward a shared goal, such as improving their teaching practice. A FOLC leverages the affordances of a community of peers to  advance the learning and development of faculty around their teaching practice. We focus on two implementations of the FOLC model: one serving a subset of new physics and astronomy faculty and a second serving a group of STEM faculty (more than half of whom are in physics) implementing a  particular physical science curriculum for future teachers and non-STEM majors. In focusing on the FOLC model and the participating faculty members, this thesis examines both the mechanisms for supporting physics faculty members’ pedagogical development and the impacts of these mechanisms  as perceived by faculty.

We start by introducing the FOLC model and describe how it is designed to supplement traditional change efforts, primarily through the affordances of a community. We then present one particular application of the FOLC model to support new physics and astronomy faculty in their teaching development  (the New Faculty Workshop (NFW)-FOLC). We illustrate the design of the NFW-FOLC and its six learning objectives for participants. Through an interview study of NFW-FOLC participants, we next provide empirical support for the efficacy of the NFW-FOLC. We present their self-reports of the impact of  participating in the FOLC and their motivations for joining the program. Their motivations indicate that NFW-FOLC participants believe they need more support to implement changes than is provided by a single, in-person workshop and they value and see a need for this support to be in the form of a  community. The reported impacts of participating are consistent with the NFW-FOLC learning objectives, such as gaining more teaching knowledge and implementing research-based teaching strategies. The efficacy of the NFW-FOLC according to faculty participants’ perceptions provides support for  the general FOLC model. We also provide preliminary evidence that participating in a FOLC can continue to impact teaching practice years after the FOLC experience has officially ended. We next consider the adaptability of the FOLC model to different contexts by exploring its application to support  instructors implementing the Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (NGPET) curriculum. The NFW-FOLC and NGPET-FOLC differ in their focus and community structure. Nonetheless, they each are achieving their respective learning objectives for participants, including the ones they  share in common. Through this comparison, we identify essential components of a FOLC and those which can vary depending on the goal of the FOLC. This thesis additionally contributes a taxonomy that can be used by both researchers and practitioners to study the content and structure of FOLC  meetings and similar professional development environments. We end with a discussion of the potential for the FOLC model to expand beyond the two implementations presented in this thesis. Not only can it support the teaching practices of new physics faculty and STEM faculty implementing a shared  curriculum, but it also has the potential to support groups of faculty who are underrepresented in their disciplines and to even inform our construction of classroom communities. Through model building and testing, this thesis advances the physics education and broader STEM education communities’  understanding of a generative model for the professional development of their faculty.

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Historically, much of physics education research has focused on whether students’ answers are correct or incorrect. This thesis presents a complementary perspective that moves beyond a dichotomous view of learning by valuing the messy, or complicated and varied, nature of students’ reasoning. We do so by investigating three aspects of student reasoning in quantum mechanics (QM)---ontological (pertaining to the nature of entities), epistemological (pertaining to the nature of knowledge or learning), and social (pertaining to collective reasoning). Through focusing on the kinds of reasoning that students are capable of, we value their creativity, identity, and engagement in our educational environments, in service of supporting and cultivating their learning of physics. 

First, we develop and present a framework to describe and distinguish between different ontological structures. We document students’ flexible use of ontologies in individual, collective, oral, and written reasoning. The demonstration of this flexible use of ontologies is novel for the PER community which has previously recognized the dynamic nature of ontologies, yet not elaborated on the different forms those dynamics can take. Further, we find that the way we ask questions can impact students’ ontological reasoning. These findings suggest that as instructors we should recognize and attend to the ways in which students can engage in flexible use of ontologies. Additionally, we argue that tentativeness and flexible use of ontologies can be productive for student learning. We present an example of how we can work to support students’ ontological reasoning through research-based curricular materials. 

Next, we conduct a study of students’ domain-specific epistemologies and observe that students report “epistemological splits” between classical and quantum physics. Students are more likely to consider quantum physics to be less tangible or less connected to the real world, and to perceive problem solving in QM to rely more heavily on math. We observe these epistemological splits across multiple institutional and instructional contexts. The existence and prevalence of these splits suggests that when attending to students’ views about the nature of knowing and learning physics, we should be cognizant of when we are treating “physics” as a monolithic domain. Further, we identify some of the reasons that students might report epistemological splits, and argue that these stances can reflect epistemological sophistication. We begin to investigate the impacts that individual instructors have on the development of students’ domain-specific epistemologies, raising questions for further study. 

Finally, we conduct a case study analysis of a group of students engaged in collaborative problem solving and identify epistemic stances toward group work as one factor that contributes to the social positioning of the students within the group. The analysis investigates the ways in which epistemology, sense making, and social dynamics are intertwined. The construct of epistemic stances toward group work is a novel contribution to the PER field, and the attention to the fine-grained social dynamics and the intertwining of multiple elements of students’ collective reasoning represents a new approach to the study of group work.

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(Link) An accurate, nuanced capturing and characterization of student/teacher behavior inside and outside the classroom is a necessity in today’s education reform. In this paper, a new framework, called the BIAR (Beliefs, Intentions, Actions, and Reflections) Student-Teacher Interaction Model, is introduced. This tool incorporates the use of TDOP (Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol) in classroom observations alongside student/faculty interviews, stimulated recall sessions, and electronic surveys. Once gathered, the data can be compared and rated for their degree of correlation. While the work in this project wasn’t aimed at making any specific claims about the practices of teachers or students, the introduction of the BIAR Model provides a structure for future work in this area.

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(Link) Student learning in upper-division physics courses is a growing area of research in the field of Physics Education. Developing effective new curricular materials and pedagogical techniques to improve student learning in upper-division courses requires knowledge of both what material students struggle with and what curricular approaches help to overcome these struggles. To facilitate the course transformation process for one specific content area — upper-division electrostatics — this thesis presents two new methodological tools: (1) an analytical framework designed to investigate students' struggles with the advanced physics content and mathematically sophisticated tools/techniques required at the junior and senior level, and (2) a new multiple-response conceptual assessment designed to measure student learning and assess the effectiveness of different curricular approaches.

We first describe the development and theoretical grounding of a new analytical framework designed to characterize how students use mathematical tools and techniques during physics problem solving. We apply this framework to investigate student difficulties with three specific mathematical tools used in upper-division electrostatics: multivariable integration in the context of Coulomb's law, the Dirac delta function in the context of expressing volume charge densities, and separation of variables as a technique to solve Laplace's equation. We find a number of common themes in students' difficulties around these mathematical tools including: recognizing when a particular mathematical tool is appropriate for a given physics problem, mapping between the specific physical context and the formal mathematical structures, and reflecting spontaneously on the solution to a physics problem to gain physical insight or ensure consistency with expected results.

We then describe the development of a novel, multiple-response version of an existing conceptual assessment in upper-division electrostatics courses. The goal of this new version is to provide an easily-graded electrostatics assessment that can potentially be implemented to investigate student learning on a large scale. We show that student performance on the new multiple-response version exhibits a significant degree of consistency with performance on the free-response version, and that it continues to provide significant insight into student reasoning and student difficulties. Moreover, we demonstrate that the new assessment is both valid and reliable using data from upper-division physics students at multiple institutions. Overall, the work described in this thesis represents a significant contribution to the methodological tools available to researchers and instructors interested in improving student learning at the upper-division level.

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(Link) Physics Teaching Assistants (TAs) serve a critical role in supporting student learning in various classroom environments, including discussions and laboratories. As research-based instructional strategies become more widespread in these settings, the TA's role is expanding beyond simply presenting physics content to encompass facilitating student discussion and attending to student reasoning. At the same time, we recognize that these TAs are physics professionals and future faculty, and their teaching experiences in graduate school have the potential for long-term impact on their professional identities. Consequently, there is a need to enhance traditional forms of preparation to support TAs in this expanded role in ways that complement broader professional development opportunities. Enhancing TA preparation requires understanding how TAs make sense of their roles as instructors so that we may identify potential avenues for intervention that support the development of practices that are (1) supportive of curricular goals and (2) consistent with the TAs' overall pedagogical model. The intent of this thesis is to develop a single overarching framework for analyzing how TAs talk about and carry out their roles as instructors. We then apply this framework to a set of interview and video data from multiple semesters, and make claims regarding instances of coordination and dis-coordination between TAs' beliefs and practices. Furthermore, we are able to track changes in beliefs and practices along various time scales. Finally, we return to the issue of TA preparation by identifying features of enhanced professional and pedagogical development, drawn from results of these studies, that could operate within existing institutional structures.

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(Link) The importance of informal science education to the field of Physics Education Research includes extending to a broader range of ages and environments than formal science and focusing on broader goals such as participants' identities as scientists. This paper describes 3 aspects of informal science education: programming, research, and curriculum development. A summer camp was run through JILA's PISEC (Partnerships of Informal Science in the Community) program. Participants' use of representations, in particular drawings, in response to different types of prompting was analyzed in both lab notebooks and stop-motion videos made by the participants. In light of the results of this study, a new curriculum was developed for use in the fall 2012 semester of the PISEC program.

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