Students as Partners (SaP) is a pedagogical approach that considers students co-creators of an educational environment along with faculty, rather than passive participants. While an increasing body of literature evidences a multitude of positive outcomes from the SaP approach, there remains limited research on the challenges that arise in such collaborations. Quan et al. (2021) outlined such challenges in a paper showing that different members of a Departmental Action Team (DAT), in which students, staff, and faculty collaborate on a change effort, had different perspectives of their partnership. In this work, we confirm and expand upon those findings in a case study of another DAT. Our case study DAT comes from the first cohort of the Departmental Action Leadership Institute (DALI), a workshop series that supports faculty members in physics departments facing major challenges or opportunities. We find that all points of disconnect from Quan et al. are present in our case study. Additionally, we identify three specific areas of differing perspectives between faculty and students: motivation, commitment duration, and information transparency. We present evidence of these tensions with interviews from faculty, student, and alumni DAT members. Finally, we discuss how these tensions may be navigated by faculty seeking to partner with students in departmental change work.

F. N. Abdurrahman, D. Sachmpazidi, R. P. Dalka, and C. Turpen, A case study of tensions in student-faculty partnerships for departmental change work, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Abdurrahman.

We present an excerpt from an in-class group activity where students generate equipotential curves for a quadrupole using: a whiteboard, a Mathematica notebook, and a 3D plastic graph. Applying Shaaron Ainsworth's framework for the functions of multiple external representations, we analyze how the students used the three representations in concert. We found that the students used different processes for generating each representation. The highly complementary nature of the representations facilitated the group's direct comparisons between representations, helping them to construct deeper understanding about the system and the representations. This case study also exemplifies a limitation of the Functions framework for multiple representations, namely that it does not consider the role of generating representations. We echo the calls to account for student generation in future analyses of the use of multiple representations, when relevant.

J. W. Alfson, P. J. Emigh, and E. Gire, Analyzing the functions of multiple external representations of electric potential, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Alfson.

Student-centered learning environments are designed to support collaboration and exploration, directing learning into a collective experience. This case study explores a group of three students, who were highly vocal and determined to understand the activities. They showed attempts to engage in socio-metacognitive patterns, not always achieving it. For example, students explicitly communicated their need to work collaboratively, while another requested to work individually. This qualitative research project collected data from a physics undergraduate course for future K-8 teachers. We center the study on two students who were recorded during their classroom activities, participated in semi-structured follow-up interviews, and submitted reflections regarding their classroom experiences while collaborating in the same group. We analyze students' views of collaboration and reflections to understand their personal epistemology. We present how students' failed attempts at socio-metacognitive patterns can be understood through the differing perspectives of knowing they hold while collaborating as a group.

J. R. Allen, W. Henriquez, T. K. Lê, A. Boudreaux, and C. Alvarado, Understanding students’ struggles with collaboration through their views of knowing, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Allen.

Many existing sound simulations show air particles as semi-stationary, as if suspended in a lattice. While this portrayal is based mainly on practical considerations, it can inadvertently reinforce non-normative conceptions. We share our observations of middle school science students interacting with lattice-style sound simulations, attending to the effect such representations had on their conceptualizations of sound. We discuss the implications of these results for the implementation of digital simulations in lessons on sound waves and provide suggestions for instructors to frame these tools and guide students' attention toward relevant aspects of the visualization.

J. Arnell and H. Swanson, Air particles in a lattice: Considerations for sound wave simulations in physics education, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Arnell.

When students experience confusion, resolving that confusion can lead to deeper understanding and engagement. Persistent unresolved confusion, however, can lead students to frustration and disengagement. Our research explores confusion and other emotions associated with learning as students work through elicit confront resolve (ECR) activities in Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (Next Gen PET) physics courses for future elementary teachers. We used the experience sampling method (ESM) to measure students' subjective experiences during seven particularly confusing activities. The ESM asked about confusion, self-efficacy, engagement, and stress, which we chose to align with existing models of confusion in learning. After some revision, our model fit the data well using confirmatory factor analysis. The only activity that required students' consistent use of mathematics produced the highest levels of confusion and stress for students. This relationship with mathematics content indicates the Next Gen PET courses could better support future elementary teachers developing fluency and comfort with mathematics.

P. Bagdovitz and J. M. Nissen, Modeling confusion in collaborative learning, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Bagdovitz.

RET summer programs are envisioned as spaces that can help bridge the gap between classroom STEM teaching and STEM research. Much research has focused on the impact of RETs on teachers’ beliefs about inquiry based learning. RET programs provide a unique setting where teachers, as short term visitors in the research lab space, encounter and engage with ideas about the practice of science itself. In this work in progress, we present the narratives constructed by two physics teachers about the doing of science and the doers of science in a quantum science summer RET program. Using a qualitative approach, we analyze teachers’ interviews over the summer and show how these teachers constructed their identities with regard to the doing of science. We demonstrate how both teachers, by the virtue of trying on these new identities, repositioned themselves as doers of science and challenged dominant ideas about the doing of science.

R. Bano and M. Ryu, “Science happens between people”: teachers’ perspectives in a physics RET program, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Bano.

Video Data is commonly collected in PER to allow for insights into how learning and teaching unfold over time. One might think the collection of video data is straightforward, but there are key decisions about gathering video that can profoundly impact the entire project. Here we take a microscope at the common practices of gathering video data in PER. Through two existing cases in the qualitative PER literature, we describe how and why PER scholars made those key decisions. We open the black box of research planning and decision-making when video data is being collected. By increasing transparency, we aim for the community to better understand the decisions made behind the scenes in the research process, which may strengthen other PER scholars’ future research endeavors.

L. A. Barth-Cohen, T. G. Young, J. M. May, and A. L. Adams, Acquisition of qualitative video data: methods and reflections in PER, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Barth-Cohen.

Conceptual understanding is one metric that has been historically valued in the assessment of physics-education-research-based instructional materials. Attending to COnceptual Resources iN (ACORN) Physics Tutorials are instructional materials that are based on research identifying common conceptual resources for understanding physics—good ideas or “seeds of science” which can be developed into more sophisticated scientific understandings. For this study, we used pre- and post-tests and classroom video to assess students’ conceptual understanding as they completed an ACORN Physics Tutorial about electric circuits. We present the preliminary results of our analysis in this paper; mainly, students more often answered the post-test questions correctly and relied on the resource current is responsive after the use of the ACORN Physics Circuits Tutorial.

L. C. Bauman, L. M. Goodhew, A. T. Alesandrini, A. K. Snow, and A. D. Robertson, Shifts in students’ responses to conceptual questions after a new physics conceptual worksheet: Preliminary findings, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Bauman.

We analyzed the essays that were written on various topics in an introductory physics course using two unsupervised machine learning algorithms. One of them was Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). This algorithm is used for extracting abstract topics from a collection of text documents. The other algorithm was Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF). It is used for similar purposes but also in other domains such as image recognition. We applied these two algorithms to the dataset that consisted of N=683 student essays. Although there were some built-in, important differences between LDA and NMF, they both found similar topics in our data by large. This offers instructors a promising and productive way of accessing useful information about their students' written work, especially in large-enrollment classes.

A. Bralin, J. W. Morphew, C. M. Rebello, and N. S. Rebello, Analysis of student essays in an introductory physics course using natural language processing, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Bralin.

As physics graduate programs adapt to an ever-changing world, it is important to update their practices of assessing students. We are interested in the variety of ways that physics graduate students’ comprehension and progress are evaluated. We conducted a landscape study of university handbooks and websites documenting the ways in which students are assessed throughout their program. These practices were compared among departments to determine how diverse department assessments are. We also compared our findings with recommendations from “Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century” determined by a committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. This work will help to better understand what the numerous institutions across the country consider as necessary practices and requirements for graduate students. Understanding this landscape can provide a resource for graduate programs looking to update their practices and a foundation for further investigations into graduate education within physics programs.

B. Bridges, C. Solis, J. Barron, J. T. Laverty, J. J. Chini, and R. Henderson, Investigating the Assessment Landscape of Physics Graduate Programs, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Bridges.

We use a validated conceptual multiple-choice survey instrument focusing on thermodynamic processes and the first and second laws of thermodynamics as covered in introductory physics to investigate the context dependence of introductory and advanced student responses to introductory thermodynamics problems after instruction. The survey has conceptual problems that incorporate many contexts with the same underlying principles and concepts involving internal energy, work, heat transfer, and entropy. Here we focus exclusively on entropy. This study used data from over 1000 college students in introductory-level algebra- and calculus-based physics courses as well as upper-level thermodynamics courses. In addition to prior research, think-aloud interviews with a small subset of students in which they were asked to answer the survey problems while thinking-aloud were useful for understanding the context dependence of student responses in some situations, and why students may have greater difficulties in some contexts than in others. Here we present analysis of data in multiple contexts reflecting students’ ideas about the change in entropy of a gas in spontaneous/irreversible processes and in cyclic processes. We find that a persistent belief in the constancy of entropy even for spontaneous/irreversible processes is a common difficulty among introductory students across problems with different contexts, while upper-level students had great difficulty across contexts in which identifying entropy as a state variable is important. For example, overall, upper-level students struggled somewhat more than introductory students with the fact that the entropy of the system does not increase, e.g., in cyclic processes after one complete cycle. Our findings using a validated survey confirm the findings of prior research in multiple contexts.

M. J. Brundage, D. E. Meltzer, and C. Singh, Investigating context dependence of introductory and advanced student responses to introductory thermodynamics conceptual problems, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Brundage.

The Communities of Transformation (CoT) framework is a variation on Communities of Practice that models groups aimed at changing existing institutional practices by challenging underlying value systems. The CoT framework has the potential to provide insight into STEM initiatives designed to promote institutional change. We share results from applying this framework to the Effective Practices for Physics Programs' (EP3) Departmental Action Leadership Institute (DALI). DALI supports cohorts of physics faculty (change leaders) in leading change efforts in their departments. Change leaders apprentice into effective change strategies though sustained programming while enacting these strategies within their own Departmental Action Team (DAT). Through analysis of interviews with change leaders, we identify ways in which DALI aligns with, and departs from, the CoT framework. We present the results of this initial study to showcase which aspects of STEM change initiatives can be highlighted, and what may not be captured, by a CoT lens.

R. P. Dalka, C. Turpen, D. Sachmpazidi, F. N. Abdurrahman, D. A. Craig, and J. C. Corbo, Considering the Departmental Action Leadership Institute as a Community of Transformation: What’s highlighted and what’s missed?, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Dalka.

Students with disabilities involved in postsecondary physics education may benefit from research opportunities and mentorship. However, the literature documenting supports provided by physics mentors to disabled students is limited. In this study, we analyze interviews with five mentors who either instruct physics courses or lead a research group for examples of how they support disabled students doing research or seeking career advice. Furthermore, we contextualize the examples of supports using six models of disability. Models include the cause of disability (medical/social), the effect of impairment on well-being (tragedy/affirmative), and the dichotomy of dis/ability (minority/universal). We find mentors discuss supports provided to disabled students in research settings that align with clusters of models of disability. While there is not one set of models that yields a one-size-fits-all solution, the universal model plus social model cluster can help mentors design useful and durable supports.

C. M. Doty, D. Oleynik, E. M. Scanlon, and J. J. Chini, Using clusters of models of disabilities to describe support for mentees with disabilities, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Doty.

Students' sense of belonging predicts their success and persistence in STEM courses. Collaborative, small-group activities form the foundation of many research-based instructional strategies. Our broader project seeks to understand the role of small groups in students' sense of belonging to support instructors in the formation of equitable groups in active engagement classrooms. In this article, we focus on the construct and discrimination validity of a belonging measure. To assess the belonging measure's ability to discriminate across time, courses, and demographic groups, we administered a short survey on belonging in a variety of STEM courses that used groups as a pre- and post-class assessment. We analyzed the results using structural equation modeling to inform the validity of the survey and identify possible differences of interest. The results provided evidence for both construct and discrimination validity. Belonging varied across the courses and changed from pre to post in two of the four courses: one course saw a decrease and the other course saw an increase. Men tended to have a higher sense of belonging than women and the changes in belonging increased these gender differences. One possibility is that the differences observed across courses could result from the different practices used to support group work within each course. The validity evidence for the belonging measure indicates it will support our ongoing research to establish the statistical relationships between instructor practices to implement and support small groups and students' sense of belonging.

P. J. Emigh, S. Krishna, J. Liao, K. Kita, J. R. Casey, and J. M. Nissen, Student belonging in STEM courses that use group work, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Emigh.

Introductory labs in STEM courses are often designed with the goal of promoting scientific reasoning among students. Instructors play a role in reaching this goal, and the pedagogical practices instructors adopt can support or inhibit the development of student scientific reasoning. In particular, novice instructors who are still grappling with lab epistemology may enact a range of teaching practices, some of which may not be helpful in reaching the goals of lab instruction. We present findings from a study of 58 first-time undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) presented with a teaching scenario from an introductory physics lab. In our analysis, we identify teaching strategies used by LAs to support the scientific reasoning of their students and barriers or alternate approaches that prevent LAs from successfully providing this support. We find that a common barrier to LA support of student scientific inquiry is LAs’ preconceived notions of the existence of a "correct answer" in the lab task that students must reach, which causes these LAs to shift to strategies more in line with conducting validation experiments.

S. W. Engblom, M. S. Mahmood, M. J. Matos, and J. Vargas, Learning assistants’ teaching strategies for promoting scientific inquiry among undergraduate students in a physics laboratory setting, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Engblom.

The usefulness of a research-based assessment to an instructor can vary widely depending on how student performance on the assessment is presented. Currently, the Thermal and Statistical Physics Assessment (TaSPA) is being developed with a novel reporting method to offer targeted course-improvement strategies based on student performance rather than numerical student scores. This novel reporting method, however, brings with it unique challenges with respect to characterizing course-level performance. To address these challenges, we explore voting theory as a framework to assist us in understanding the implicit value judgements in how we decide on the feedback we generate for instructors. We have also surveyed faculty perception of course-level categorical performance distributions to learn about trends and areas of consensus in how faculty interpret performance distributions, which will inform what feedback TaSPA gives instructors based on their course performance.

M. T. Freeman, A. Sirnoorkar, J. T. Laverty, and B. R. Wilcox, Applying Voting Theory to Mastery Grading; A Study of Faculty Interpretation of Course-Level Categorical-Score Distributions, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Freeman.

Student learning at the university level occurs in a variety of settings, both formal and informal. Prior research shows that retention of knowledge is enhanced when students teach material related to their learning. In this study, we explored student perceptions of learning experienced through facilitation of informal physics programs, also called outreach, where they frequently practice methods of self-explanation to diverse audiences. To characterize the impacts of these facilitation experiences, we employed a student-centered investigation drawing on self-reported data gathered through didactic interviews conducted with 35 students who facilitated at least one of five informal physics programs. Analysis of interviews drew on multiple learning theories to characterize perceptions of understanding of physics concepts, confidence in their knowledge, and how those constructs related to engagement with members of the public through outreach. Using network analysis, we found three distinct clusters of themes focusing on disciplinary learning, internal development, and external engagement.

C. Garrett, T. L. Erukhimova, J. D. Perry, and J. P. Donaldson, Broadening Student Learning through Informal Physics Programs, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Garrett.

Measurement uncertainty plays a critical role in the process of experimental physics. It is useful to be able to assess student proficiency around the topic to iteratively improve instruction and student learning. For the topic of measurement uncertainty, an assessment tool was developed; the Survey of Physics Reasoning on Uncertainty Concepts in Experiments (SPRUCE) aims to assess students' knowledge, and use of, a variety of concepts related to measurement uncertainty. This assessment includes two isomorphic questions focused on comparing two measurements with uncertainty. One is presented numerically and the other pictorially. Despite the questions probing identical concepts, students answer them in different ways, indicating that they rely on distinct modes of representation to make sense of measurement uncertainty and comparisons. Specifically, students score much higher on the pictorially represented item, which suggests possible instructional changes to leverage students' use of representations while working with concepts of measurement uncertainty.

G. Geschwind, M. Vignal, and H. J. Lewandowski, Representational differences in how students compare measurements, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Geschwind.

An important component of learning physics is being able to apply concepts and reasoning when solving problems. This can be especially challenging for students in quantum mechanics courses, in which the mathematical nature of the theory requires students adjust to new and unfamiliar ways of attaining "understanding". This paper describes the application of the Essential Skills Framework in an upper-division quantum mechanics course. A preliminary set of "essential skills" were proposed that underlie the solutions of common problems related to probabilities in quantum mechanics. Homework assignments were then developed that provided students with practice in applying these skills. The effect was assessed both by examining the accuracy and speed of students in using these skills over repeated homework assignments as well as through the impact on a standard course exam. Significant improvements were observed, although to a different extent on different types of questions. The results suggest that essential skills practice can be productively incorporated into courses on quantum mechanics, but certain skills are more difficult and may need special attention.

J. Goldak and P. S. Shaffer, Effect of Essential Skills Practice on Student Understanding of Probabilities in an Upper-Division Quantum Mechanics Course, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Goldak.

Learning using Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) demands a high level of attention given the tendency to be distracted and mind-wander. How does the online STEM instructor know when learners are having attentional problems and the extent to which these problems affect learning? In the present study, the visual attentional and cognitive state of physics graduate students were probed while they went through a multimedia instructional module to refresh their knowledge of Newton’s II Law. Data from an eye tracker, webcam, egocentric glasses, screen recording, and mouse and keyboard events were integrated to record learners’ attention overt attention to the learning environment (+/-) and thinking about learning content (+/-) to analyze students’ attention spans during learning from this module. On average, learners were found to be on-task and on-screen for a vast majority of time, with evidence of mind wandering. The learning module improved the participants efficiency with which they answered the questions correctly on a post-test relative to the pre-test. Further, there is a positive albeit statistically non-significant correlation between the improvement from pre- to post-test efficiency and the time spent on-screen and on-task during the module.

R. Hamed, N. S. Rebello, and J. Munsell, Relating visual attention and learning in an online instructional physics module, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Hamed.

Studies show that a physics teacher's identity impacts how they teach. For teachers interested in pursuing diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in physics instruction, their identity likely informs how they conceptualize equitable instruction. We highlight three teacher identity cases from a data set of 25 interviews of secondary and university physics teachers to examine how they conceptualized equitable instruction through four domains: their conceptions of self, others, knowledge, and pedagogy. Selected teachers had distinct conceptualizations around enacting equitable instruction that we described across three metaphors: a tour guide, a coach, and a gardener. This study urges researchers to be more attentive to the varying dynamics of physics teacher identity and its impact on teacher practice.

M. S. Horak, C. Mathis, D. Nanthou, A. R. Daane, and M. N. Brown, A Look Physics Teacher Identity Around Equitable Instruction: The Tour Guide, Coach, and Gardener, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Horak.

Research-validated multiple-choice questions comprise an easy-to-implement instructional tool for scaffolding student learning and providing formative assessment of students’ knowledge. We present findings from the implementation of a research-validated multiple-choice question sequence on concepts relating to and various methods of changing basis for two-state systems. This study was conducted in an advanced undergraduate quantum mechanics course, in both online and in-person learning environments, across three years. Student learning was assessed after traditional lecture-based instruction in relevant concepts, and their performance was compared with that on a similar assessment given after engaging with the multiple-choice question sequence. We analyze, compare, and discuss the trends observed in the three implementations.

P. T. Hu, Y. Li, and C. Singh, Development, validation and online and in-person implementation of clicker question sequence on change of basis, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Hu.

Despite its various benefits, one disadvantage that learners in asynchronous physics courses face is the lack of moment-by-moment responsive teaching that generally facilitates effective learning. Previous research has documented the use of simulated Peer Instruction in an asynchronous environment by presenting students on an individual basis with alternative responses authored by the instructor or collected from previous students. Inspired by this work, we created and implemented an asynchronous learning module utilizing simulated groupwork. In this module, individual students listen to recorded discussions between artificial group members who frequently pause to ask the student for input. The student then types a response before the module proceeds to the next prompt. Through a survey administered pre and post-instruction, we compare student learning with learning gains from in-person instruction on the same topic. Furthermore, using alluvial diagrams, we identify trends in pretest/post-test improvement and responses to particular module prompts to gain insight into how to improve the curricular materials. Although this is only a pilot study (N = 21 from a class of 29 students in College Physics 2) with specific learning targets (1. that radioactive material is ubiquitous and 2. that irradiation generally does not cause something to become more radioactive than it already is), our findings support our hypothesis that simulated groupwork can be an effective means to promote student learning in asynchronous physics courses in general.

M. M. Hull, M. Jeidler, and E. Holzinger, Simulated Groupwork in an Asynchronous Course Learning about Radioactivity, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Hull.

In this paper, we identify some of the connections students make between force ideas and kinematics concepts, in their responses to kinematics questions. We coded 887 written responses to three different kinematics questions and identified patterns where students draw on force to make sense of kinematics concepts such as acceleration, velocity, and trajectory. We found that students draw on force frequently, in addition to other kinematics reasoning, in resourceful and context-dependent ways. Our findings suggest that instruction may be able to productively make use of students’ understanding of force to support kinematics learning.

T. Huynh, A. T. Alesandrini, L. C. Bauman, O. Sorby, and A. D. Robertson, Drawing on force ideas for kinematic reasoning in introductory physics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Huynh.

Recent findings suggest that even those students who demonstrate relevant formal knowledge tend not to use it productively, especially on tasks that elicit intuitively appealing incorrect responses. Dual-Process Theories of Reasoning suggest that to catch a mistake; reasoners must engage in the process of error detection and override: recognize reasoning red flags, consider alternatives, and apply relevant knowledge to check their validity. It is, however, challenging for many novice physics learners to recognize what specific formal knowledge must be used as a criterion that needs to be satisfied for validating or rejecting a response. To help students develop skills necessary for error detection and override, we designed a sequence of systematic spaced practices in the context of Newton’s 2nd law. We examined the effectiveness of this approach and identified specific factors that contribute to more productive engagement in error detection and override.

S. Ismael and M. Kryjevskaia, Toward helping students develop error detection skills, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Ismael.

Success in inquiry labs often requires students to grapple with results that contradict their expectations. Previous work has shown that students who see the goal of the lab in terms of model confirmation rather than model testing struggle to engage in inquiry. Our study set out to extend this previous work by looking at the impact of asking students to hypothesize in a first year lab activity designed to produce unexpected results. Our exploratory analysis shows that hypothesizing does not play a major role in students interpreting their results correctly; instead, inconclusive results are the most significant factor in explaining correct student interpretations. We will show that these misinterpretations are not the result of model confirmation bias, but rather, misunderstanding the statistical nature of the results.

J. Ives, A. M. Kraft, J. Day, and D. A. Bonn, Students Stumble With Inconclusive Results: An Exploratory Analysis on How Students Interpret Unexpected Results, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Ives.

Learning Assistant Reflection, Guidance, and Exploration (LA-RGE) is a new program at San Jose State University designed to provide support for university faculty working with learning assistants (LAs). Faculty in LA-RGE attend facilitated bi-weekly meetings throughout the semester which discuss various topics about pedagogy, LAs, and equity. In this presentation, we will discuss a research study on what kind of support is being provided by this program and how that can potentially lead to better partnerships between faculty and LAs. During one-on-one interviews, we asked faculty to discuss their personal experiences over the time they have worked with LAs, and if LA-RGE meetings have had any effect on their perspective and relationship with their LA. We then categorized the different effects and support that faculty were receiving through LA-RGE. This work will be important toward understanding how support for faculty can lead to a more productive partnership between faculty and LAs.

A. Juanson, G. M. Quan, J. S. Avena, and A. G. Chakarov, Research on a faculty support program for working with learning assistants, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Juanson.

Quantum mechanics is a subject rife with student conceptual difficulties. In order to study and devise better strategies for helping students overcome them, we need ways of assessing on a broad level how students are thinking. This is possible with the use of standardized, research-validated assessments like the Quantum Mechanics Concept Assessment (QMCA). These assessments are useful, but they lack rigorous population independence, and the question ordering cannot be rearranged without throwing into question the validity of the results. One way to overcome these two issues is to design the exam to be compatible with Rasch measurement theory which calibrates individual items and is capable of assessing item difficulty and person ability independently. In this paper, we present a Rasch analysis of the QMCA and discuss estimated item difficulties and person abilities, item and person fit to the Rasch model, and unidimensionality of the instrument. This work will lay the foundation for more robust and potentially generalizable assessments in the future.

J. Kruse and B. R. Wilcox, Rasch Analysis of the Quantum Mechanics Concept Assessment, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Kruse.

Peer coaches are undergraduate peer educators who help facilitate learning in introductory STEM classes, either as learning assistants or peer-led team learning leaders. Peer coaches’ facilitation is generally focused on specific content knowledge, but their pedagogical skills could be applied to other content, such as metacognition. Metacognition, an individual’s awareness and management of their own thinking and reasoning, is an important skill for undergraduate students to learn, though these practices rarely receive the explicit focus required for their development. Peer coaches could act as facilitators of metacognitive practices with their introductory STEM students. As a first step to investigating this potential role, we collected and analyzed written artifacts from the peer coaches’ pedagogical training course, looking for evidence of metacognitive competence. We found that coaches had competence in metacognition both as a learner and as a coach, and that these two perspectives informed each other in productive ways.

J. Kustina and D. C. Meredith, Metacognitive knowledge and regulation of peer coaches, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Kustina.

Integrating computational thinking (CT) into high school physics requires physics teachers to develop specialized pedagogical content knowledge of computing and content integration. We describe this as a re-novicing experience, in which teachers build and act upon knowledge at the intersection of physics, computation, and pedagogy. We observed this re-novicing in a Python workshop for physics teachers (n = 23) from three countries. Teachers participated in computational learning activities in Jupyter Notebooks with the goal of developing their capacity to integrate Python in physics applications. In this exploratory study, we describe a framework for integrated CT professional learning and report teacher responses to a post-workshop survey about their motivations for participating in this re-novicing process. Their motivations included needing to learn essential programming features and an intrinsic motivation to transform how they teach physics. These findings suggest that professional learning for CT integration needs to interweave computing content with pedagogical applications.

W. B. Lane, T. M. Galanti, and X. Rozas, Physics Teachers' Motivations to Learn Computational Thinking as a Re-novicing Experience, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Lane.

Research-based instructional strategies often use fictionalized student dialogues (FSD) to encourage students to explore diverse ideas and perspectives. This study investigates the effectiveness of one such FSD in facilitating the exploration of alternative perspectives on the change in speed of a cart tapped by a finger. In one perspective, change occurs continuously during the tap, while in the other, change occurs instantaneously. We collected classroom video of eight groups discussing the FSD, and apply the socio-metacognitive framework of Borges et al. in our analysis. Five groups exhibit moderate- to high-level exploration of the contrasting perspectives, including one group that challenges the instantaneous perspective by drawing on the real-world experience of driving a car. Conversely, groups with low- to moderate-level exploration discontinued exploration upon seeking the "right" answer. Findings suggest that FSDs can support the exploration of alternative perspectives, and that instructors can enhance exploration by emphasizing real-world experiences and discouraging "answer-making."

T. K. Lê, A. Boudreaux, and J. M. Nissen, Exploring alternative perspectives through fictionalized student dialogues, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Le.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is an essential factor in academic success. Self-regulated learning is a process where learners set clear goals, monitor progress toward attainment of those goals, and adapt their strategies to improve their learning. Because SRL is often not explicitly integrated into the classroom, students struggle to identify and use learning techniques empirically proven to be more successful than others. SRL is a learned skill students can develop over time that has been found to be related to high achievement and self-efficacy. This paper examines the effects of introducing SRL strategies into an undergraduate introductory physics classroom. The degree to which the students were self-regulated learners was correlated with their test averages (r = 0.23, p < 0.05). Students reported that they found the SRL instruction helpful (3.5 out of 5.0 on a 5-point scale) and 86% of the students felt the time spent on the instruction was generally appropriate. Students’ preferred study methods changed over the course of the semester, indicating that students applied SRL by adapting their learning processes based on which methods were most effective in helping them study for an upcoming exam and opting not to use techniques no longer perceived as useful. Higher achieving students were more likely to settle on highly effective techniques by the end of the semester, while lower achieving students continued to modify their learning processes.

D. Maldonado and J. Stewart, Adding self-regulated learning instruction to an introductory physics class, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Maldonado.

The Energy and Momentum Conceptual Survey (EMCS) is a multiple-choice survey that contains a variety of energy and momentum concepts at the level of introductory physics used to help inform instructors of student mastery of those concepts. Prior studies suggest that many concepts on the survey are challenging for introductory physics students and the average student scores after traditional instruction are low. The research presented here uses the EMCS to investigate the extent to which upper-level students have developed mastery of energy and momentum concepts both before and after an upper-level classical mechanics course. To contextualize their performance, it will be presented alongside the performance of introductory students. Additionally, a different set of upper-level students provided explanations for their answers to each question, and those explanations were useful for understanding their common difficulties with energy and momentum concepts. We discuss some of the most challenging questions on the EMCS for upper-level students and common reasons they had difficulty with those questions.

A. Maries, M. J. Brundage, and C. Singh, Upper-level students’ conceptual understanding of energy and momentum, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Maries.

We report on the initial implementation of the MARVLS augmented reality app in three sections of introductory physics courses at Siena College. The courses adopted models with emphasis on the relationship between 2-D and 3-D representations of topics in magnetism. This app is intended to provide engaging and interactive visualizations of abstract concepts. The AR approach has a unique capability to illustrate relationships between physical and mathematical representations. The models were displayed on foam Merge cubes, allowing students to manipulate and explore the 3D representations. The app offers interactive features to control model components, animations, and connections to 2D representations and equations. We compare pre- and post- assessment data and note modest gains for electromagnetism concepts, and in spatial reasoning for the calculus-based physics sections. Further analysis indicates moderate improvement in specific magnetism questions, and a general indication by Likert scale that students found the AR materials helpful to understand magnetism.

M. W. McColgan, G. E. Hassel, N. C. Stagnitti, J. W. Morphew, and R. S. Lindell, Augmented Reality to Scaffold 2D Representations of 3D Models in Magnetism, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.McColgan.

As more neurodivergent and Neuroqueer students are entering higher education, it is important for educators to be cognizant of and understand what it means to be neurodivergent. Importantly, we must uphold and give space to neurodivergent folks' narratives to best understand their experiences and identity, and for us to best engage and support our students. While neurodivergent folks are overrepresented in STEM, there is very little research examining the phenomenon of being neurodivergent in the STEM classroom. As a part of a larger study into this phenomenon, we asked neurodivergent folks at various stages of their careers in physics the question: "is there anything you wish professors or colleagues knew about being neurodivergent?" We here report on specifically neurodivergent students' (undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate non-academic) responses, and discuss the results drawn from them. We then follow this discussion with recommendations for praxis.

L. G. E. McDermott and N. A. Mosley, "Academia as a whole is structured entirely without any consideration for neurodivergency," and other things neurodivergent students want you to know, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.McDermott.

Data modeling and graphing skill sets are foundational to science learning and careers, yet students regularly struggle to master these basic competencies. Further, although educational researchers have uncovered numerous approaches to support sense-making with mathematical models of motion, teachers sometimes struggle to enact them due to a variety of reasons, including limited time and materials for lab-based teaching opportunities and a lack of awareness of student learning difficulties. In this paper, we introduce a free smartphone application that uses LiDAR data to support motion-based physics learning with an emphasis on graphing and mathematical modeling. We tested the embodied technology, called LiDAR Motion, with 106 students in a non-major, undergraduate physics classroom at a mid-sized, private university on the U.S. East Coast. In identical learning assessments issued both before and after the study, students working with LiDAR Motion improved their scores by a more significant margin than those using standard issue sonic rangers. Further, per a voluntary survey, students who used both technologies expressed a preference for LiDAR Motion. This mobile application holds potential for improving student learning in the classroom, at home, and in alternative learning environments.

C. Megowan-Romanowicz, D. J. O’Brien, R. E. Vieyra, C. Vieyra Cortés, and M. C. Johnson-Glenberg, Evaluating learning of motion graphs with a LiDAR-based smartphone application, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Megowan-Romanowicz.

A major goal of physics education is for students to develop problem-solving skills. To become expert problem-solvers, students need to deliberately practice those skills. In this analysis, we defined problem-solving skills as a set of 29 decisions that were previously identified as defining the problem-solving process of expert scientists. We quantified the amount of practice undergraduate physics students get at making each decision by coding the decisions required in assignments from introductory, intermediate, and advanced physics courses at a prestigious university. A research-focused lab course was the only example that offered substantial practice at a large range of decisions. Problems assigned in the traditional coursework required only a few decisions and routinely removed potential opportunities for students to make other decisions. This analysis suggests that to better prepare undergraduates for solving problems in the real world, we must offer more opportunities for students to make and act on problem-solving decisions.

B. J. Montgomery, A. M. Price, and C. E. Wieman, How traditional physics coursework limits problem-solving opportunities, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Montgomery.

The colonial roots of science dominate the narrative of physics learning and research. While many acknowledge that the typical physics curriculum does not support students from nondominant groups, it has remained largely unchanged. In an attempt to change this paradigm, a group of teachers voluntarily met to question how one might decolonize a physics classroom. We asked teachers to share whether or not aspects of their identity and pedagogy shifted after participating in the group for two years. In this study, we highlight how identity changed with teachers’ efforts to decolonize their physics curriculum. We also identified teachers describing frustration and exhaustion from systemic constraints in their teaching environment (e.g., student/family pushback, standards, SES). However, within those constraints, each teacher felt empowered to reshape classroom content in an effort to move the community towards more equitable and inclusive physics education.

D. Nanthou, A. A. Gumale, C. Mathis, M. N. Brown, and A. R. Daane, Grappling with the dominant narrative of physics: Instructors rethink colonial roots together to reshape classrooms, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Nanthou.

Many reports, research, and initiatives have presented evidence-based strategies to create strong departments. The Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Initiative is a collaborative effort between the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) to compile and curate such resources in an online "Guide" for departments to empower high-quality physics education. To ensure the Guide helps improve physics education, this work aims to understand whether the Guide (a written document) can effectively support departmental change efforts (which can be complex). We draw from findings from a 2020 survey (N=310), 2022 survey (N=239), and 2022 interviews (N=8) of physics department chairs at colleges and universities in the US. In the survey, 22% of respondents had used the Guide and 18% had plans to use it, e.g., for strategic planning. Our interviewees spoke about their limited ability to engage in anything that is not immediately urgent and/or requires a significant investment of time. However, many also talked about getting good ideas from the EP3 Guide and using the EP3 Guide in a strategic way, such as during faculty meetings to spark discussion. We find that among EP3 Guide users, the Guide is a potentially effective tool to support first-order change, i.e., change that works within existing systems and worldviews, since interviewees reported using content from the EP3 Guide to understand, frame, and promote their departmental change efforts. These successes can also be leveraged to potentially engage the EP3 audience in second-order change, i.e., change that requires reframing goals and/or values, developing new structures, or other transformational processes. However, additional active supports such as webinars, short courses, or leadership institutes may be necessary for effective and sustained second-order change.

C. O'Donnell and S. V. Chasteen, Supporting first- and second-order departmental change with the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guide, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.ODonnell.

In this paper, we highlight how experiences shared by disabled individuals in physics represent clusters of models of disability. We apply a theoretical framing of a three-dimensional disability model space, with axes defined as medical versus social (i.e., cause); tragedy versus affirmative (i.e., effect); and minority versus universal (i.e., ability/disability dichotomy). For example, in this framework, providing accommodations is described by a cluster of the social and minority models of disability. By analyzing participants' experiences in physics through this disability framework, we aim to identify the models that underpin supportive experiences and support the development of policies for the physics community towards benefiting disabled people. Through analysis and comparison of these models and participants’ narratives, we offer a discussion and possible guidelines for instructors interacting with students with disabilities, opportunities for those with disabilities to deconstruct their own prior experiences and analyze potential misinterpretations that may arise from the models.

D. Oleynik, C. M. Doty, E. M. Scanlon, and J. J. Chini, Three axes for expressing disability models and experiences: The cause, the effect, and the ability/disability dichotomy, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Oleynik.

Photovoice is a type of participatory action research that aims to enable people to act as recorders and agents of change in their communities. When using the photovoice methodology, participants take photos in response to open-ended prompts and write short captions to accompany their photos. At the end of the photovoice process, participants engage in a focus group where they collectively determine some themes that their photos show, allowing them to co-create the research being done. We implemented the photovoice methodology in a project-based upper-division physics course in which the students partnered with a company in the quantum industry to work on a real-world collaborative project. We present here an example of how photovoice can be used as part of a physics course with a focus on some preliminary results from the students' focus group. These results demonstrate that the focus group allowed us as researchers to gain new types of information from our students that we may not otherwise have learned, and that the students appreciated the photovoice process, particularly after engaging in the focus group activity.

K. A. Oliver, V. Borish, B. R. Wilcox, and H. J. Lewandowski, "The prettiest photos are the ones that have happy people in them": the use of photovoice in an upper-division physics capstone project course, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Oliver.

Designing physics courses that support students' activation and development of expert-like physics epistemologies is a significant goal of Physics Education Research. However, very little research has focused on how physics students' interactions with course structures resonate with different epistemological views. As part of a course redesign effort to increase student success in introductory physics, we interviewed introductory physics students about their experiences with course structures and their learning and belonging beliefs. We present here a case from this broader data corpus in which a student, Robyn, discusses his epistemological views of physics problem solving and his experiences with physics lectures, office hours, and discussion sections. We find that Robyn's physics epistemology manifests consistently across his interactions with each of these different course structures, suggesting a possible resonance between students' beliefs and their experiences with course structures and the value of further investigation into the potential merits of comprehensive course design.

E. Ouellette, S. Lewsirirat, R. B. Sebastian, M. Lundsgaard, C. Krist, and E. Kuo, Alignment between student epistemological views and experiences with course structures in introductory physics: A case study, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Ouellette.

In responsive teaching, instructors seek to understand and pursue the substance of students' thinking by foregrounding connections between students’ ideas and disciplinary understandings. Education research literature suggests that responsive teaching benefits student learning, yet is also difficult to implement in fast-paced science courses, including university physics courses. This may be one reason there are few examples of responsive teaching at the university level. We share an example of responsive teaching from a small group conversation about heat and temperature in an introductory, calculus-based university physics course. In this example, an instructor proposes a thought experiment that takes up and advances students’ thinking about heat and temperature. This example illustrates that responsive teaching is possible in university-level courses, and suggests that one way university science instructors can bridge students’ thinking and sophisticated content learning goals is by posing carefully-selected “thought experiments” that target the connections between students’ thinking and scientific models.

J. C. Owen, L. M. Goodhew, and B. Hansen, "Which has more energy?" - An example of responsive teaching in university physics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Owen.

The transfer of knowledge within and across disciplines remains a compelling challenge for modern STEM education and further research is needed to expand on the student-exhibited cognitive and affective gains achieved by innovative cross-disciplinary STEM instructional techniques. This study seeks to support cross-disciplinary STEM instruction and learning by investigating how students use the first law of thermodynamics, a crucial principle to the crosscutting concept of energy and matter, to bridge across disciplinary boundaries. An interview study was undertaken wherein chemistry-, engineering-, and physics-major students addressed a common set of conceptual prompts written with different field-specific conventions. This report focuses on students’ interpretations of the provided forms of the first law and work equations between prompts. Emergent findings demonstrate field-specific interpretations of arbitrary differences in convention and strong barriers to transfer. The derived implications inform suggestions for scaffolding across such disciplinary differences and for future work in this area.

A. P. Parobek and M. H. Towns, Students’ interpretations of disciplinary convention with the first law of thermodynamics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Parobek.

In our research we invite multiply-marginalized physics students—Black, Indigenous, Women of Color and LGBTQ+ women—at Hispanic Serving Institutions to participate in semi-structured interviews about their experiences in physics. Interviewees were asked about their perceptions of their physics environments, available support systems, and how they would describe a physicist. Participants from Texas State University described multiple positive impacts from the Physics Learning Assistant (LA) Program. We analyze these narratives using the Critical Physics Identity framework to see in what ways LA participation overlaps with participants’ racialized and/or queer experiences studying physics. We present a case study of a single participant, focused on the ways in which the LA Program provided her access to relational resources (aspects of relationships that impact one’s connection to physics) and ideational resources (aspects of an idea that impact one’s connection to physics), and how these resources supported her identity negotiation and positive physics identity development.

X. R. Quichocho, S. Hyater-Adams, and E. W. Close, LA Program as a Driving Force for Identity Development Through Access to Ideational Resources, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Quichocho.

Analogies are known to be powerful tools for making sense of unfamiliar ideas in terms of already understood concepts. Science students regularly encounter unfamiliar ideas, such as microscopic objects that are invisible to our everyday experience and behaviors dictated by quantum mechanics. An understanding of basic concepts of quantum mechanics is useful in many disciplines, especially with the growing field of quantum information sciences and technologies. Physics researchers often use analogies in their own research and science communicators use them to make quantum ideas accessible to K-12 students and across STEM disciplines, but analogy use in upper-division teaching has been less researched. Our research goal is to understand how analogies are used to teach quantum mechanics, and specifically, what prior knowledge is used as a basis for analogies within two widely used quantum mechanics textbooks. This textbook analysis shows the most common bases for analogies include: mathematical structures from linear algebra, which are applied to model quantum systems; everyday life examples, which are used to make quantum systems more familiar and understandable; and macroscopic classical phenomena, which are used to highlight differences between classical and quantum mechanics. We also find authors use different conventions, based on the various cue words that authors use to indicate analogy-based reasoning. In the STEM classroom, this research has implications for enhancing student learning about abstract topics in science.

D. Ryder, M. Verostek, and B. M. Zwickl, Tools for Understanding the Microscopic World of Quantum Mechanics: Analogies in Textbooks, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Ryder.

An understanding of vectors and vector operations is crucial for success in physics, as this serves as the foundation for various essential concepts, including motion and forces. Previous research indicates that only a fraction of introductory physics students have a usable knowledge of vectors and vector operations, and that more attention should be given to how students make sense of vectors. We examined classroom video data from an introductory physics course wherein students worked collaboratively through learning activities to introduce vectors and vector operations. During these activities, students’ employment of gesture as a representational mode facilitated group sense-making. We propose a preliminary taxonomy of gestures for representing vector magnitudes, directions, and initial and terminal points. By identifying and characterizing the gestures used by students, we can gain insights into their learning processes and conceptual understanding of vectors, which can inform instructional design and teaching practices.

S. M. Scheuneman, V. J. Flood, and B. W. Harrer, Characterizing representational gestures in collaborative sense-making of vectors in introductory physics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Scheuneman.

Despite the positive gains towards student learning outcomes and engagement, active learning has been shown to potentially increase student anxiety due to a fear of negative evaluation. A pedagogical strategy proposed to mediate this issue is known as error framing; it asks instructors to encourage a perception of errors as being a natural part of the learning process. Previous work on this project investigated how graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) operationalized error framing during their training in a mixed-reality simulator but did not investigate their usage of it in their classrooms. This analysis characterizes the error framing statements made by GTAs during a set of classroom observations. We find that GTAs who employ error framing effectively avoid statements that might decrease student comfort and instead tend towards implicit, indirect strategies.

D. Sharkey, C. M. Doty, T. Wan, E. K. H. Saitta, and J. J. Chini, Physics Graduate Teaching Assistant Use of Error Framing in Recitations and Laboratories, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Sharkey.

Reports of pedagogical transformations have called for promoting authentic knowledge-building practices in science classrooms. Making assumptions is one such practice that is integral to "doing’’ physics. In this study, we analyze the nature and characteristics of students' assumptions when they are (i) not prompted, (ii) prompted explicitly at the beginning, and (iii) prompted at the end of physics problems. Preliminary observations indicate that students seldom generate assumptions unless prompted. When explicitly asked at the beginning of problem solving, students perceive making assumptions as a separate task dissociated from the problem-solving process. However, when asked to reflect on the validity of their solutions in light of their assumptions, not only do students make assumptions that are closely "tied" to their solutions, but go an extra mile by articulating the implications of the violations of their assumptions. Implications of these findings for instruction and assessment design are discussed.

A. Sirnoorkar and J. T. Laverty, Analyzing students’ assumptions to varying degree of prompting during problem solving, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Sirnoorkar.

Modern planetariums are digital immersive facilities that promise new teaching opportunities beyond their historic limitations as analog instructional media in astronomy education. We investigated the use of a planetarium as a teaching and learning space by analyzing student responses gathered from a cohort of university students during two separate planetarium visits which constituted part of their introductory astronomy course. An instrument was first developed to probe how the students responded to the overall planetarium experience and how they engaged with the educational content. In the second student visit, show content was specifically designed by us and the instrument was modified based on the results of the first visit. Individual student responses were coded for higher-level categories and concepts. From these concepts we developed a localized mid-level model of student engagement. This led to the notion of a "spectrum of attentiveness" that strongly influences how students engage with relevant educational content.

A. Sivitilli and S. Allie, Investigating how students engage with a digital planetarium, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Sivitilli.

Understanding how to make physics instruction more equitable is an ongoing challenge. While many teachers desire this change, few resources support teachers in actualizing DEI efforts in classrooms. In this study, we observed a learning community of physics instructors attempting to decolonize curricula, i.e., critically analyzing practices and content within instruction that decenter the Eurocentric physics narrative. We use a critical whiteness analytical framework to examine tensions instructors encounter as they attempt to reform traditional curricula together. Findings show four characteristics of whiteness and their antidotes across the data: 1) Perfectionism, 2) Sense of urgency, 3) Quantity over quality, and 4) One right way. We found the democratic structure of the group restrained characteristics of whiteness as teachers worked to unlearn norms of schooling. By attempting new ways of thinking to decolonize the curricula and meetings, they productively moved towards a middle ground between the characteristics and their antidotes.

M. J. Smith, M. N. Brown, A. R. Daane, and C. Mathis, Unlearning indoctrination: Tensions between decolonizing curricula and characteristics of whiteness, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Smith.

Resources theory depicts resources as dynamic, context-dependent pieces of knowledge, and defines learning as building from students’ resources. In this paper, we will use a classroom video example of students working through ACORN (Attending to Conceptual Resources in) Physics tutorials, resources-oriented instructional materials for introductory physics, to illustrate a learning sequence in which one group of students make progress towards a model for what makes a lightbulb light, even as they discuss ideas we consider canonically incorrect. This case serves as an existence proof that canonically incorrect ideas need not hinder conceptual progress, challenging historical models of misconceptions as obstacles to learning.

A. K. Snow, P. R. L. Heron, L. C. Bauman, A. D. Robertson, and L. M. Goodhew, A case in which canonically incorrect ideas do not hinder conceptual progress in introductory physics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Snow.

To understand the conceptual challenges of discretization that students face, we present an instrumental case study of one student. This student took a junior-level quantum mechanics course and the accompanying computational lab course in the Winter 2021 term. The following year, she became an undergraduate teaching assistant for the computational lab course. Using a video elicitation interview, the participant reviewed a video clip of herself and a partner working on a kinetic energy operator computational activity. During the interview, she reflected on her understanding of discretization and identified two challenges associated with it: recognizing functions as column vectors and interpreting δx. These challenges were productive for students in considering the nuances of discretization.

C. D. Solorio and E. Gire, Conceptual Challenges of Discretizing Wave Functions: A Case Study, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Solorio.

Many university students who participate in public engagement do so voluntarily through informal physics programs. The motivations and reasoning students have for volunteering in the first place and continuing to volunteer vary. For some students, volunteering in informal physics programs can influence their career path after leaving the program. For this research study, we interviewed university alumni about their past experiences as student volunteers and the career path they have had since leaving the program. We apply a volunteerism framework to our data to 1) see how it maps onto an informal physics context and 2) understand the evolution of volunteers' motivations from their initial informal physics volunteer experiences to their present lives. As this study is meant to test the volunteerism framework, we will focus on alumni who continued into education-related careers given that informal physics programs are educational in nature.

B. Stanley and K. A. Hinko, Using a volunteerism framework to understand the motivations of university students who facilitate informal physics programs, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Stanley.

Women continue to be underrepresented in physics despite recent developments focusing on improving representation and equity within the discipline. Several recent papers have investigated the experiences of both white women and women of color within the discipline to understand the issues that most often affect them, and how those issues intersect. What has been less clear from previous research is how these factors contribute to women's decision to stay in physics or leave for another discipline. Much of the literature on persistence has focused on leaving STEM majors for non-STEM majors, but this does not include the possibility of a woman leaving physics for another STEM discipline. In this study, we used a social constructivist lens to investigate the experiences of 5 women in physics at a large research university. We focused specifically on how the women's experiences contributed to their decision to stay in physics (some even choosing to pursue a PhD) or leave physics for another STEM discipline. We find that lack of support, poor treatment by male peers and professors, and interest in physics are all major factors in these women's decision-making process, but that lack of support was most prominent in the decision to leave physics. This provides interesting counter-narratives of women defying adversity in pursuit of their deep interests in physics but also highlights the need for structural changes and action by male physicists to better support women.

R. S. Strain, M. Shepherd, and E. Burkholder, Defiance in the face of adversity: a qualitative study of women's attrition from and persistence in physics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Strain.

It is essential to equip the next generation STEM workforce with skills that are crucial to solve real-world problems. The success of this preparation rests largely on the instructional innovations in science classrooms for postsecondary students. Reform documents and research suggest that integrating engineering design (ED) experiences add value to science courses. In this study we explore the ways in which students in an introductory physics course developed a solution to a prescribed real-world problem. By carefully analyzing students' lab reports, we attempted to gain an understanding into the design science connection in their solution. We coded for five aspects to gain insights into the effectiveness of the scaffolds we had provided to guide the students through the task. Results of this study have implications on how to provide appropriate scaffolds, particularly in ED based tasks to maximize science learning.

R. Chatta Subramaniam, A. Bralin, J. W. Morphew, C. M. Rebello, and N. S. Rebello, Characterizing the 'design-science gap' in an engineering design-based laboratory unit in an introductory physics course for future engineers, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Subramaniam.

The term burnout is being used at increasing rates among physics students, particularly in the wake of the changes to instructional modality prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with research linking burnout to negative health and career outcomes, this increase in burnout presents a concern with respect to students’ performance and retention. In this research, we will examine the experiences of undergraduate physics students in order to understand how they experience burnout. At the beginning of Fall 2022, we conducted interviews with 7 undergraduates enrolled in upper-division physics or engineering physics classes at two large research universities. We analyzed the data to determine key symptoms that students who self-identified as having feelings of burnout experienced. Following the interview study, we conducted a survey of 24 students to further investigate the symptoms of students that experienced burnout in physics. This paper presents the symptoms of the students who self-identified as burned out and also discusses strategies used by students with lower levels of burnout.

H. Sunil and B. R. Wilcox, Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Sunil.

As the scale of quantitative data available to physics education researchers grows, it is imperative that we critically assess how well the assumptions behind "standard" statistical methods apply in our field. In the present work, I give a background on a common statistical assumption used to analyse proportion data, the binomial assumption; I discuss scenarios in which this assumption may break down in the context of education research; and test this assumption using a large population-level data set. This data set comprises academic outcomes (rate of 'good degrees') for all undergraduate physics degree programs that ran in the UK across the 2012/13--2018/19 period (26,960 students across 79 programs). I estimate dispersion parameters and their significance for each program in the data set and discuss the implications of the results for analysing proportion data in physics education research.

A. Sword, Testing for over- and under-dispersion in physics degree outcomes, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Sword.

This study characterizes the complexities of decision-making in an investigation-style practical in two case study groups with seven students in an introductory physics course. The students were trying to test a claim in a hypothetical situation about the effects of drag on the time it takes for a cotton ball to fall. Using two videos as case studies, the study focuses on the complexities of students' experimental decision-making centered around three metacognitive skills: 1) planning prior to investigation, 2) monitoring while doing the experimentation, and 3) evaluating the results. We characterize the complexities of experimental decision-making by creating visuals that show the occurrences of each code in each stage of decision-making. We concluded that the group with more complex approaches to experimental decision-making characterized by back and forth between activating multiple metacognitive skills were able to connect the topic to other physics concepts, have more effective conversations around discrepancies of data in multiple trials, and loop back the results of the experiments to the original claim. However, the other group showed a more linear effort lacking planning prior to investigation and evaluating the results. We argue the complexities of experimental decision-making can be an indicator of the presence or absence of some of the metacognitive skills in lab activities, but further studies need to confirm this finding before making a generalizable comment.

H. Talafian and K. Ansell, Characterizing the complexities of experimental decision making in an introductory lab practical, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Talafian.

Many conceptual and theoretical frameworks in education research tend to value social and cultural capital from the most privileged groups and focus on what people from marginalized groups are "lacking." This kind of research often employs a deficit model of understanding the experiences of people marginalized in education. To fully understand the academic experiences of students from marginalized groups it is crucial to focus on the capital these groups use to overcome challenges. The Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework values resources Communities of Color have to help them through various systems such as education. The goal of this project is to understand which forms of CCW students utilize when deciding to pursue graduate education in physics and when they face challenges while in graduate school. To do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews with participants in physics bridge programs from 4 different institutions, and used qualitative coding to identify examples of each of the 6 types of CCW at three different time frames: pre-college, deciding to pursue graduate school, and during graduate school. Our analysis of the data showed that students used familial and aspirational capital during their pre-college experience and navigational and social capital when deciding to apply for graduate programs. Students tended to utilize familial, social, and navigational capital once in their program. We also highlight the impact of family and socioeconomic and ethnic background on experience of students in the APS Bridge Program.

J. P. Tempkin, G. L. Cochran, and T. Boone, Using Community Cultural Wealth to Understand Experiences in Physics Bridge Programs, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Tempkin.

Joining a research group is one of the most important events on a graduate student's path to earning a PhD, but the ways students go about searching for a group remain largely unstudied. It is therefore crucial to investigate whether departments are equitably supporting students as they look for an advisor, especially as students today enter graduate school with more diverse backgrounds than ever before. To better understand the phenomenon of the group search process, we use a comparative case study approach to contrast important aspects of two physics PhD students' experiences. Semi-structured interviews with the students chronicled their interactions with departments, faculty, and the graduate student community, and described the resources they found most and least helpful. Our results reveal significant disparities in students' perceptions of how the group search process works, as well as inequities in resources that negatively influenced one student's experience. We also uncover substantial variation regarding when in their academic careers the students began searching for a graduate advisor, indicating the importance of providing students with consistent advising throughout their undergraduate and graduate experiences.

M. Verostek, C. W. Miller, and B. M. Zwickl, Inequities and misaligned expectations in PhD students' search for a research group, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Verostek.

Computational modeling is by now a central pillar of modern science, yet it remains underrepresented in most introductory physics curricula at the post-secondary level. Recently, physics departments have begun incorporating computation into introductory physics courses, including those designed for life science majors. Such students form a significant proportion of enrollees in introductory physics courses, and will enter a technological world in which computational thinking is increasingly valuable. In this exploratory and qualitative study, we investigate how students connect to, and perceive the relevance of, computational activities built into an introductory physics for life sciences course. We use an ecological systems framework to understand and investigate relevance. We categorize the different ways in which students do and do not perceive the relevance of computational modeling in our physics curriculum. Our findings point to choices in course design that may increase relevance of computation for life science students, and indicate what mechanisms affect students' perceptions of computational curriculum in these settings. In doing so, we begin to build a picture of how to incorporate computation into introductory physics courses.

J. Watkins, N. Ivanov, K. A. Hinko, and K. Mohan, Investigating Perceptions of Relevance Towards Computation in an Introductory Physics for Life Science Course, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Watkins.

With many students turning to machine learning models such as ChatGPT for homework help, diagnosing the accuracy of the information these technologies purport across different fields is more important than ever. In this study, we find that ChatGPT’s responses to standard physics questions are consistent with an accurate theoretical understanding, but are often incorrect when applied to a given system, reflecting many of the same misconceptions as students.

S. Wheeler and R. E. Scherr, ChatGPT reflects student misconceptions in physics, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Wheeler.

Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (Next Gen PET) is a research-based, active-learning physical science curriculum for general education physics courses, with a focus on pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers. During pre-COVID introduction of this curricula at higher-education institutions across the country, instructors implementing the curriculum were recruited to participate in faculty online learning communities (FOLCs). In this project, we conduct a secondary analysis on transcriptions of recorded FOLC meetings through Revealed Causal Mapping (RCM), a qualitative technique to create causal maps composed of interconnected causal statements. This method allows us to examine instructors’ decision-making while implementing the Next Gen PET curriculum. In this paper, we share insights about how instructors decide to form groups, specifically group composition and frequency of group changes. We found that instructors may have their own preconceived ideas about the best ways to form groups, sometimes contrary to what current research suggests.

J. Willison, E. M. Scanlon, and J. J. Chini, Examining faculty choices while implementing the Next Gen PET curriculum through Revealed Causal Mapping, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Willison.

There have been myriad conceptual inventories developed and used by the physics education research community (e.g., FCI, FMCE, BEMA, CSEM). However, continued examination of the psychometric properties of these inventories is important for improving inventory development and usage practices. In this study, we investigate the dimensionality of the Energy and Momentum Conceptual Survey (EMCS) test items and explore the structure of students’ understanding of these concepts (i.e., whether the student response data showed multiple distinct test traits). To investigate the psychometric properties of this survey, we surveyed a sample of 253 students participated in the pretest and 201 students for the posttest assessments. Statistical analyses, guided by Item Response Theory (IRT), were conducted using R software. The results of Bootstrap modified parallel analysis tests (BMPAT) revealed significant differences between unidimensional models and the actual data, indicating the presence of multidimensionality (i.e., dimensions correspond to the physics concepts/abilities being tested) in the EMCS test items. Exploratory analyses suggested that a 2 or 3-dimensional model best fits the data. However, categorizing items based on designated concepts did not improve the model fit. The findings imply that students may interpret the items differently than intended by the test designers.

X. Wu, M. W. Guthrie, E. M. Scanlon, and Y. Li, Analyzing the dimensionality of the Energy and Momentum Conceptual Survey using Item Response Theory, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Wu.

Symmetry is a particularly important sensemaking tool in physics; physicists use symmetry for everything from classifying crystalline solids to deriving the foundational laws of physics. In addition, symmetry is embedded in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) crosscutting concepts (CCCs). In this research, we explore how students use symmetry in ways that are consistent with how physicists use symmetry. We present 5 cases of students engaged in an NGSS-aligned lesson on creating models of magnetism. In each case, we highlight one of the ways that we have found students using symmetry as a sensemaking tool: to describe, classify, predict, explain, and solve problems. These results contribute to conversations on how students learn to "think like a physicist" and how students engage in the NGSS crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices (SEPs).

T. G. Young, L. A. Barth-Cohen, and S. K. Braden, Students' use of symmetry as a tool for sensemaking, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Young.

As students pursue a bachelor's degree in physics, they may ponder over which area to specialize in, such as theory, computation, or experiment. Often students develop preferences and dislikes, but it's unclear when this preference solidifies during their undergraduate experiences. To get a better understanding, we interviewed eighteen physics majors who were at different stages of their degree regarding their interest in theory, computation, and experimental methods. Out of the eighteen students, we chose to analyze only nine students who rated computation and theory the lowest. Our analysis did not include interest in experiment because the ratings were less negative. We used Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and Lucidchart to analyze students' responses and create individual graphical representations of the influences for each student. Through this, we uncovered how various factors such as learning experiences, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations influenced their low interest in a particular method. We found that lack of knowledge and experience is often the main reason why self-efficacy was lower. Students' lack of interest is also influenced by negative outcome expectations (e.g, math-intensive and a bad work-life balance) more than other SCCT factors. Our findings could help physics departments and educators identify positive and negative factors that could lead to a more motivating and inclusive physics curriculum.

D. Zohrabi Alaee, K. S. Tonry, and B. M. Zwickl, Analyzing Physics Majors' Specialization Low Interest Using Social Cognitive Career Theory, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Zohrabi_Alaee.

Physics education research (PER) shares a rich tradition of designing learning environments that promote valued epistemic practices such as sensemaking and mechanistic reasoning. Recent technological advancements, particularly artificial intelligence has caught significant traction in the PER community due to its human-like, sophisticated responses to physics tasks. In this study, we contribute to the ongoing efforts by comparing AI (ChatGPT) and student responses to a physics task through the cognitive frameworks of sensemaking and mechanistic reasoning. Findings highlight that by virtue of its training data set, ChatGPT’s response provide evidence of mechanistic reasoning and mimics the vocabulary of experts in its responses. On the other hand, half of students’ responses evidenced sensemaking and reflected an effective amalgamation of diagram-based and mathematical reasoning, showcasing a comprehensive problem-solving approach. In other words, while AI responses reflected how physics is talked about, a part of students’ responses reflected how physics is practiced during problem solving. We discuss the implications of this finding with an emphasis on epistemology of AI responses and designing next-generation assessments in physics.

D. A. Zollman, A. Sirnoorkar, and J. T. Laverty, Analyzing AI and student responses through the lens of sensemaking and mechanistic reasoning, 2023 PERC Proceedings [Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023], edited by D. L. Jones, Q. X. Ryan, and A. Pawl, doi:10.1119/perc.2023.pr.Zollman.