PERC 2020 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Promoting Successful Change in Physics Education and Research |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | In this talk symposium/ panel discussion, we will have four invited speakers who will discuss their roles in promoting successful institutional, departmental and nationwide change within Physics Education and Research. Educational Change is not easy with many stake holders being averse to change. As the report Levers of Change: An Assessment of Progress on changing STEM instruction points out, "we are often guided, implicitly or explicitly, by a faculty deficit model that assumes that the reason instructors do not adopt new teaching practices lies primarily within the individuals, rather than problems in the higher education system or society as a whole." Within this system thinking, it is not enough to create new curriculum or to show its effectiveness, but rather too successfully promote change we need change leadership from within the physics education community at all levels. The four speakers chosen will discuss how they affected change within physics education. |
| Abstract Type: | Talk Symposium |
| Session Time: | Parallel Sessions Cluster III |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Rebecca Lindell Tiliadal STEM Education: Solutions for Higher Education Lafayette, IN 47901 Phone: 7654305688 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Rebecca Rosenblatt Tiliadal STEM Education: Solutions for Higher Education rosenblatt.rebecca -at- gmail.com Lafayette, IN 47901 |
Symposium Specific Information | |
| Moderator: | Rebecca Lindell, PhD Tiliadal STEM Education: Solutions for Higher Education |
| Presentation 1 Title: | Promoting Institution Change: PER and Policy Working Together |
| Presentation 1 Authors: | Rebecca Rosenblatt Science and Technology Policy Fellow American Association for Advancement of Science |
| Presentation 1 Abstract: | After working as a Physics Education Researcher for nearly 15 years, I received the opportunity to serve as an American Association for the Advancement of Science - Science and Technology Policy Fellow (AAAS-STPF) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Division of Undergraduate Education. I pursued this fellowship to explore the role of policy in STEM Education. In this talk, I will present lessons I have learned through this fellowship including ways that policy effects education and education research, and the roles policies play in leading change in education. Additionally, I will reflect on what I have learned about how funding agencies like NSF enact change through policy and reflect on ways that the Physics Education Research community could use this to be more impactful change leaders for science education. |
| Presentation 2 Title: | Departmental Change Through Instructional Reform: How Purdue Transitioned to Matter & Interactions |
| Presentation 2 Authors: | Andrew S. Hirsch Former Department Head and Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy Purdue University |
| Presentation 2 Abstract: | At Purdue University, all physics, chemistry and engineering majors (N>2400 annually) take at least one semester of their calculus-based introductory physics sequence using the innovative texts, Modern Mechanics and Electric and Magnetic Interactions by Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood. In this presentation, I will share the rationale and the unexpected steps taken in adopting these innovative texts. Having now had over a decade's experience teaching both these courses, I will share my thoughts on the challenges and successes of this change. |
| Presentation 3 Title: | Educational Change from an Administrator's Perspective |
| Presentation 3 Authors: | Kevin Pitts Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education University of Illinois Urbana Champaign |
| Presentation 3 Abstract: | As the field of Physics Education Research continues to generate additional insight and understanding into the learning process, as well as advice and techniques to improve student learning outcomes, we are frequently faced with challenges of awareness of the latest scholarship and adoption of new strategies. In addition, the overall educational landscape continues to evolve very rapidly. In this presentation, I will discuss these issues from the perspective of an administrator at the departmental, college and campus level. Physics education research has successfully driven change for the better, but there are opportunities to expand the benefits further, within the field of physics and beyond. |
| Presentation 4 Title: | Systemic Change: TEAM-UP and Beyond |
| Presentation 4 Authors: | Edmund Bertschinger Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Presentation 4 Abstract: | The AIP TEAM-UP report identifies the structural and systemic causes explaining why African Americans have not experienced the growth in bachelor's degrees in physics the way they have in other fields or as other minority groups have experienced in physics over the past two decades. Solving these problems requires changing not only the way physicists train students, but how they think about training students. Research on change in higher education suggests the need for physicists and astronomers to recognize and question the norms, values, and culture of their fields. The TEAM-UP report, SEA Change, and the new APS-IDEA all seek to stimulate and sustain a cultural transformation in the profession. |
