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Abstract Title: Impacts of modeling physics-inspired pedagogical practices and career development activities on student learning and identity growth in modern physics
Abstract: Active learning has been widely studied across secondary and post-secondary STEM contexts.  One example of a well-researched student-centered pedagogy is modeling instruction, which has been taught at FIU in the introductory calculus-based physics courses for close to two decades and has been found to have significant, positive benefits both to students' conceptual learning gains and their attitudes. In our current work, we seek to extend the pedagogical practices of modeling instruction into advanced physics courses, beginning with modern physics (a prerequisite to several advanced physics courses for physics majors and minors).  We also added course modules based on the STEP UP project (stepupphysics.org) that engage students in a semester-long discussion on the range of careers accessible via the study of physics with the aim of supporting students' professional and identity development. To assess the outcomes for students, we used pre-to-post measures of the Relativity Concept Inventory and the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey, as well assessments of students' general science and physics identities. In this poster, we will present the findings of two semesters' worth of this data, with implications for future offerings of this course.
Abstract Type: Contributed Poster Presentation
Session Time: Poster Session 1 Room A
Poster Number: 1A-9

Author/Organizer Information

Primary Contact: Daniel Pacheco
Department of Physics, and STEM Transformation Institute, FIU
Miami, 33186
Phone: 17863035358
Co-Author(s)
and Co-Presenter(s)
Geoff Potvin, Department of Physics, and STEM Transformation Institute, FIU