PERC 2024 Abstract Detail Page
Previous Page | New Search | Browse All
| Abstract Title: | Seeking Significance: Conducting and Disseminating Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions |
|---|---|
| Abstract Type: | Round Table Discussion |
| Abstract: | Upper-division physics courses at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) can have single-digit enrollments and be offered infrequently. It's therefore difficult or even impossible to collect statistically valid samples for quantitative analysis of pedagogy at one's home institution. This can challenge researchers who have been trained only in quantitative methods, like most physicists. Even at the lower-division level, classes may be offered less frequently than elsewhere, and there may only be a single instructor for a given course. In the first half of this discussion we can share ideas about qualitative methods, collaboration with other institutions, and other techniques to achieve significance in our research. PUIs are also faced with small N when it comes to researchers themselves. Often the researchers are alone in their efforts, which among other difficulties raises issues of how to disseminate their results. It can be difficult to initiate collaborations with established PER groups at research universities, because they have their own commitments to put their grad students first and little incentive to work with PUIs. It's also difficult to present at national conferences, which can have prohibitive cost barriers, and unlike larger groups where a subset can go as representatives, isolated researchers must either go themselves or get no representation. We'll spend the second half of our discussion sharing techniques to achieve community significance in our work. |
| Session Time: | Parallel Sessions Cluster 2 |
| Room: | Marina 3 |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
David Syphers Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA 99004 |
Parallel Session Information | |
| Proposed Discussion Questions: | How can PER researchers at primarily undergraduate institutions achieve statistical significance? When they do have results, how can they achieve significance within the PER community and disseminate their results? |
