Student grades and motivational outcomes in introductory physics courses can influence their retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and future career aspirations. We surveyed students in mandatory large introductory level algebra-based physics courses for bioscience majors at a large research university. The study investigates how students’ perception of their learning environment, including their sense of belonging, peer interactions, and perceived recognition by instructors, predicts male and female students’ grade, self-efficacy, interest, and identity at the end of physics 2, controlling for their high school GPA and SAT math scores. We find that although women outnumbered men in these courses, women had worse outcomes than men. Moreover, using structural equation modeling, we find that all factors in students’ perception of their learning environment are essential to predicting their self-efficacy, interest, grade, and identity at the end of physics 2. The findings pertaining to gender differences call into question equity in learning in these physics courses and how the perception of the learning environment predicts the outcomes and can be useful for creating an equitable and inclusive learning environment to help all students excel in these algebra-based physics courses.

In quantum mechanics courses, students are often asked to solve bound and scattering state problems. The use of an ordinary differential equation is a standard technique to solve these questions. Here, we investigated students’ problem-solving processes for two typical problems of a single particle in one spatial dimension: a bound state problem and a scattering state problem. We analyzed students’ solutions to written exams and utilized think-aloud interviews using a framework that includes four stages: activation, construction, execution, and reflection. We found that the students encountered various difficulties when they solved the ordinary differential equations to obtain the properties of bound or scattering states. Common difficulties included recognizing when the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is the appropriate model; selecting a range of the energy constants that satisfies the bound or scattering state; justifying when to use a superposition form of the wave functions; grasping the physical definition of scattering coefficients; and using an effective checking method for their solutions. In addition, we observed qualitatively different difficulties in students’ solutions to the two problems and discussed possible explanations for the underlying reasoning mechanisms that cause these difficulties. Finally, we discussed the potential implications of our findings for instruction.

As part of ongoing research on student thinking about quantum mechanical concepts and formalism, we explored how students defined and made sense of expectation values. Previous research has focused on student difficulties when defining the expectation value for a generic operator and found that students conflate other quantum mechanical ideas with expectation values. In this study, we analyzed survey data collected from two universities over a number of years and interviews carried out at two points during the semester. With a focus on underlying student thinking, we used a concept image perspective to categorize students’ concept definitions of the expectation values in the context of measuring spin in a spin-$1/2$ system and in the contexts of measuring energy and position for a particle in an infinite square well potential. Analysis of interview data showed that students invoke many different ideas when explaining their reasoning. The two most common definitions for the expectation value were weighted average and most probable value. In interviews, students’ definitions were influenced by whether the problem context involves continuous or discrete observables.

Gender inequities continue to persist within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, even at the undergraduate level. This has led researchers to further examine potential factors that contribute to retention and persistence of undergraduates in STEM fields. In this study using classroom observations, we examined gender equity in individual verbal participation in large introductory physics courses, and compared our results to observations in introductory courses in other STEM disciplines. We found that in introductory physics courses, men had disproportionately higher rates of individual verbal participation than women. Observation-level analysis confirmed that three-quarters (76.2%) of the physics observations had descriptively higher than expected participation by men and almost a quarter of observations (23.8%) were statistically significant for a gender imbalance in individual verbal participation. We then sought to determine if any pedagogical strategies or student behaviors correlated with a more equitable classroom to better understand what drives gender inequity in participation, and found three classroom behaviors—an increasing amount of instructor questions, group responses from students, and student questions—correspond with a more gender equitable classroom. Student-level survey data, which mirrors the observation data, also show that self-reported levels of individual participation have small, significant correlations with both course-level belonging and inclusivity. The introductory physics results were mostly replicated in the other STEM disciplines, despite their differences in course structure. The patterns of individual participation were still disproportionately higher for men, with two-thirds of observations displaying a bias towards more men participating. Student-level survey data continued to mirror the observation data, and small, significant correlations between student self-reported participation and course-level belonging and inclusion were found. However, only the number of student questions correlated with a more equitable classroom in other STEM courses. This study extends the conversation on the relationship between active learning and equity in the classroom, demonstrating a need to move beyond mere inclusion of active pedagogies towards proactive facilitation of equitable and comfortable verbal participation by all students. Practical strategies for encouraging inclusive classroom dialogue, such as transparency, growth-mindset messaging, and multiple modes of engagement, are discussed.

This work is the fourth of a series of papers applying multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) to widely used physics conceptual assessments. This study applies MIRT analysis using both exploratory and confirmatory methods to the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA) to explore the assessment’s structure and to determine a well-fitting model of student knowledge measured by the assessment. These methods were used to investigate a large dataset ($N=9666$) from a research university in the United States. Exploratory analysis showed that a five-factor model had the best fit statistics; the items with the highest loadings in four of the five factors were items in the same item block. Confirmatory MIRT analysis fit a theoretical model developed from expert solutions to the instrument and identified two models with superior model fit: a principle model and a topical model. The principle model consisted of 28 principles, fundamental reasoning steps needed to solve items in the instrument; this was more principles than any of the models in the previous confirmatory MIRT studies of the Force Concept Inventory, the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation, and the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism. A second model, the topical model, consisted of five general subtopics of electromagnetism. Both the principle and the topical model had excellent fit statistics; however, unlike the other conceptual instruments studied, the topical model had better fit statistics. The five topical divisions were explored as possible subscales; however, none of these subscales had a Cronbach’s $\alpha$ of 0.7, the minimum value for required low-stakes testing.

Societal stereotypes and biases pertaining to who belongs in physics and who can excel in it can impact motivational beliefs of women in physics courses. Prior research has shown that women have lower physics self-efficacy than men in physics courses in which women are underrepresented. However, prior research has generally not investigated similar issues in physics courses in which women make up the majority of students. This study examines self-efficacy of men and women with similar performance in introductory algebra-based physics courses in which women outnumber men at a large public research university in the US. These courses are taken primarily by biological science majors many of whom are interested in health professions. Although women are not underrepresented in these physics courses, societal stereotypes and biases internalized by female students over their lifetime can impact their self-efficacy when they take any physics course. We find a gender gap in self-efficacy disadvantaging women at the beginning of the course. However, unlike courses in which women are underrepresented, in which the self-efficacy gender gap often increases from the beginning to the end of the courses, we find that the self-efficacy gender gap for students who received a certain grade either remained constant or decreased somewhat. Moreover, except for the students who received an A grade, the average self-efficacy of most of the other student groups decreased from the beginning to the end of the semester. Additionally, we find that most of the self-efficacy gender gap is due to students’ biased perceptions about their capability rather than the performance difference between women and men.

Because of the focus of introductory physics courses on improving students’ problem-solving and reasoning skills, researchers in physics education have been developing and refining theoretical frameworks for how students reason through physics problems. Recently, researchers have begun to apply dual-process theories of reasoning (DPToR), from cognitive science and psychology, to support mechanistic predictions of student reasoning in physics. In this article, we employ a novel methodology involving reasoning chain construction tasks in order to test DPToR-based predictions for two physics questions in which salient distracting features have been found to cue incorrect first-available mental models. In a reasoning chain construction task, students respond to a physics question by drawing from a list of reasoning elements (all of which are true) in order to assemble a chain of reasoning that leads to a conclusion. Two sets of experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that students would be unlikely to abandon an incorrect first-available model unless they were provided with information that called into question the satisfactoriness of that model. We found that providing increased access to information relevant to the correct line of reasoning did not produce large differences in student answering patterns. However, providing increased access to information refuting the first-available model did produce large differences in student answering patterns, but only among those students who demonstrated that they possessed the relevant mindware (i.e., conceptual understanding). Our findings are consistent with DPToR and further illustrate the applicability of such reasoning frameworks in the context of physics.

This study uses social network analysis and the classroom observation protocol for undergraduate STEM (COPUS) to characterize six research-based introductory physics curricula. Peer Instruction, Modeling Instruction, ISLE, SCALE-UP, Context-Rich Problems, and Tutorials in Introductory Physics were investigated. Students in each curriculum were given a survey at the beginning and end of term, asking them to self-identify peers with whom they had meaningful interactions in class. Every curriculum showed an increase in the average number of student connections from the beginning of term to the end of term, with the largest increase occurring in Modeling Instruction, SCALE-UP, and Context-Rich Problems. Modeling Instruction was the only curriculum with a drastic change in how tightly connected the student network was. Transitivity increased for all curricula except Peer Instruction. We also spent one week per research site in the middle of the term observing courses using COPUS. From these observations, the student COPUS profiles look nearly the same for Tutorials, ISLE recitations, and Context-Rich Problems discussion sections. This is likely due to the large resolution of activities that can be coded as “other group activity,” suggesting the need for a more detailed observation instrument.

This study aims to make a thematic classification of possible misconceptions about solid friction by reviewing papers in the literature which include conceptual difficulties about friction; in this way, the study contributes to the literature. The study’s scope was limited to the dry friction that occurs with the interaction of two solid objects, as this is included in several curricula. Papers in the literature addressing the conceptual difficulties associated with friction were reviewed. Hence, 42 primary data sources (papers) accessed from various databases were subjected to content analysis. Possible misconceptions about friction were determined by the data collection techniques or tools of the study, the educational levels of the sample, and the countries in which they took place. At the end of the study, a list of possible misconceptions about solid friction were classified and listed under four themes: definition and existence, direction, type and magnitude, and effects of friction. Most of the possible misconceptions are in the type and magnitude theme and the least were in the direction theme. But friction is always opposite to the direction of the motion as a possible misconception was detected in the highest number of papers. Related to this, the possible misconception that friction prevents movement was frequently encountered. It was also found that both the distinction between sliding and rolling friction and kinetic and static friction was often ignored. In addition, some of the possible misconceptions were found to be similar regardless of country, culture, or education system, as in the previous literature. One of the results of the study is that possible misconceptions are not only held by the students but also held by teachers and preservice teachers. In this respect, the results of the study are also considerable in terms of the direction of teachers in in-service training studies.

The growing adoption of active learning techniques in physics courses requires that students productively engage in collaboration with their peers. Although studies in physics education research (PER) have addressed aspects of group work, the problem persists of how to engage students in collaborative work with appropriate self-awareness, adequate argumentation skills, openness to the views of others, and willingness to negotiate their ideas. In this article, we present intellectual humility (IH) as a new construct for PER to help advance our understanding and support of students’ collaboration with peers. We particularly focus on authentic group work engagement, where students must handle their intellectual shortcomings during discussions in order to make sense of physics and solve problems. The aim of our work is to formally introduce the construct of IH from a limitations-owning perspective and report on the results of a mixed-methods study investigating students’ learning experiences in introductory physics courses through an IH lens. The study provides quantitative evidence about how students gauge their own IH based on analysis of survey responses. We also provide an initial empirical foundation for facets of IH already present in the physics classroom from analysis of students’ reflections and researchers’ classroom observations. We find that students report high levels of love of learning, one characteristic of IH, however, our findings also point to students discomfort with intellectual limitations and inadequate handling of these shortcomings during group work. Our results suggest that students would benefit from learning spaces that welcome and encourage discussions around uncertainties, with minimal social risks that may be perceived as hindering their engagement.

Many undergraduate and graduate physics students participate in some form of public engagement throughout the course of their studies, often through groups supported by physics departments and universities. These informal teaching and learning programs can offer unique opportunities for both participants and facilitators to interact in a way that fosters physics identity development. Understanding how physics identities can be cultivated will allow us to work toward a field that is inclusive of more identities. In this study, we build on previous work to investigate facilitator experiences in three informal physics programs using an operationalized communities of practice framework. Through our analysis, we identify different structures within these programs that support physics identity development.

Introductory physics for life sciences (IPLS) courses have emerged as a type of physics course within the introductory courses sequence. The interdisciplinary aspects of these courses as well as the diverse student populations that they serve create significant challenges for instructors who choose to design and deliver them. The Living Physics Portal is a collaborative project, funded by the National Science Foundation, that is designed to support instructors involved in teaching IPLS courses. As part of the project, a survey was administered to document current pedagogical beliefs and practices in teaching IPLS courses. On this survey, 383 instructors (out of 762 respondents) reported that they had taught an IPLS course in the past two years. We analyzed instructor perceptions about the effectiveness of their IPLS courses in engaging students and examined predictors of differences in their perceived course effectiveness. Descriptive statistics showed that there is considerable variability in instructors’ perceptions of the degree to which their courses are effective in engaging students. Hierarchical linear regression analyses identified self-reported teaching strategies as independent predictors of perceived course effectiveness, even after controlling for prior teaching experience and community of practice self-perceptions. We present our results and discuss implications for the IPLS community.

Students at upper secondary and college level in many countries are introduced to quantum physics (QP) in a mostly mathless course. Research shows that addressing epistemological and philosophical aspects would be beneficial for novice students’ conceptual understanding. However, physics teachers seldom address these nature of science (NOS) aspects in their lessons. We take the view that teachers only implement these aspects if this serves their goals. This study explores whether experienced Dutch high school teachers, who are not trained for NOS teaching, address NOS in their QP lessons when provided with NOS-infused teaching resources. We based our framework on literature about pedagogic content knowledge and on the principles of the practicality of educational innovations. Teacher interviews ($N=10$) supported by classroom observations provided insights into how and why teachers use specific elements from the resources. Our research reveals teachers’ perspectives on teaching QP in secondary schools and why they think NOS aspects can be helpful to reach their teaching goals. Our findings support the view that conceptual QP is valuable for all students because an informed NOS view is vital for everybody in today’s society. Additionally, we expect that an ecological intervention that supports teachers and at the same time recognizes their professionality and environment has potential implications for other fields of science education and could have a significant positive impact in classrooms.

Student-centered learning has been shown to be more effective than traditional instructional methods, but deeper investigation is necessary to identify how specific classroom practices lead to improved conceptual learning and student attitudes. The purpose of this study was to identify classroom practices associated with gains in student conceptual understanding and physics identity using pre-post survey data taken from a nationally representative sample of first-semester physics students in four-year colleges and universities. From this sample, we found that students who reported working in small groups during every class saw greater gains in their conceptual understanding of physics than students who did not. Other classroom practices, such as the frequent use of computer simulations, using equipment, and performing labs, were also found to increase student conceptual gains. This work provides further evidence that certain instructional practices—small group learning, in particular—provide benefits to students in college physics classrooms.

We surveyed a convenience sample of 362 Italian university physics students, asking them to retrospectively assess their experience of emergency remote instruction due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We looked at their psychological well being, motivation for physics, academic orientation, attitude towards physics and physicists, and tried to link these factors to their overall perception of the online instruction. Our results show a general appreciation for the organization and effectiveness of online courses. However, online teaching negatively impacted on engagement and interaction between peers and with the instructors. Only 22% of students in our sample complained of the psychological distress due to remote instruction. Nonetheless, we found a significant decrease in motivational dimensions, such as interest and recognition. Emergency remote instruction also challenged the students’ self-regulation, self-efficacy, and engagement. Finally, the uncertainty about the future resulted in a more pessimistic attitude towards physics, academic performance, and job perspectives.

One desired outcome of introductory physics instruction is that students will develop facility with reasoning quantitatively about physical phenomena. Little research has been done regarding how students develop the algebraic concepts and skills involved in reasoning productively about physics quantities, which is different from either understanding of physics concepts or problem-solving abilities. We introduce the Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy (PIQL) as a tool for measuring Quantitative Literacy, a foundation of mathematical reasoning, in the context of introductory physics. We present the development of the PIQL and evidence of its validity for use in calculus-based introductory physics courses. Unlike concept inventories, the PIQL is a reasoning inventory, and can be used to assess reasoning over the span of students’ instruction in introductory physics. Although mathematical reasoning associated with the PIQL is taught in prior mathematics courses, pretest and post-test scores reveal that this reasoning is not readily used by most students in physics, nor does it develop as part of physics instruction—even in courses that use high-quality, research-based curricular materials. As has been the case with many inventories in physics education, we expect use of the PIQL to support the development of instructional strategies and materials—in this case, designed to meet the course objective that all students become quantitatively literate in introductory physics.

Instructional physics labs offer students unique opportunities to develop an understanding of experimentation. By transforming labs to be more open ended and experimentation focused, instructors can better support student agency and choice. In this study, we examine students’ overall sense of and perceptions about agency in two experimentation-focused labs: one course primarily taken by physics majors and another course primarily taken by engineering majors. We compare the sense of and perceptions about agency between the different courses and between men and women in each course. Between the start and the end of the semester, we found a positive shift in students’ sense of agency in the lab activities in both courses, with no difference between men’s and women’s shifts. Additionally, we found empirical evidence that the majority of the students preferred the final, most open-ended Project lab. Our qualitative analysis revealed that most of the students perceived the opportunities for agency positively, citing “freedom” as their reason for preferring the Project lab. Both women and men in the course for engineering majors showed similar patterns. Fewer women in the physics majors course, however, chose the final project lab as their favorite and less often attributed their preference to freedom. We discuss possible interpretations of these results and implications for instruction.

Ishimoto, Davenport, and Wittmann have previously reported analyses of data from student responses to the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE), in which they used item response curves (IRCs) to make claims about American and Japanese students’ relative likelihood to choose certain incorrect responses to some questions. We have used an independent dataset of over 6,500 American students’ responses to the FMCE to generate IRCs to test their claims. Converting the IRCs to vectors, we used dot product analysis to compare each response item quantitatively. For most questions, our analyses are consistent with Ishimoto, Davenport, and Wittmann, with some results suggesting more minor differences between American and Japanese students than previously reported. We also highlight the pedagogical advantages of using IRCs to determine the differences in response patterns for different populations to better understand student thinking prior to instruction.

Representational competence is essential for the acquisition of conceptual understanding in physics. It enables the interpretation of diagrams, graphs, and mathematical equations, and relating these to one another as well as to observations and experimental outcomes. In this study, we present the initial validation of a newly developed cross-contextual assessment of students’ competence in representing vector-field plots and field lines, the most common visualization of the concept of vector fields. The Representational Competence of Fields Inventory (RCFI) consists of ten single choice items and two items that each contain three true or false questions. The tool can be easily implemented within an online assessment. It assesses the understanding of the conventions of interpreting field lines and vector-field plots, as well as the translation between these. The intended use of the tool is both to scale students’ representational competences in respect to representations of vector fields and to reveal related misconceptions (areas of difficulty). The tool was administered at three German-speaking universities in Switzerland and Germany to a total of 515 first- and third-semester students from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects. In these first steps of the validation of the RCFI, we evaluated its psychometric quality via classical test theory in combination with Rasch scaling and examined its construct validity by conducting student interviews. The RCFI exhibits a good internal consistency of $\omega =0.86$, and the results of the Rasch analysis revealed that the items discriminate well among students from lower to medium-high competence levels. The RCFI revealed several misunderstandings and shortcomings, such as the confusion of the conventions for representing field lines and vector-field plots. Moreover, it showed that many students believed that field lines must not exhibit a curvature, that the lengths of field lines matter, and that field lines may have sharp corners. In its current version, the RCFI allows assessing students’ competence to interpret field representations, a necessary prerequisite for learning the widespread concept of vector fields. We report on planned future adaptations of the tool, such as optimizing some of the current distractors.