Writing is a critical skill for modern science, enabling collaboration, scientific discourse, public outreach, and more. Accordingly, it is important to consider how physicists and astronomers are trained to write. This study aims to understand the landscape of science writing education, specifically in physics and astronomy, in higher education in the United States. An online survey probing various aspects of their writing training in both undergraduate and graduate school was administered to 515 participants who have obtained training in physics and/or astronomy, or related fields, at the level equal to or beyond upper-division undergraduate study. Humanities and writing requirement courses appear to have a key role in general writing education, while laboratory courses and feedback from mentors are the dominant modes of science writing education in undergraduate and graduate school, respectively. There is substantial variation in the quality of writing education in physics and astronomy, often dependent on the student’s institution and/or mentor. Some participants also report that their success in disciplinary writing was a result of a solid foundation from K-12 education and/or self-direction toward resources; such reliance on past experiences and student background may contribute to inequality in the field. Many participants also stated a clear desire for more structured writing training to be available in the field. We provide suggestions for how to implement such training to meet the needs of the community identified in the survey.

The rapid shift to remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic required widespread adoption of synchronous virtual modalities such as Zoom in higher education. This study directly compares student conceptual learning outcomes in two parallel sections of an introductory physics course—one taught face-to-face (F2F) and the other synchronously via Zoom—delivered concurrently by the same instructor. Conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics was measured using the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation, administered presemester and postsemester. Normalized gain analysis showed average improvements of 30.49% for the F2F group and 25.01% for the Zoom group, a difference that was not statistically significant. Effect size analysis revealed a large gain for the F2F cohort ($d=1.27$) and a moderate gain for the Zoom cohort ($d=0.72$), with only a small, nonsignificant difference in post-test means ($d=0.19$). Analysis of covariance confirmed that presemester scores were the strongest predictor of postsemester performance ($p<0.001$), while modality itself was not significant ($p=0.333$). A significant interaction ($p=0.010$) indicated that prior preparation translated more effectively into learning gains for F2F students. Overall, both instructional modalities fostered meaningful learning; however, face-to-face instruction produced more consistent outcomes, whereas Zoom-based instruction revealed greater variability tied to students’ initial levels of preparation.

As the need for a quantum-ready workforce grows, educators in quantum information science and engineering (QISE) face the challenge of aligning their programs and courses with industry needs. Through a series of interviews with program directors and faculty across 15 different institutions, we identified the considerations that educators are currently addressing as they develop their various courses and programs. Grounded in a curriculum framework, we conducted a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, which revealed shared challenges and opportunities about program goals, curriculum development, collaboration, program data collection and evaluation, and connections across stakeholders in the quantum ecosystem that educators should consider when developing their QISE efforts. Our findings highlight five overarching themes: (1) the strategic ways educators navigate institutional structures to support QISE initiatives, (2) the ongoing challenge of aligning QISE curricula with industry and institutional needs, (3) the importance of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across departments and institutions in QISE, (4) the need for robust data collection and evaluation to inform QISE course and program development, and (5) the importance of strengthening industry-academia connections to prepare students for the quantum workforce. The details and interconnections in our findings illustrate the value of applying a structured approach to QISE course and program development with the goal of creating a more cohesive QISE education ecosystem.

This study investigates the role of learning dimensions in planning and trialing teaching-learning sequences (TLSs) on surface phenomena in liquids for high school students. Particularly, it aims to identify how different modeling approaches—macroscopic and mesoscopic—impact students’ learning in terms of different dimensions of learning such as conceptual understanding, intellectual growth, and scientific habits of mind. Some results derived from the application of thematic analysis (TA) to qualitative data collected from students’ interviews and feedback, and allowing for the identification of key learning dimensions, are presented. By systematically linking qualitative data to learning dimensions, TA provided a structured framework for evaluating the effectiveness of different instructional strategies. The study highlights the role of both cognitive and affective factors in science learning and underscores the importance of integrating diverse modeling approaches to foster a comprehensive understanding of complex scientific topics.

With the rise of quantum computing, interest has grown in using two-state quantum systems (qubits) at the secondary level to foster students’ conceptual understanding. Quantum measurement, in particular, is central to quantum theory and its accurate conceptualization by students is crucial for grasping fundamental quantum principles. However, instructional methods typically make use of different contexts (i.e., different two-state systems), significantly affecting students’ conceptual development in quantum physics. In this paper, we report findings from a cluster-randomized field trial involving 181 students taught through three inquiry-based, two-state approaches: the which-path-encoded single-photon, the polarization, and the double-well potential approach. All three approaches supported students’ conceptual development, yet students taught using photon polarization and the double-well potential significantly outperformed those participating in a course following the which-path-encoded single-photon approach. Our findings indicate that students participating in the which-path-encoded single-photon approach often retain mixed-thinking frameworks, whereas those taught with photon polarization or the double-well potential approaches were more likely to develop toward quantum thinking. Thus, our findings underpin how influential the choice of (experimental) context is on students’ conceptual development (also) in quantum physics.

Science textbooks often include text and diagrams to aid learner understanding. Yet traditional written instructions in textbooks often separate them, which can increase cognitive load and hinder effective learning. This research proposes and tests a novel presentational format for written instruction that incorporates spatial contiguity, numbered reading sequences, and color matching, aiming to enhance science learning. The effectiveness of the novel format was assessed through two randomized experimental studies. The first study involved 349 high school students in a popular science context, and the second included 187 students in a complex physics course. The results revealed statistically significant improvements in students’ learning outcomes and self-perceived understanding when exposed to the novel instructional format. The improvements were particularly notable in the study focused on complex scientific laws in physics. Furthermore, students reported lower levels of mental effort with the novel format compared to traditional formats, particularly in contexts involving more challenging materials. These results align with cognitive load theory in multimedia learning. The novel presentational format can significantly enhance student learning outcomes and understanding level. It offers a practical and more efficient alternative for instructional material design.

The Energy and Momentum Conceptual Survey (EMCS) is an instrument designed to assess students’ understanding of key physics concepts in introductory mechanics. In this study, we applied a combination of classical test theory (CTT), item response theory (IRT), and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to a dataset of over 10 000 students collected across 5 semesters at a large U.S. university. CTT and IRT analyses identified several problematic items with weak discrimination, low reliability, or evidence of guessing. We then explored the factor structure of the full and reduced versions of the EMCS, comparing models with differing numbers of factors. While a five-factor model offered the best statistical fit, a four-factor model excluding three problematic items (Q16, Q22, and Q23) provided improved interpretability and conceptual coherence. In both models, energy-related items were separated into distinct clusters, suggesting multiple modes of student reasoning. Finally, we evaluated a theoretically grounded two-factor model reflecting the EMCS’s design intent. This structure, representing energy and momentum as distinct yet stable factors, proved robust across model variations. The study demonstrated the best practice of exploratory factor analysis. Our findings demonstrate best practices for EFA while also highlighting the importance of instructional context in shaping learning gains. The low course-level gains observed in this study suggest the need to examine teaching practices along a continuum from traditional to active. Future work linking EMCS outcomes with detailed instructional-context data across multiple institutions will help clarify how different enactments of active teaching influence student conceptual understanding in physics.

Although conceptual assessment tests are commonly administered at the beginning and end of a semester, this pre-post approach has inherent limitations. Specifically, education researchers and instructors have limited ability to observe the progression of students’ conceptual understanding throughout the course. Furthermore, instructors are limited in the usefulness of the feedback they can give to the students involved. To address these challenges, we propose an alternative approach that leverages computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and increasing the frequency of CAT-based assessments during the course, while reducing the test length per administration, thus keeping or decreasing the total number of test items administered throughout the course. The feasibility of this idea depends on how far the test length per administration can be reduced without compromising test accuracy or precision. Specifically, the overall test length is desired to be shorter than when the full assessment is administered as a pretest and a subsequent post-test. To achieve this goal, we developed a CAT algorithm called Chain-CAT. This algorithm sequentially links the results of each CAT administration using collateral information. We developed the Chain-CAT algorithm using the items of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and analyzed its efficiency through numerical simulations. We found that collateral information significantly improved the test efficiency, and the overall test length could be shorter than that of the pre-post method. Without constraints for item balancing and exposure control, simulation results indicated that the efficiency of Chain-CAT is comparable to that of the pre-post method even when each CAT administration includes only 5 items and the CAT is administered 9 times throughout the semester. However, when these constraints are imposed, we found that the efficiency of the Chain-CAT with a test length of five items is lower than that of the pre-post method. Based on this result and analysis of which items were administered, we suggest expanding the FCI item bank by creating additional items or incorporating items from other research-based assessments that have high discrimination parameters and exhibit sufficient variability in their difficulty parameters.

In this paper, we describe the development and preliminary assessment of ACORN Physics Tutorials, which are designed to elicit and build on common conceptual resources for understanding physics. We articulate our design principles and instructional commitments and how these bear out in the specifics of one ACORN Physics Tutorial about electric circuits. We describe preliminary results from research on the implementation of the circuits ACORN Physics Tutorials. Namely, we observe students’ sensemaking in real time as they complete worksheets; we document shifts in students’ performance and use of specific conceptual resources from pre- to postinstruction using ACORN Physics Tutorials; and we show that students generally perceive their ideas to have mattered as they work with their peers on these worksheets. We hope these results can inform instructor decision making about the appropriateness of ACORN Physics Tutorials for their local contexts.

Trigonometric derivatives are fundamental in both mathematics and physics, yet their correct application, particularly the distinction between radians and degrees, remains a significant challenge for college students worldwide. This study identifies a widespread “blind spot” in understanding trigonometric derivatives and their implications for physical systems, highlighting a critical gap in physics education. A multinational survey of 769 college students, primarily undergraduate and graduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (majors, from Israel, the United States, China, and India assessed their ability to differentiate between radians and degrees in mathematical and physical contexts, focusing on harmonic motion. Results reveal that only 26.3% of students correctly identified that the well-known expressions for trigonometric derivatives hold exclusively in radians, while 70.7% incorrectly assumed that both radians and degrees are valid. Notably, students demonstrated improved recognition of radians in physical contexts (59% correct responses) compared to mathematical ones, suggesting that students rely on familiar physical equations as cognitive reference points when applying mathematical concepts. These misunderstandings appear globally, suggesting a universal challenge. The findings highlight the need for curriculum reforms to better connect mathematical formalism with physical application.

Embodied forms of representation like gesture have been shown to play an important role in how learners conceptualize phenomena in physics; however, we know little about how students use gesture to capture the idea of instantaneity. Drawing on multimodal microanalysis of interaction, we examine how undergraduate physics students use representational gesture to make sense of instants or single moments in time while modeling energy dynamics. Our analysis demonstrates how students use four different forms of representational gesture to capture instantaneity: These include (i) looping and replaying a physical action, (ii) showing a tiny subinterval of time, (iii) freezing a frame of an action, and (iv) marking a boundary location on an imaginary timeline. Implications for physics learning are discussed.

Given the widespread presence of competition in educational settings and its complex impact on science learning, how students complete tasks in competitive environments has attracted a wide range of attention. The purpose of this study is to compare students’ performance on physics conceptual questions in noncompetitive and competitive environments, focusing on both task outcomes and cognitive processing during task completion. There were 66 undergraduate students randomly assigned to one of two conditions (a noncompetitive group and a competitive group) to complete physics multiple-choice questions. The results displayed differences in undergraduate students’ outcomes and eye movement behaviors when they completed physics conceptual questions under noncompetitive and competitive conditions. The noncompetitive group outperformed the competitive group in completing physics conceptual questions, while the competitive group spent less fixation time completing physics conceptual questions than the noncompetitive group. Additionally, the noncompetitive group displayed a larger number of revisits to the entire question than the competitive group. In summary, although students in a competitive environment completed physics conceptual questions more quickly, the accuracy was low, which could be described as “haste makes waste.” Eyetracking data suggested that these differences might result from a greater emphasis on speed and reduced cognitive engagement in the competitive group.

Previous research has suggested that changing the percentage of the course grade associated with exam grades in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses can change the gender gap in the course. It has also been shown that high-stakes assessments yield the lowest (relative) scores for female students. Previous research by the authors has shown that implementing retake exams can eliminate the gender gap in introductory physics courses. This paper explores several different hypotheses for why retake exams are associated with a zeroed gender gap. Two independent measurements comparing exams with different stakes are used in support of the argument that the entire gender gap on introductory physics exams may be due to the stakes associated with those exams. In other words, these data support the idea that a gender grade gap on exams does not measure a gender difference in the physics knowledge or physics ability of these students. Implications suggest that instructors should choose lower stakes assessment options if they are interested in exam measurements that are not influenced by differences in students’ performance related to exam stakes.

The Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics (PICUP) was founded in the mid-2010s to assist educators with the challenges of integrating computation into physics curricula. In addition to in-person trainings and hosted educational materials, PICUP uses a Slack Workspace to continue collaboration and discussion off-line. In this work, we use social network analysis (SNA) to study the communication patterns of PICUP and assess if PICUP is meeting their goals in the Slack environment. Through our analysis, we discuss PICUP’s community structure and define a conceptual framework to evaluate if the goals are being met through SNA metrics. We present a comprehensive analysis of eight channels in the Slack Workspace using various SNA metrics, identifying three distinct levels of user engagement. We conclude with implications for PICUP and provide recommendations for the community.

In this paper, we describe our extension of the action, process, object, schema (APOS) theory to capture the complex interplay of mathematics and physics. We do this in the context of the 2D heat equation. We describe a hypothetical learning trajectory of the 2D heat equation, a preliminary genetic decomposition that stresses the conceptual understanding of its mathematical formulation. In our extension of APOS to physics education, we highlight how our approach precisely captures the interplay between mathematics and physics in different mental constructions of the framework. In addition to this core focus, we consider other layers when designing the preliminary genetic decomposition: the key concepts and the necessary depth of students’ prerequisite knowledge of the chosen context, the challenges students commonly face with these concepts, and the use of multiple external representations. We conclude by giving an overview of future research to be done after the design of the preliminary genetic decomposition.

Quantum information science and engineering (QISE) is rapidly gaining interest from those within many disciplines, and higher education needs to adapt to the changing landscape. Although QISE education still has a strong presence and roots in physics, the field is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. There is a need to understand the presence of QISE instruction and quantum-related instruction across all disciplines in order to figure out where QISE education is already happening and where it could be expanded. Although there is recent work that characterizes introductory QISE courses, there is no holistic picture of the landscape of QISE and quantum-related education in the United States. To understand how QISE education is evolving, we analyzed course catalogs from 1456 U.S. institutions. We found 61 institutions offering QISE degree programs, mostly at Ph.D.-granting schools, with interdisciplinary programs being the most common. Physics, electrical and computer engineering, and computer science are the primary contributors to these programs. Across all institutions, we identified over 8000 courses mentioning “quantum,” mainly in physics and chemistry departments, but about one-third of institutions in our study had none. We also found over 500 dedicated QISE courses, concentrated in Ph.D.-granting institutions, primarily in physics, electrical and computer engineering, and computer science. Physics leads in offering both general quantum-related courses ($\sim 4700$) and QISE-specific courses ($\sim 200$). While quantum knowledge is often a prerequisite for QISE, there are efforts to make QISE education more accessible to students with less background in quantum mechanics. Across multiple disciplines, we also see that QISE topics are being introduced in courses not fully dedicated to QISE, which may be a productive strategy for increasing students’ access to QISE education. Our dataset and analysis provide the most comprehensive overview to date of quantum education across U.S. higher education. Additionally, this work is the first to address, in detail, the landscape of quantum content in two-year and community colleges and examines the largest set of MSIs in this context. We hope these findings will support and guide future efforts in curriculum design, workforce development, and education policy across the quantum ecosystem.

As global interest in quantum mechanics grows, its inherent complexities continue to pose challenges for effective instruction. This study investigates the impact of Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorials (QuILTs) on enhancing conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics among preservice physics teachers in Korea. The QuILTs, consisting of pretests, tutorial worksheets, and post-tests, targeted the following five key concepts: possible wave functions, bound/scattering states, time evolution of wave functions, quantum measurement, and the uncertainty principle. To assess conceptual change, the Quantum Mechanics Survey (QMS) was administered to 20 preservice teachers before and after the completion of QuILTs instruction to assess conceptual change. Additionally, embedded quizzes and interviews provided deeper insights into persistent misconceptions. Results indicated a moderate to substantial overall improvement, with a Hake gain of 0.54. Significant gains were observed in understanding possible wave functions and time evolution, although challenges remained in areas such as normalization of free particle wave functions and interpretation of scattering states. Misconceptions related to quantum measurement and the uncertainty principle showed partial improvement. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of QuILTs in enhancing conceptual understanding among preservice teachers, suggesting that research-based, concept-focused instructional strategies can support future educators in mastering complex quantum mechanics concepts. These results offer valuable insights into the development of teacher preparation curricula and instructional strategies in Korea.

Social network analysis (SNA) has been widely used in physics education research (PER) in recent years, but mostly in a limited range of the available modalities. This paper describes a unique approach to egocentric, mixed-methods SNA applied to qualitative network data obtained from 100 interviews with women and/or queer professional physicists. We focus on our methods for obtaining quantitative network data from these qualitative sources and present novel techniques for the analysis of the networks. We also examine the ways in which egocentric and mixed-methods SNA techniques are aligned with critical methods and well suited to the study of difference, non-normativity, and experiences of marginalization in physics spaces and communities. We explore the limitations and potential applications of these methods and situate this work in the larger context of our study of these interviews. This work bridges a methodological gap between SNA and qualitative work on identity in PER and begins to develop our understanding of the way gender and sexual minority physicists experience support.

The ability to accurately interpret mathematical functions is crucial for understanding complex physical and mathematical concepts. Differentiating isothermal from adiabatic change of state in $p\text{−}V$ diagrams respectively graphs of indirectly proportional functions from graphs of power functions in $x\text{−}y$ diagrams presents a common challenge for students. This study examines the gaze behavior of 80 10th-grade students to identify the processing strategies they use when distinguishing these graphs of functions in mathematical and thermodynamic contexts. The cluster analysis of the gaze data revealed two main strategies: focusing on the value pairs, often resulting in a higher number of correct responses, and focusing on the graph itself, often resulting in misunderstandings. Interviews indicated that students who relied on graph-focused strategies often followed intuitive and less effective approaches. These findings underscore the need for adaptive support measures to address individual learning challenges and improve students’ understanding of graphs of indirectly proportional functions. Beyond the specific focus on indirectly proportional and power functions, the methodology and results of this study offer a transferable framework for identifying learning difficulties across various function types and contexts, complementing existing research on students’ understanding of linear functions.

Gutiérrez’s equity framework, derived from mathematics education research, defines equity in terms of four dimensions: access, achievement, identity, and power. Access and achievement yield outcomes that reify the status quo while identity and power transform schooling to redistribute power. We use Gutiérrez’s equity framework to study discourse about equity from 36 high school physics teachers who participated in an equity-focused professional development workshop. We found that the teachers’ equity discourse often includes aspects of the identity dimension, yet teachers tend to frame identity using what we call a deficit lens. That is, although teachers agree that student identity matters in equity work, they often treat student identity as a way to support access and achievement and as a reflection of why students are not “successful.” In Gutiérrez’s words, this means centering equity work on teaching students to “play the game.” We also found that the power dimension, which supports students in “changing the game,” tends to be rare in teachers’ discourse about equity and is often presented with varied interpretations. Our findings then suggest that teachers’ equity framings of identity and power reflect physics education scholarship and dominant narratives, which leads to the call for a collective effort to challenge and reframe identity in physics in relation to power.