Download
1 / 30
300 likes | 414 Vues
Teaching for retention: what they hear vs. what we say. James H. Stith Vice President Physics Resources Center American Institute of Physics 301 209 3126 jstith@aip.org. Background for Talk. Over 30 years in the classroom Discussions with a number of physics and other faculty
E N D
Teaching for retention: what they hear vs. what we say James H. Stith Vice President Physics Resources Center American Institute of Physics 301 209 3126 jstith@aip.org
Background for Talk • Over 30 years in the classroom • Discussions with a number of physics and other faculty • Discussions with a number of students
Physics: Important But Small • Out of every 1,000 bachelors awarded in the U.S. each year • Only 3.25 are in physics. • Of the PhDs awarded across all fields in the U.S. each year, • Fewer than 4% are in physics. Source: AIP's Statistical Research Center
Is Physics Representative? • Women earn 55% of all bachelors degrees awarded in the US • But only 23% in physics • There are over 785 bachelors-granting physics departments in the U.S. • Xavier University accounts for 7% of all African Americans • Over 33,000 PhDs were awarded in physics in the U.S. from 1973 through 2000 • Only 236 African Americans earned physics PhDs during those 28 years
Girls as a Percentage of Total High School Physics Students Source: AIP Statistical Research Center
Source: AIP Statistical Research Center compiled from data collected by the National Science Foundation
Characteristics of a Successful Program • There was an individual that took ownership of the program. • Advisors gave honest advice. Faculty did not "water down" the material. • An atmosphere existed in which expectations of both faculty and students were that students could and would succeed
Characteristics of a Successful Program • The departmental faculty was willing to share their experiences and excitement about physics with their students. • The students were made to feel as if they belonged. • There was faculty contact before and after the students arrived on campus
Which Defines Your Department? • Sorting and mining. • Plant the seeds and cultivate the plants.
Case Study Vignettes[1] Directions: Read the following case study vignettes which include a number of issues that have occurred in various departments. View the situation from the perspectives of the student, then from the instructor’s perspectives. What might each be thinking? What suggestions for action do you have for each situation or for avoiding getting into the situation in the first place? [1] Case Studies adapted from work of Dr. Christine Stanley, Office of TA and Faculty Development, The Ohio State University.
Confronting assumptions in the classrooms You are a faculty member observing a recently hired instructor teaching his first day of a junior level physics course. Amy, a forty year old student in the department, is taking the course and as she sits down in the second row, you notice that she is the only female in a class of 20. The instructor walks in, announces the name of the class and says, “Is everyone sure they are in the right place?” He then turns around, looks straight at Amy, “This is Physics 500. Are you sure you are in the right place.” She looks at him and says, “I’m quite sure.” He goes on for another few minutes and asks her again for the third time. After class, the instructor comes to your office as scheduled and wants to know how you think he did.
To intervene or not to intervene? Jim Burton, a Black student, has done poorly on the first two exams in Barbara Ross’s class. He does not participate in class and has not come to see her outside of class. Even if he does exceptionally well on his final exam, he will not get a good grade, and Ross fears that he will not do well at all and probably will fail, given his performance to date. She generally leaves it up to students to come to see her when they are in trouble, but in this case, she thinks that Burton might be shy and makes a point of asking him to see her. On talking with him, she determines that he is not very realistic about his performance and the prospects of reversing his grade. She suggests that he might consider dropping this course and taking a lower level class so that he will not damage his grade point average. She feels that she has gone out of her way to help Burton and is puzzled when he resents being singled out and thinks that her suggestion is insulting.
Examining gender issues in a physics class. Caroline Smith, an instructor in a physics class, is explaining to the class how to work out a particular problem. Sally, a student in her class, observes “Mightn’t it be faster to ...?” and continues by explaining her approach. Smith patiently explains that that is not the way it’s done and goes on to explain the problem. A few minutes later Sally raises her hand again and asks “Excuse me, but I’ve worked out the problem my way and it does seem faster. Would you at least tell me why it is wrong?” Smith is irritated and is about to go on when another student, John interrupts and says, “Sally is right. You should do it her way. I did it and it is a lot faster.” Smith looks over the problem again and then remarks to the class, “Well, I guess it’s never to late to learn new tricks. Thank you John, and you too, Sally.”
Broadening the breadth of the course. Melanie Wong is chairperson of her physics department. The student AWIS Chapter has sent her a letter urging the department to include the accomplishments of women scholars, significant issues pertaining to women, and works and research by women into its curriculum. At a departmental meeting, Wong brings the letter to the attention of the faculty. The instructors feel that the students’ suggestion is unreasonable. Instructors say that their course content is “culturally neutral,” and that they don’t see how they can accommodate these concerns.
An exit interview. As chairperson of the graduate committee, Martin Hernandez conducts exit interviews with students who leave his department without completing their programs. In an interview with Angela Johnson, he learns that she is leaving because of the following reasons: she was consistently told that her prior education at a historically black institution was second-rate and that she would have to take lower level courses to make it up; that instructors never called her by name or invited her to talk; that instructors seems visibly surprised when she did well; that she was accused of cheating once when she hadn’t; that she got lower grades than white students even when she perceived that her performance was similar; and that other students never included her in study groups or invited her to join in their activities. Hernandez is not sure whether Johnson is being truthful or not, or what he should do about these charges.
A difficult office dialogue with a student Outside your office door you hear one of your student appointments speaking to a friend about his schedule for next semester. You clearly hear him suggest to the friend that he avoid an Asian instructor’s class “because foreigners can’t understand the language well enough to answer your questions.” During your appointment you ask the student if he has ever had the instructor in question and he responds by saying, “My dad hates minorities and foreigners. I wouldn’t take a class with a foreigner if you paid me!”
