SBP: Identifying best practices for inclusive physics learning environments

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This significant project will share examples of university physics departments that effectively support women and minorities; learn what physics faculty know, believe, and value that could help them create inclusive learning environments; and provide evidence-based guidance to physics faculty who want to include more women and minorities in physics. The intellectual motivations of this project are captured by the American Physical Society's Joint Diversity Statement: "To ensure a productive future for science and technology in the US, we must make physics more inclusive...Underrepresented groups constitute a largely untapped intellectual resource and a growing segment of the U.S. population" Unfortunately many faculty remain convinced that traditional instruction, assessment, and admissions reliably identify the "best students", in spite of evidence that these practices discriminate against underrepresented groups. To make physics more inclusive, physics teaching should be transformed to increase its effectiveness for women and minorities; physics assessments should accurately reflect student learning without discriminating against disadvantaged groups; and physics departments should enact admissions, mentoring, and advising practices that support all students' intellectual and professional growth. In this project physics education researchers, social justice professionals, and physics professional societies will work together to (1) identify physics faculty and departments that are already striving for inclusive physics learning environments through specific teaching efforts or departmental practices, providing examples of practices, values, knowledge, and programs that support equity in physics; (2) learn what knowledge, beliefs, values, and priorities physics faculty share that could support them in creating more inclusive learning environments; and (3) produce pilot resources for physics faculty to change their instruction and their departmental practices to better support inclusion of women and minorities. These pilot resources will include lessons about physics teaching and learning based on short episodes of video illustrating physics classrooms' best-practices and guidance for faculty on analyzing demographic data on student assessments.