EAGER: Physics of Living Systems Teacher (PoLST) Network: Increasing Student Conceptual Understanding of High School Physics

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The PI will carry out exploratory research to lay the foundation for the establishment of a national high school physics network, with the goal of developing a Physics of Living Systems high school physics curriculum to increase high school physics student conceptual understanding. A set of surveys to assess the state of high-school physics teaching was administered during the Harvard Virtual Workshop in July of 2020. A subset of participants from this workshop will be selected and invited to join the first cohort of the Physics of Living Systems Teacher (PoLST) network. The network will operate in close collaboration with the already-established NSF-sponsored graduate student PoLS network. The goal is to establish a sustainable community of practice to improve conceptual understanding of physics at the high school level for all students, particularly those who are traditionally underrepresented in physics. This is transformative research because the PI challenges the assumption that physics educational researchers are the experts who can simply impose what works at the university level to high school contexts. It is high-risk because we are entrusting that high school teachers have important knowledge about their professions and that they will be willing to share this knowledge with physics education researchers. Rather than taking a deficit-based approach to high school physics education, the PI will to start a productive and focused conversation that leads to authentic partnerships with teachers and researchers. To accomplish this, the PI will take a design-based research approach. There is tremendous need to increase the number of qualified high school students who will be ready to succeed in college science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. Mastery of physics is critical at this time because physics is central for students interested in pursuing any number of STEM professions. Understanding both how to leverage collaborative networks between high school physics teachers and physics graduate students to develop a curriculum that can increase student conceptual physics understanding, and consequently reduce the number of undergraduate students who leave STEM, has the potential to improve the long-term outlook of the nation's preparation of STEM professionals. The goal is to do so in a foundational, long-term, and systematic manner where all relevant stake-holder groups are represented. Increasing conceptual physics understanding at the high school level, by leveraging a high school physics teacher and physics graduate student network, will impact how prepared students are to succeed in STEM when they enroll in university science courses. Students with access to quality physics education at the high school level will be better equipped to select and succeed in STEM majors, thus opening a career trajectory in medicine, research, governmental agencies, environmental sciences, to name a few. These types of careers are positioned to address some of our planet's most critical threats. The project will also impact diversity and inclusion efforts by diminishing gaps in physics preparedness when students get to the university level. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.