Logistic regression, random forest, and ensemble classification algorithms are used to predict students at risk of receiving a failing grade (D or F) in an introductory mechanics class. Institutional variables as well as student performance variables gathered from the first two weeks of class are used. Due to the imbalanced nature of the data, upsampling methods such as synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) and alternative metrics such as balanced accuracy for evaluating model performance are examined. The importance of variables to the final classification is explored. The best performing models are found to achieve a balanced accuracy of around 80%.

Over the last 25 years, educational researchers have encouraged practitioners to acknowledge and include culturally relevant pedagogy in physics learning. We examine current physics instructors’ views of objectivity in physics and their views of culturally relevant pedagogy. Instructors’ statements are analyzed using the conceptions of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) listed in Ladson-Billings’ (1995) framework: Conceptions of Self and Others, Conceptions of Knowledge, and Social Relations. We interviewed 11 physics instructors asking about their views towards CRP and objectivity in physics. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. We share two illustrations of instructors who had strong Conceptions of Knowledge that supported CRP: they focus on the knowledge of physics as being constructed and reconstructed - now and into the future. Findings from our study indicate that the third conception, Conceptions of Knowledge, is crucial to develop if we want physics instructors to truly and effectively use CRP.

Student understanding of measurement uncertainty is a common learning goal among introductory physics lab courses. In this study, we investigate the open-ended responses to the Physics Measurement Questionnaire (PMQ) from students enrolled in the two-semester Design, Analysis, Tools, and Apprenticeship (DATA) Lab course at Michigan State University.  Using an unsupervised natural language processing technique, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we were able to extract themes/topics from student responses to this assessment which were in line with the paradigms recently published by Pollard et al. The extracted themes from LDA were then compared to previously hand coded responses. Comparing the prevalence of the extracted topics to the frequencies of the hand-coded responses led to close agreement between the two analyses. Based on these results, topic modelling techniques may be able to provide insight into student understanding of measurement reasoning.

The Learning Assistant Program is a relatively recent advancement in undergraduate education. The core tenet of the program aims to have undergraduate students use instructor-approved and research-backed group activities and discussions along with general peer support to encourage active participation in the course they assist in. Students requiring special accommodations make up a significant portion of students. In this poster, learning assistant anecdotes of interactions with these populations are presented. The use of learning assistants and dialogue between pertinent entities, the instructor, and the student as a means of allowing needed flexibility in these courses are explored.

Sponsored by: Sujata Krishna, Ph.D.

The Learning Assistant (LA) Program can be used as a pathway for students to develop pedagogical skills and gain independence in a variety of different learning environments. Here we describe the growth of a Physics LA over four semesters. Starting with a course in pedagogy along with the active facilitation of group learning, we can see the LA creating a strong foundation in their educational skills. Through diversity and inclusion trainings, the LA can start to cater to the different learning styles of students more effectively. As the LA becomes more adept in assisting students, they can take on more independent tasks like running discussion boards, providing exam reviews, and hosting office hours. After just four semesters, we can see the LA becoming self-sufficient in the classroom setting. Throughout their experience, the LA continually receives mentoring from professors and establishes rapport with peers of similar paths.

The Physics graduate program of Stony Brook University attracts students from diverse backgrounds, and involves a very intense workload right from the begining. This made it clear that it is necessary for the department to provide help in adapting to the environment, which led to the creation of a mentoring program. In the past three years, this program has undergone significant changes, the foremost being that it is heavily student-led. Besides faculty mentors, very active student mentors are assigned. This has formed a basis for improved communication between the incoming students and the department, with various benefits which range from success in making through the program requirements to overall mental health. In this talk, I will present the main characteristics and results, obtained through anonymous surveys, of this mentoring program. In the end, I will also discuss possible extensions of these methods to undergraduate programs in the US.

One of the broad concerns about the future of physics education research is a relative paucity of active PER groups at colleges and universities that are not primarily focused upon research. Yet, institutions that are primarily focused on teaching need to replicate these studies directly, whether to confirm that results at different university types are similar, or to identify differing outcomes that are connected to institutional type. Differences in institutional focus attract different student populations, and hence, different student motivations, which can directly affect data results from long-recognized quantitative and qualitative measuring instruments. This poster outlines a preliminary “lay of the land” view from the perspective of a solo PER researcher working at a regional comprehensive state university – both as an example of a non-research university and looking at other teaching-focused institution types – in order to determine the current outlook of PER’s growth outside the research university.