Physics remains an area of STEM with lower amounts of diversity among the student population, therefore it becomes important to consider how classroom culture may contribute to a lack of belonging for students in underrepresented groups. This study aimed to determine how students in physics courses at Miami University perceived peer interactions in their courses during formal and informal group work. Virtual interviews were conducted with nine physics majors and responses were coded for positive and negative statements related to themes of respect, contribution, outcome of the task and overall class culture. It was found that on average male students had a higher percentage of positive statements about class culture, while female students had a higher percentage of positive statements about task outcomes and a higher percentage of negative statements about communication and class culture.

Orbital calculations are a major player in the story of Andy Weir’s “The Martian.” The crew originally gets from Earth to Mars by firing rockets to convert a circular orbit around Earth into an elliptical orbit around the Sun which intersects the orbit of Mars. A planetarium allows us to picture how this path makes sense. It is also easy to see why “a straight line is the shortest distance between two points” is not going to be a viable axiom to travel between worlds. This brief visualization could stand alone for a general population of learners, or be combined with mathematical-based arguments in higher level courses.

Most people likely think of learning the constellations of the night sky when they think of planetariums, but that’s not going to help you teach physics.  It may not even really be astronomy, but more like sky geography!  I think it’s important to teach 21^st Century astronomy and physics whenever possible, and planetariums can help with so much more than just constellations.  Planetariums can do things that regular classrooms cannot do.  This in-dome presentation will look at both specific and general ways that planetariums can help you teach physics and astronomy.

The STEP UP project (STEPUPphysics.org) was designed to reduce barriers for high school women in physics and encourage them to pursue an undergraduate physics degree, in which women have been underrepresented historically. STEP UP focuses on implementing high school interventions by recruiting high school physics teachers, called Advocates, who are trained to teach STEP UP’s research-driven materials in their classroom. To understand the effects of material implementation on Advocates, surveys are being administered to them before and after the school year.  Using a “tempered radicals” framing, this talk will present an analysis of initial survey responses describing the characteristics of teachers who are willing to be disruptive in order to reduce barriers for women and change the physics classroom culture. Results will inform  our understanding of teachers and the ways in which we can support their development as tempered radicals. 

The 2021 Inclusive Curriculum in Physics Workshop Series is a three part series organized and led by the National Society of Black Physicists, the National Society of Hispanic Physicists, and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The series leverages the expertise of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) experts, as well as an organizing team of physics students, faculty and STEM professionals at different stages of their studies and careers.The purpose of the series is to: Explore the importance of EDI in the classroom and the existing instructional materials that focus on EDI, with members of the broad physics education community; Engage participants in discussion and action items around the current challenges to equity in STEM education with input from experts in the field; Provide support to working groups through a network of partners to engage in specific physics education projects using the lens of inclusion.