Award Abstract # 1721021
Collaborative Research: Mobilizing Teachers to Increase Capacity and Broaden Women's Participation in Physics

NSF Org: DRL
Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
Recipient: FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: May 16, 2017
Latest Amendment Date: July 18, 2019
Award Number: 1721021
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Toya frank
tfrank@nsf.gov
 (703)292-2255
DRL
 Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
EDU
 Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date: May 15, 2017
End Date: April 30, 2023 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $2,002,111.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $2,002,111.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2017 = $884,884.00
FY 2019 = $1,117,227.00
History of Investigator:
  • Zahra Hazari (Principal Investigator)
    zhazari@fiu.edu
  • Laird Kramer (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Geoffrey Potvin (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Florida International University
11200 SW 8TH ST
MIAMI
FL  US  33199-2516
(305)348-2494
Sponsor Congressional District: 26
Primary Place of Performance: Florida International University
FL  US  33199-0001
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
26
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): Q3KCVK5S9CP1
Parent UEI: Q3KCVK5S9CP1
NSF Program(s): Discovery Research K-12
Primary Program Source: 04001718DB NSF Education & Human Resource
04001920DB NSF Education & Human Resource

04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 764500
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.076

ABSTRACT

The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.

This project assesses the impact of scaling-up the teaching of physics and engineering to women students in grade levels 11 and 12, particularly in reference to retention. The problem of low participation of women in physics and engineering has been a topic of concern for decades. The persistent underrepresentation of women in physics and engineering is not just an equity issue but also reflects an unrealized talent pool that can help respond to current and future challenges faced by society. The aim is to mobilize high school physics teachers to "attract and recruit" female students into science (physics) and engineering careers. The fundamental issues that the project seeks is to affect increases in the number of females in physics and engineering careers using research-informed and field-tested classroom practices that improve female students' physics identity. The project will advance science (physics) identity research by testing research-based approaches/interventions with larger groups of teachers and connecting research to practice in ways that are both widely deployable and practical for teachers to implement. The project will also affect female participation in engineering since developing a physics identity is strongly related to choosing engineering. The core area teachers will be trained in addressing student identity as a physicist or engineer.

In this project, two research universities (Florida International University, Texas A&M-Commerce) and the two largest national organizations in physics (American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers) will work together using approaches/interventions drawn from prior research results that will be tested with teachers in three states (24 teachers, 8 in each state) using an experimental design with control and treatment groups. The project proposes three phases: 1. Refine already established interventions for improving female physics identity for use on a massive national level which will be assessed through previously validated and reliable surveys and sound research design; 2. Launch a massive national campaign involving workshops, training modules, and mass communication approaches to reach and attempt to mobilize 16,000 of the 27,000 physics teachers nationwide to attract and recruit at least one female student to physics using the intervention approaches refines in phase 1 and other classroom approaches shown to improve female physics identity; and 3. Evaluate of the success of the campaign through surveys of high school physics teachers (subjective data) and data from the Higher Education Research Institute to monitor female student increases in freshmen declaring a physics major during the years following the campaign (objective data). The interventions will focus on developing female students' physics identity, a construct which has been found to be strongly related to career choice and persistence in physics. The project has the potential to reduce or eliminate the gender gap in the field of physics. In addition, the increase in female physics identity is likely to also increase female representation in engineering majors. Therefore, the work will lay the groundwork for adapting similar methods for increasing under-representation of females in other disciplines. The societies involved (American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers) are uniquely positioned within the discipline to ensure a successful campaign of information dissemination to physics teachers nationally and under-representation of females in other disciplines as well, engineering specifically.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Cheng, Hemeng and Potvin, Geoff and Khatri, Raina and Kramer, Laird H. and Lock, Robynne M. and Hazari, Zahra "Examining physics identity development through two high school interventions" Physics Education Research Conference 2018 , 2018 10.1119/perc.2018.pr.Cheng Citation Details
Hazari, Zahra and Cass, Cheryl "Towards Meaningful Physics Recognition: What does this recognition actually look like?" The Physics Teacher , v.56 , 2018 10.1119/1.5055325 Citation Details
Head, T. Blake and Khatri, Raina and Hazari, Zahra and Potvin, Geoff and Lock, Robynne M. "Believe that they can achieve: How Teacher Attitudes Toward Physics Impact Student Outcomes" Physics Education Research Conference 2020 , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2020.pr.Head Citation Details
Head, T. Blake and Lock, Robynne M. and Khatri, Raina and Hazari, Zahra and Potvin, Geoff "Student response to a careers in physics lesson" Student response to a careers in physics lesson , 2020 10.1119/perc.2019.pr.Head Citation Details
Sabouri, P. and Hazari, Z. "An Informal Physics Club with Young Women Leadership: A Counterspace for Developing Physics Identity" Proceedings of ESERA 2021 , 2022 Citation Details
Sabouri, Pooneh and Hazari, Zahra and Khatri, Raina and Dreyfuss, Bree Barnett "Considerations for Inclusive and Equitable Design: The Case of STEP UP Counternarratives in HS Physics" The Physics Teacher , v.60 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0056835 Citation Details

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

The underrepresentation and continued marginalization of women in physics has been an issue for decades. For the last two decades, female students have accounted for roughly 20% of physics bachelor’s degree recipients even though they constitute 56% of undergraduate enrollment across all disciplines. This level of underrepresentation in college is relatively consistent from incoming first-year students intending physics majors through to graduation. However, 46% of students who take high school physics are women.  Thus, high school physics classes provide a critical opportunity for inspiring young women and addressing cultural issues in physics in ways that will increase the number of  female students interested in a physics major. Recognizing the meaningful role played by high school physics teachers in broadening young women's participation in physics, the STEP UP project was developed to empower teachers to use equity-based practices, facilitate female students' physics identity development, and encourage them to pursue physics. 

Drawing on decades of prior literature on gender issues in science/physics education, two lessons, Careers in Physics and the Women in Physics, as well as an Everyday Actions Guide were developed by the project team. The Careers in Physics lesson has students reflect on their values and interests, matching them with physicists who work in many different sectors and have similar values and interests. The lesson also provides evidence for a wide range of goals achieved with an undergraduate physics degree (e.g. solving societal problems, helping others, having a good income), and has students create their own career profiles. The Women in Physics lesson presents evidence of implicit bias and the role of culture in women’s representation in physics. In the lesson students draw on their personal experiences with gendering and bias in science, and the class collectively develops a plan to make physics class a safe learning space for all. Due to the need for virtual learning during the pandemic, the materials were adapted for remote learning. The Everyday Actions Guide provides teachers with a framework for reflecting on their own actions as well as example actions to reframe interactions that happen in their classrooms, schools, and communities to promote culture change. Additionally, there is a set of support materials that include Guidelines for Classroom Discussions (English and Spanish) and e-flyers for students, parents and counselors to be better informed about the value of physics courses and careers.

The lessons have been tested in two studies to assess students’ intentions to pursue a career in physics after being exposed to these lessons. Both studies showed that students' future intentions to pursue a career in physics increased across all student groups (N=2,332) but the gains were higher for female students and minoritized racial/ethnic groups (MRE). Additionally, surveys conducted with high school teachers (N=359) showed that teachers who have used STEP UP interventions, on average, recruited more than one female student to a physics major as compared to the national average per teacher which is roughly 0 (0.06).  Based on these findings, if high school physics teachers adopt the project interventions, there could be a substantial increase in the proportion of women pursuing physics majors across the country in the next decade.  

In order to broaden the impact of the research-based lessons and strategies developed and tested by the project, 97 teacher leaders across 42 states were prepared by the project team on effective ways of implementing the lessons and strategies in the classroom. Utilizing a train-the-trainer model, the teacher leaders led the propagation efforts and facilitated more than 300 in-person and virtual professional development workshops on the STEP UP lessons and strategies across the country. Furthermore, the project established an online STEP UP community, supported by the American Physical Society (APS), with more than 1,800 teachers and 2,900 supporters (university faculty, students, informal educators, community members) registered as members. The online community provides a space for members to share resources and document their suggestions and recommendations for implementing the lessons and strategies in various contexts.  In addition, all the lesson materials and other resources are freely available for download from the STEP UP website.  As STEP UP continues to grow, the community and readily-available resources will ensure ease of accessibility and support for high school physics teachers joining the movement to support a new generation of women physicists.


Last Modified: 02/14/2023
Modified by: Zahra Hazari

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