arXiv subjects

Adrian M. Madsen

Publications and source records attributed to Adrian M. Madsen.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

PhysPort use and growth: Supporting physics teaching with research-based resources since 2011

PhysPort (www.physport.org) has become the go-to place for physics faculty to learn to apply research-based teaching and assessment in their classrooms. Usage has doubled every two years since the site was released in 2011, and 20% of all U.S. physics faculty are now verified educators on PhysPort. The lead author conceived of PhysPort in 2007 after meeting many physics faculty interested in incorporating results of physics education research (PER) in their classrooms but with no idea where to start. At the time, most PER results were buried in research journals not accessible to ordinary physics educators, and there was no central place to learn about results and implications for classroom practice. Throughout its development, PhysPort has been based on user research: we interview physics faculty about their needs, design the site based on those needs, and conduct usability testing to see how we meet those needs. PhysPort is a joint product of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and Kansas State University (K-State), with contributions from many universities, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and a library within the ComPADRE.org digital library. The site (originally called the PER User's Guide) was first funded by an NSF grant in 2009 and released in November 2011. This article presents an overview of resources on PhysPort, discussion of research and development of the site, and data on the continuing growth of site usage.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2020

Beyond teaching methods: highlighting physics faculty's strengths and agency

Much work in physics education research (PER) characterizes faculty teaching practice in terms of whether faculty use specific named PER-based teaching methods, either with fidelity or with adaptation; we call this research paradigm the "teaching-method-centered paradigm." However, most faculty do not frame their teaching in terms of which particular named methods they use, but rather in terms of their own ideas and values, suggesting that the teaching-method-centered paradigm misses key features of faculty teaching. These key features include the productive ideas that faculty have about student learning and faculty agency around teaching. We present three case studies of faculty talking about their teaching, and analyze them in terms of two theoretical frameworks: a framework of teaching principles (How Learning Works) and a framework of faculty agency (Self-Determination Theory). We show that these frameworks well characterize key features of faculty teaching practices and agency, and can be combined in a new paradigm for modeling faculty teaching which we call an "asset-based agentic paradigm." We therefore encourage physics education researchers to move beyond the teaching-method-centered paradigm and think about faculty teaching using an asset-based agentic paradigm.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2019

Physics departments should discuss sexual harassment -- But consider this first

In April 2019, Aycock et al. published "Sexual harassment reported by undergraduate female physicists" in Phys. Rev. PER. Their main finding is that 3/4 of undergraduate women in physics in the U.S. report experiencing sexual harassment. Gender minorities experience high rates of harassment also. Many physics departments will want to discuss these findings with the ultimate goal of making our field harassment-free. However, there are major challenges inherent in having these discussions, since many participants will have experienced harassment themselves. We suggest questions for discussion organizers to reflect on, and ideas for how departments can approach these discussions.

physics.ed-ph↗