Teaching for retention: what they hear vs. what we say

James H. Stith

Vice President

Physics Resources Center

American Institute of Physics

301 209 3126

jstith@aip.org

Background for Talk

•Over 30 years in the classroom

•Discussions with a number of physics and other faculty

•Discussions with a number of students

The Current Situation

Bachelor's Degrees Awarded in Natural Sciences and Mathematics by Gender, 1970-2000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Men

Women

Source: CPST, data derived from National Science Foundation

PhDs in NS&E by Gender, 1975-2001 (U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents Only)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001

Female

Male

Source: CPST, data derived from National Science Foundation

Bachelor's Degrees Awarded in Science & Engineering by Race-Ethnicity, 1990-2000

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000

% AA

% H

% A

% NA

Source: CPST, data derived from National Science Foundation

Source: AIP's Statistical Research Center

Physics: Important But Small

•Out of every 1,000 bachelors awarded in the U.S. each year

–Only 3.25 are in physics.

•Of the PhDs awarded across all fields in the U.S. each year,

–Fewer than 4% are in physics.

Is Physics Representative?•Women earn 55% of all bachelors

degrees awarded in the US

–But only 23% in physics

•There are over 785 bachelors-granting physics departments in the U.S.

–Xavier University accounts for 7% of all African Americans

•Over 33,000 PhDs were awarded in physics in the U.S. from 1973 through 2000

–Only 236 African Americans earned physics PhDs during those 28 years

Percent of Students in Each Racial Group Taking Physics

Physics Enrollment in US High Schools

Girls as a Percentage of Total High School Physics Students

39 41 4347 46

0

5101520

25303540

4550

1987 1990 1993 1997 2001

Source: AIP Statistical Research Center

African-American Bachelor’s in Physics Departments that awarded the largest number of bachelor’s from 1997 to 2000

African-American totals 1997-2000

54 Xavier University (LA) 35 Southern University and A&M College (LA)

34 Lincoln University (PA) 21 Alabama A&M University 17 Benedict College (SC) 16 Jackson State University (MS) 16 Norfolk State University (VA) 15 Morehouse College (GA) 14 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Univ. 13 Chicago State University 13 Hampton University (VA)

843 Total number of African-American physicists from all degree-granting departments, 1997 to 2000 Source: AIP Statistical Research Center

African-American PhDs in Physics Universities that awarded the largest number of PhDs from 1973 through 2000

African-American totals over 28 years

24 Stanford University 21 Howard University 18 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7 Alabama A&M University 7 University of California - Berkeley 7 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 5 University of California – Los Angeles 5 Florida State University 5 Georgia Institute of Technology 5 Hampton University (VA) 5 Kent State University

236 Total number of African-American physicists from all PhD-granting departments

Source: AIP Statistical Research Center compiled from data collected by the National Science Foundation

Race of High School Physics Teachers

White Black Hispanic Asian Other

94%

2% 2% 1% 1%

Source: 2000-01 AIP High School Physics Teacher Survey

Percent of Physics Departments with Women Faculty

Characteristics of a Successful Program

•There was an individual that took ownership of the program.

•Advisors gave honest advice. Faculty did not "water down" the material.

•An atmosphere existed in which expectations of both faculty and students were that students could and would succeed

Characteristics of a Successful Program

•The departmental faculty was willing to share their experiences and excitement about physics with their students.

•The students were made to feel as if they belonged.

•There was faculty contact before and after the students arrived on campus

Which Defines Your Department?

•Sorting and mining.

•Plant the seeds and cultivate the plants.

Case Study Vignettes[1]

 Directions: Read the following case study vignettes which include a number of issues that have occurred in various departments. View the situation from the perspectives of the student, then from the instructor’s perspectives. What might each be thinking? What suggestions for action do you have for each situation or for avoiding getting into the situation in the first place?

[1] Case Studies adapted from work of Dr. Christine Stanley, Office of TA and Faculty Development, The Ohio State University.

Confronting assumptions in the classrooms You are a faculty member observing a recently hired instructor teaching his first day of a junior level physics course. Amy, a forty year old student in the department, is taking the course and as she sits down in the second row, you notice that she is the only female in a class of 20. The instructor walks in, announces the name of the class and says, “Is everyone sure they are in the right place?” He then turns around, looks straight at Amy, “This is Physics 500. Are you sure you are in the right place.” She looks at him and says, “I’m quite sure.” He goes on for another few minutes and asks her again for the third time. After class, the instructor comes to your office as scheduled and wants to know how you think he did.

To intervene or not to intervene? 

Jim Burton, a Black student, has done poorly on the first two exams in Barbara Ross’s class. He does not participate in class and has not come to see her outside of class. Even if he does exceptionally well on his final exam, he will not get a good grade, and Ross fears that he will not do well at all and probably will fail, given his performance to date. She generally leaves it up to students to come to see her when they are in trouble, but in this case, she thinks that Burton might be shy and makes a point of asking him to see her. On talking with him, she determines that he is not very realistic about his performance and the prospects of reversing his grade. She suggests that he might consider dropping this course and taking a lower level class so that he will not damage his grade point average. She feels that she has gone out of her way to help Burton and is puzzled when he resents being singled out and thinks that her suggestion is insulting. 

Examining gender issues in a physics class.

 

Caroline Smith, an instructor in a physics class, is explaining to the class how to work out a particular problem. Sally, a student in her class, observes “Mightn’t it be faster to ...?” and continues by explaining her approach. Smith patiently explains that that is not the way it’s done and goes on to explain the problem. A few minutes later Sally raises her hand again and asks “Excuse me, but I’ve worked out the problem my way and it does seem faster. Would you at least tell me why it is wrong?” Smith is irritated and is about to go on when another student, John interrupts and says, “Sally is right. You should do it her way. I did it and it is a lot faster.” Smith looks over the problem again and then remarks to the class, “Well, I guess it’s never to late to learn new tricks. Thank you John, and you too, Sally.”

Broadening the breadth of the course.

 Melanie Wong is chairperson of her physics department. The student AWIS Chapter has sent her a letter urging the department to include the accomplishments of women scholars, significant issues pertaining to women, and works and research by women into its curriculum. At a departmental meeting, Wong brings the letter to the attention of the faculty. The instructors feel that the students’ suggestion is unreasonable. Instructors say that their course content is “culturally neutral,” and that they don’t see how they can accommodate these concerns. 

An exit interview. 

As chairperson of the graduate committee, Martin Hernandez conducts exit interviews with students who leave his department without completing their programs. In an interview with Angela Johnson, he learns that she is leaving because of the following reasons: she was consistently told that her prior education at a historically black institution was second-rate and that she would have to take lower level courses to make it up; that instructors never called her by name or invited her to talk; that instructors seems visibly surprised when she did well; that she was accused of cheating once when she hadn’t; that she got lower grades than white students even when she perceived that her performance was similar; and that other students never included her in study groups or invited her to join in their activities. Hernandez is not sure whether Johnson is being truthful or not, or what he should do about these charges.

A difficult office dialogue with a student Outside your office door you hear one of your student appointments speaking to a friend about his schedule for next semester. You clearly hear him suggest to the friend that he avoid an Asian instructor’s class “because foreigners can’t understand the language well enough to answer your questions.” During your appointment you ask the student if he has ever had the instructor in question and he responds by saying, “My dad hates minorities and foreigners. I wouldn’t take a class with a foreigner if you paid me!”