Critical Issues (and Solutions) Facing the Physics Community · University of Alaska 1 December...

University of Alaska

1 December 2017 Fairbanks, AK

Critical Issues (and Solutions) Facing the Physics Community: Teacher shortages, Diversity

Theodore Hodapp

Director of Project Development Sr. Advisor to Education and Diversity

American Physical Society

www.aps.org ©2017, American Physical Society; Email: [email protected]

APS Education and Diversity Programs

•  PhysTEC •  APS Bridge Program •  STEP UP 4 Women •  National Mentoring Community •  Conferences for Undergraduate

Women in Physics (CUWiP) •  New Faculty Workshops •  APS Guide to Assessment:

Effective Practices, Program Review •  Physics chairs meeting (7-9 June) •  REU site leaders •  Prof. skills development workshops •  Graduate education conference

•  Advocating for physics education •  Childcare at meetings •  Mentoring seminar materials •  Ethics case studies

NNatatioionalMentontoringCommunommunityity

2


Percentage of Women in Physics

3

High School College Entrance

BS (degree) PhD (degree) Assistant Professor







4

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

High School College Entrance BS (degree) PhD (degree) Assistant Professor

Sources: NCES/IPEDS, AIP-SRC, HERI



5

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

Bachelor's

PhD

Source: National Center for Education Statistics and APS


Undergraduate Physics Degrees Awarded to Women

IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics Proceedings (2005-2013)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Germany

USA

Canada

Australia

Italy

Argentina

India

Albania Ira

n


Physics / STEM Bachelor Degrees

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

Physics

All STEM

Source: IPEDS

7


Hispanic American Bachelor Degrees

8

112

650

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

22%

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Biology Engineering Chemistry Physics Math and Stats Earth Sciences

US College-Age Hispanic Population

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, US Census, and APS


African American Bachelor Degrees

9

182 195

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Biology Chemistry Math & Stats Engineering Physics Earth Sciences

US College-Age Black Population



Underrepresented Minority (URM) Physics degrees

Only ~30 students!

10

307 860

28 67

0%

6%

12%

18%

24%

30%

36%

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Bachelor's

PhD

US Graduate-Age URM population



APS Bridge Program: Key Features

•  Recruit students through graduate (unaccepted), undergraduate programs (promising but uncompetitive, or unsure)

•  Establish Bridge Sites (6): •  Year 1: Advanced undergraduate or grad courses, introduction to

grad-level research, active mentoring, progress monitoring, social integration into grad school (Project funds)

•  Year 2: Take 1st year grad courses, apply to PhD program, research underway (Department funds)

•  Place additional students at Partnership Institutions (23): •  65 graduate programs looked at “other” applications (2017),

recruited additional students; No direct support, some travel •  “COM approved” Partnership Institutions; national recognition of

program •  Monitor student/site progress •  Research •  Disseminate / Advocate

11


Member and Partner Institutions

Member Institutions •  125 in 38 states

Partnership Institutions •  32 in 18 states

§  24 PhD §  8 MS

12


Institution Involvement

•  Member Institution (any institution, 125) Free; receive information / updates; reduced fees for APS-BP conferences

•  Partnership Site (graduate only, 32) APS COM approval process; recommended site for Bridge Fellows (and others) to attend; demonstrate effective practices in graduate student support

•  Bridge Site (graduate only, 6) Receive significant funding from APS; build sustainable program; prepare 2+ students each year for graduate study; significant institutional commitment

13

APS Bridge Partnership Sites *Bowling Green State University

*California State University Long Beach *California State University, Los Angeles

Columbia University Delaware State University

*DePaul University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Fisk-Vanderbilt Florida International University

Florida State University Illinois Institute of Technology

Indiana University MIT

North Dakota State University Ohio State University Princeton University

*Texas State University *Towson University

University of Central Florida University of Chicago

University of Cincinnati University of Connecticut

University of Hawai'i at Manoa *University of Houston Clear Lake

University of Michigan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of Rochester University of South Florida

University of Texas at Arlington University of Texas, San Antonio

University of Virginia *Wright State University


Bridge Program Achievements

Bridge Program Physics PhDs

²  23% Women (20%) ²  93% URM (6%)

§  64% Hispanic §  24% African

American §  5% Native

²  88% Retention (60%)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Stu

dent

s

Left Program

Placed/Retained

Project Funding

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

National Achievement Gap

14


Where did the 48 students go (2017)?

•  Bowling Green State University •  CSU Long Beach (2) •  CSU Los Angeles (5) •  Delaware State University (2) •  DePaul University •  Fisk-Vanderbilt University (3) •  Florida State University (6) •  Indiana University (2) •  Ohio State University (3) •  Texas A&M University,

Commerce •  Texas State University •  University of Central Florida (5)

•  University of Cincinnati (3) •  University of Connecticut •  University of Houston, Clear Lake

(3) •  University of Kansas (2) •  University of Massachusetts

Dartmouth •  University of Minnesota Duluth •  University of North Carolina,

Chapel Hill •  University of Rochester •  University of South Florida (2) •  University of Virginia

15


Physics GRE: Impact of Cutoff Scores

0.0#

0.1#

0.2#

0.3#

0.4#

0.5#

0.6#

0.7#

0.8#

0.9#

1.0#

400# 500# 600# 700# 800# 900# 1000#

Frac1on#(White)#

Frac1on#(Hispanic)#

Frac1on#(Black)#

Frac1on#(Asian)#

0.09 (Black)

0.34 (Hispanic)

0.44 (White)

650

0.61 (Asian)

16


National Mentoring Community (NMC)

Mission: To increase the number of underrepresented ethnic and racial minorities who complete a physics BS degree Program components: •  Pair undergraduates with local faculty mentors •  Email prompts •  Workshops/PD •  BEAM fund •  Annual meeting

Sign up now! •  www.aps.org/nmc •  Email: [email protected]

17



APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP)

•  Focus on professional development, networking, understanding pathways

•  Attendance more than tripled since APS became involved in 2012

•  Very good URM attendance •  Departments using CUWiP as retention

event for 1st year students •  Support from NSF, DOE •  11 sites for 2018, plus 1 in Canada •  Directed research efforts to improve

messaging to women sees positive changes

•  National leadership group; Current chair: Pearl Sandick, Utah; Overseen by CSWP

•  Site applications due 1 November for 2019 conferences

18

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

CUWiP Attendance

US Female Physics Degrees

Canada

5 Cal Poly Pomona/Pomona College/Harvey Mudd College

AlaskaCalifornia (South of San Jose)Hawaii

7 University of Kansas

ArkansasKansasMissouriNebraskaOklahomaTexas

6 Arizona State University

ArizonaColoradoNevadaNew MexicoUtah

8 University of North Florida

AlabamaFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMississippiPuerto RicoSouth Carolina

9 University of Virginia

KentuckyMaryland (Frederick and west)North CarolinaTennesseeVirginia (Fredericksburg and south) West Virginia

10 George WashingtonUniversity

District of ColumbiaDelawareMaryland (East of Fredrick)New Jersey (Trenton and south)Pennsylvania (Eastern, Lancaster)Virginia (North of Fredricksburg)

11 Columbia/Barnard/City College

ConnecticutMassachusetts (East of I-91, including Springfield)New Jersey (North of Trenton)New York (Poughkeepsie and south)Rhode Island

1 University of Oregon

California (San Jose and north)IdahoMontanaOregonWashingtonWyoming

2 Iowa State

IllinoisIowaMinnesotaNorth DakotaSouth DakotaWisconsin

3 University of Toledo

IndianaMichiganOhioPennsylvania (Pittsburgh and west)

4 Rochester Institute of Technology

MaineMassachusetts (West of I-91)New HampshireNew York (North of Poughkeepsie)Pennsylvania (Central - Harrisonburg)Vermont

12 Queens Universityin Canada

Site location includes all Canadian provinces

WASHINGTON

OREGON

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

UTAHCOLORADO

ARIZONANEW

MEXICO

TEXAS

OKLAHOMA

KANSAS

NEBRASKA

MISSOURI

IDAHO

MONTANA NORTH DAKOTA

SOUTH DAKOTA

WYOMINGIOWA

MINNESOTA

WISCONSIN

ILLINOIS

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEEARK.

LOUISIANA

MISS. ALABAMA

INDIANA OHIO

GEORGIA

FL.

S. CAROLINA

N. CAROLINA

PENNSYLVANIA

VIRGINIA

W. VA.

MICHIGAN

MARYLANDDELAWARENEW JERSEY

CONNECTICUTRHODE ISLAND

MASSACHUSETTS

NEW HAMPSHIREVERMONT MAINE

NEWYORK

PUERTO RICOALASKA

HAWAII

1

2 3

4

11

10

9

5

7

8

6

12

2018 CUWIPCONFERENCE SITE

LOCATIONS

If you have any questions, please email

[email protected]

Indicates location of conference within regional area

www.PhysTEC.org ©2017, American Physical Society; Email: [email protected]

High school classes taught by teacher with degree in the field

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Social Studies

English Biology Math Physics Chemistry

Source: Schools and Staffing Survey

19


Demand for new teachers

Top 5 education fields (greatest demand) Spec. Ed. – Severe/Profound Disability 4.57 Spec. Ed. – Emotional/Behavioral Disorders 4.54 Physics 4.51 Spec. Ed. – Visually Impaired 4.50 Spec. Ed. – Hearing Impaired 4.45

Bottom 5 education fields (least demand) Pre-K education 3.06 Intermediate education 3.00 English/Language Arts 2.97 Kindergarten/Primary Education 2.77 Health education 2.72

2015-16 AAEE (American Association of Employment in Education) Educator Supply and Demand in the United States Report


Numbers of new physics teachers educated

21

Source: Title II

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15+

Num

bero

fIns-tu-

ons

NumberofPhysicsMajorsCer-fiedin3-YearPeriod

1081 Institutions (72%)

PhysTEC Member Institutions

22


PhysTEC Supported Sites

•  46 PhysTEC Sites educate 1 in 8 physics teachers with a degree

•  Comprehensive Sites nearly tripled their numbers of physics teachers

•  Retention rates for new PhysTEC teachers are over 70% after 5 years

23

Key Components •  Recruiting •  Course reform •  Early teaching

experiences •  Mentoring and induction •  Learning Assistants •  Teacher in Residence •  Champion •  Collaboration •  Institutional commitment •  Assessment

www.PhysTEC.org ©2017, American Physical Society; Email: [email protected] 24

What would it take to solve the problem?

600 with major/minor in physics or

physics education

800 without deep

content knowledge

Need 800 more new physics teachers / year

New physics teachers hired each year (1400 total)

Source: AIP Statistical Research Center


APS Panel on Public Affairs report

•  Recommendations to recruit more physics, chemistry, math and computer science majors to teaching

•  Surveyed 8,000 STEM majors and recent graduates, including over 1,200 physics majors

•  Partnered with the American Chemical Society, the Computing Research Association, and the Math Teacher Education Partnership

25

RECRUITING TEACHERS IN

HIGH-NEEDS STEM FIELDS:

A Survey of Current

Majors and Recent

STEM Graduates

Michael Marder, R Casey Brown, and Monica Plisch, American Physical Society Panel on Public Affairs


“How interested are you in being a middle or high school teacher?”


“Middle or high school teaching is discussed as a career option in my major department.”


Student misperceptions

• Teacher salaries are ~$20k higher than what students think, on average

• 40% of STEM majors listed uncontrollable or uninterested students as a significant worry about teaching, whereas less than 8% of actual teachers reported this as a concern

• See report for more: www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports

29


Recruiting one more teacher

“Physics teacher candidates are in your program: They just need the opportunity to discover how rewarding teaching can be.” – Alma Robinson, Virginia Tech “I’ve been generally surprised how many physics students were interested once they knew that teaching is an option.” – Brian Thoms, Georgia State

30


Planned Project Activities

•  Funding new “Comprehensive” sites (5); Spring 2018 RFP •  Funding “Recruiting” sites (10) •  PhysTEC “Fellows” (first cohort just identified) •  Report Card to document national need •  PhysTEC meeting (8-10 Feb 2018) •  Workshops on “Learning Assistants” •  Recruiting kit •  Online physics methods course •  Recognition of top producers: “5+ Club” •  Recognition of top teachers: PhysTEC teacher of the year

31


Quick Tips from Successful Sites

•  Identify and support a faculty “Champion” •  Advertise your department’s education track •  Host an informal departmental event for students interested in teaching •  Ensure all undergrad advisors are knowledgeable about teacher education •  Tell all intro classes whom students interested in teaching should contact •  Track number of physics teachers graduating from your program each year •  Ask your students if they have considered teaching •  Invite a high school physics teacher to give a talk in the physics dept. •  Invite a recent physics teacher grad from your dept. to meet students •  Go to lunch with education faculty member •  Survey your students to ask who has ever considered high school teaching •  Know your local high school teachers, and make sure they know you •  Learn about Learning Assistants

32


Next Steps…

•  Replicate Bridge Program in chemistry, math, astronomy, geosciences (apsbridgeprogram.org)

•  Mentoring / tracking students into careers / postdoc positions •  National Mentoring Community (aps.org/nmc) expansion •  New BEAM (Bringing Emergency Aid to Mentees) fund available •  Bridge Program / NMC Meeting: 19-21 Oct 2018: Stanford/Google •  PhysTEC meeting: 8-10 Feb 2018, College Park, MD (phystec.org) •  PhysTEC solicitation for new sites starts Spring 2018 •  CUWiP: 12-14 Jan 2018 (each year on MLK wknd) (aps.org/cuwip) •  STEP UP 4 Women: Pilot phase now (stepup4women.org)

Happy Physicists ⇒ Great Physics


Email: [email protected], Phone: 301-209-3263

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 1143070, 1346627, 1720810, 0808790, 1707990

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the

author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Thanks!


Critical Issues (and Solutions) Facing the Physics Community · University of Alaska 1 December...

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