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

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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_at_aip.org

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Background for Talk

• Over 30 years in the classroom
• Discussions with a number of physics and other
  faculty
• Discussions with a number of students

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The Current Situation
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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.

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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

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Percent of Students in Each Racial Group Taking
Physics
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Physics Enrollment in US High Schools
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Girls as a Percentage of Total High School
Physics Students
Source AIP Statistical Research Center
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Source AIP Statistical Research Center
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Source AIP Statistical Research Center compiled
from data collected by the National Science
Foundation
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Percent of Physics Departments with Women Faculty
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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

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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

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Which Defines Your Department?

• Sorting and mining.
• Plant the seeds and cultivate the plants.

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Case Study Vignettes1   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
instructors 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.
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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, Im 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.
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To intervene or not to intervene?   Jim Burton, a
Black student, has done poorly on the first two
exams in Barbara Rosss 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.  
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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 Mightnt it be faster to
...? and continues by explaining her approach.
Smith patiently explains that that is not the way
its done and goes on to explain the problem. A
few minutes later Sally raises her hand again and
asks Excuse me, but Ive 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 its never to late to learn new
tricks. Thank you John, and you too, Sally.
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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
dont see how they can accommodate these
concerns.  
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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 hadnt 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.
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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 instructors class because
foreigners cant 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 wouldnt take a class with a foreigner if you
paid me!