Creating equitable learning environments has been an area of significant focus for physics education researchers in recent years. Here we introduce a framework that posits that grade penalty is a measure of academic self-concept and investigate if there are gender differences in grade penalties in physics courses for students majoring in physics.…

Imagine two groups of students in your physics class or lab. In Group A, the students each take on a different task but invest an equal amount of time, energy, and effort in what they do. For example, one student might be the note-taker, while another operates the calculator, computer, or experimental apparatus, and a third keeps everyone on track…

The motivational beliefs of students, who were mainly bioscience majors interested in careers in health professions, in mandatory large introductory level algebra-based physics courses were surveyed. Although female students outnumbered male students in these courses, they had lower physics motivational beliefs including self-efficacy and identity…

Students' self-efficacy in physics classes can play a key role in shaping course outcomes. Prior research has shown that women have a lower self-efficacy than men in calculus-based introductory physics courses. We administered a validated survey to 564 students to investigate the gender differences in self-efficacy and how it predicts student…

Students' self-efficacy, interest, and perceived recognition from others in a given field have been shown to be very important for the development of their identity in that field, which is a critical predictor of students' major and career decisions. Prior research suggests that students' self-efficacy and interest play an important role in their…

After the passage of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative Act in December 2018, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently assembled an interagency working group and conducted a workshop titled "Key Concepts for Future Quantum Information Science Learners" that focused on…

Student sense of belonging in physics classes may not only play a key role in shaping course outcomes but also influence student persistence and future career aspirations. Prior research has shown that women have a lower sense of belonging than men in calculus-based introductory physics courses. However, prior research has generally not…

We discuss the development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey instrument called the survey of thermodynamic processes and first and second laws (STPFaSL) suitable for introductory physics courses. The survey instrument uses common student difficulties with these concepts as resources in that the incorrect answers to the…

We describe the development and in-class evaluation of a quantum interactive learning tutorial (QuILT) on quantum key distribution, a context which involves an exciting application of quantum mechanics. The protocol used in the QuILT described here uses single photons with nonorthogonal polarization states to generate a random shared key over a…

Student motivational beliefs in introductory physics courses can influence their course outcomes as well as their retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines and future career aspirations. Prior research has shown that students' perceived recognition by others as a physics person is important in predicting their…

The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) is a multiple-choice survey that contains a variety of electricity and magnetism concepts from Coulomb's law to Faraday's law at the level of introductory physics used to help inform instructors of student mastery of those concepts. Prior studies suggest that many concepts on the survey are…

We discuss an investigation of the difficulties that students in a calculus-based university introductory physics course have with electric field and the superposition principle for the case of a continuous charge distribution and how that research was used as a guide in the development, validation, and evaluation of a tutorial on these topics to…

We discuss an investigation of students' motivational beliefs and performance on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) in a calculus-based introductory physics course at a large public university in the U.S. We investigated how students' perception of the inclusiveness of the learning environment (including perceived recognition, perceived…

We developed and validated a conceptual survey that focuses on the formalism and postulates of quantum mechanics covered in upper-level undergraduate quantum mechanics courses. The concepts included in the quantum mechanics formalism and postulate survey (QMFPS) focus on Dirac notation, the Hilbert space, state vectors, physical observables and…

With limited time available in the classroom, e-learning tools can supplement in-class learning by providing opportunities for students to study and learn outside of class. Such tools can be especially helpful for students who lack adequate prior preparation. However, one critical issue is ensuring that students, especially those in need of…