Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency

Instructional physics labs offer students unique opportunities to develop an understanding of experimentation. By transforming labs to be more open ended and experimentation focused, instructors can better support student agency and choice. In this study, we examine students’ overall sense of and pe...

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Autores principales:	Z. Yasemin Kalender, Emily Stump, Katelynn Hubenig, N. G. Holmes
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Physical Society 2021
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a72716fb3c5444ecabea64c91349fadb
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a72716fb3c5444ecabea64c91349fadb2021-12-02T18:11:30ZRestructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.0201282469-9896https://doaj.org/article/a72716fb3c5444ecabea64c91349fadb2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.020128http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.020128https://doaj.org/toc/2469-9896Instructional physics labs offer students unique opportunities to develop an understanding of experimentation. By transforming labs to be more open ended and experimentation focused, instructors can better support student agency and choice. In this study, we examine students’ overall sense of and perceptions about agency in two experimentation-focused labs: one course primarily taken by physics majors and another course primarily taken by engineering majors. We compare the sense of and perceptions about agency between the different courses and between men and women in each course. Between the start and the end of the semester, we found a positive shift in students’ sense of agency in the lab activities in both courses, with no difference between men’s and women’s shifts. Additionally, we found empirical evidence that the majority of the students preferred the final, most open-ended Project lab. Our qualitative analysis revealed that most of the students perceived the opportunities for agency positively, citing “freedom” as their reason for preferring the Project lab. Both women and men in the course for engineering majors showed similar patterns. Fewer women in the physics majors course, however, chose the final project lab as their favorite and less often attributed their preference to freedom. We discuss possible interpretations of these results and implications for instruction.Z. Yasemin KalenderEmily StumpKatelynn HubenigN. G. HolmesAmerican Physical SocietyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691PhysicsQC1-999ENPhysical Review Physics Education Research, Vol 17, Iss 2, p 020128 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Physics QC1-999 Z. Yasemin Kalender Emily Stump Katelynn Hubenig N. G. Holmes Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
description	Instructional physics labs offer students unique opportunities to develop an understanding of experimentation. By transforming labs to be more open ended and experimentation focused, instructors can better support student agency and choice. In this study, we examine students’ overall sense of and perceptions about agency in two experimentation-focused labs: one course primarily taken by physics majors and another course primarily taken by engineering majors. We compare the sense of and perceptions about agency between the different courses and between men and women in each course. Between the start and the end of the semester, we found a positive shift in students’ sense of agency in the lab activities in both courses, with no difference between men’s and women’s shifts. Additionally, we found empirical evidence that the majority of the students preferred the final, most open-ended Project lab. Our qualitative analysis revealed that most of the students perceived the opportunities for agency positively, citing “freedom” as their reason for preferring the Project lab. Both women and men in the course for engineering majors showed similar patterns. Fewer women in the physics majors course, however, chose the final project lab as their favorite and less often attributed their preference to freedom. We discuss possible interpretations of these results and implications for instruction.
format	article
author	Z. Yasemin Kalender Emily Stump Katelynn Hubenig N. G. Holmes
author_facet	Z. Yasemin Kalender Emily Stump Katelynn Hubenig N. G. Holmes
author_sort	Z. Yasemin Kalender
title	Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
title_short	Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
title_full	Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
title_fullStr	Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
title_full_unstemmed	Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
title_sort	restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency
publisher	American Physical Society
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a72716fb3c5444ecabea64c91349fadb
work_keys_str_mv	AT zyaseminkalender restructuringphysicslabstocultivatesenseofstudentagency AT emilystump restructuringphysicslabstocultivatesenseofstudentagency AT katelynnhubenig restructuringphysicslabstocultivatesenseofstudentagency AT ngholmes restructuringphysicslabstocultivatesenseofstudentagency
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Restructuring physics labs to cultivate sense of student agency

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