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[Phys-L] physics teaching article: Broadening the Appeal of High School Physics, by Moses Rifkin



[This applies to post-secondary physics as well. -- Jane Jackson, ASU ]

Broadening the Appeal of High-School Physics

In this article in The Physics Teacher, Seattle high-school science teacher Moses Rifkin bemoans the fact that many female and minority-group students are not taking or persisting in physics courses. "This is a missed opportunity in our discipline," says Rifkin, "because demographic diversity strengthens science." He identifies three causes: first, stereotype threat - the tendency of students in stigmatized groups to internalize negative beliefs (for example, girls aren't good at science) and under-perform. Second, implicit biases among teachers - "connections that our subconscious brains make between members of groups and stereotypical characteristics," says Rifkin, "even if our conscious minds do not endorse these relationships." (The Implicit Association Test has revealed widespread beliefs about the academic potential of African Americans and the ability of females to excel in math and science.) And third, the fact that when physics teachers introduce key figures in the field, they usually talk about Newton, Maxwell, Lenz, and Einstein - all white European men.
Rifkin says he was "stunned" when he first heard about stereotype threat, and has taken several steps in his classroom to address the broader problem:
* Stereotype threat - Simply learning about the phenomenon can help students understand the subtle dynamic that prevents some from doing their best work in physics classes. In addition, a brief values clarification exercise can reduce racial and gender achievement gaps by offering students some defenses against stereotype threat.
* Implicit bias - Teachers and students learning about the prevalence of negative beliefs in the majority population can foster self-awareness and be a first step toward reducing biases in the classroom.
* Monochromatic role models - While it's true that the majority of major contributors to the field are from a particular demographic, the history of physics is more diverse than most of us know. For example, Newton's first law comes from Ibn Sina, a Persian scholar, and t online resources highlight other contributors:
- African-American: <http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/physics/physics-peeps.html> http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/physics/physics-peeps.html
- Hispanic: <http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/recognition/index.html> http://www.hispanicphysicists.org/recognition/index.html
- Women: <http://cwp.library.ucla.edu>http://cwp.library.ucla.edu
- Women and minorities: <https://www.aip.org/history-programs/physics-history/teaching-guides-women-minorities>https://www.aip.org/history-programs/physics-history/teaching-guides-women-minorities

"These resources raise the bar for us as physics teachers," says Rifkin. "We can no longer plead ignorance. This is not 'diversity for the sake of diversity' but, rather, increasing the accuracy with which we present physicsŠ This is something we owe to all of our students, whether under- or over-represented." It definitely helps to mitigate stereotype threat and implicit bias.
* Metacognition - Rifkin describes a short curriculum unit in his 12th grade physics course in which students research the demographics of physics in the U.S. It becomes starkly apparent how skewed the field is toward white males, and students explore the reasons and create displays highlighting the work of non-traditional physicists. "We are using the tools of science (hypothesis formation, experiment design, statistical analysis, the communication of knowledge) to learn about science itself," says Rifkin, "while eroding the stereotype that certain groups don't do physics, without putting students from those groups on the spot." This unit, he has found, benefits all students.
Rifkin concludes by addressing the push-back he sometimes receives on these strategies:
- Won't the time taken from learning physics leave students unprepared? The many benefits of this additional content more than outweigh the costs, he believes. "All of my students are learning about the culture of physics today, crucial knowledge for those who hope to continue in the field and useful for those who do not."
- Does this belong in a physics class? The Next Generation Science Standards require that teachers address "science as a human endeavor," he says, getting into scientists' backgrounds and how science is influenced by society.
- Will students rebel against this? Rifkin has polled his students (who are predominantly white): 70 percent say the material is definitely worthwhile and another 22 percent say it's somewhat worthwhile.
- Won't this make teachers uncomfortable? "We are uncomfortable because we lack experience talking about race and gender in physics," says Rifkin. "My ease and competency has grown with each year." Start small, he advises, and build from there.

"Addressing Underrepresentation: Physics Teaching for All" by Moses Rifkin in The Physics Teacher, February 2016 (Vol. 54, p. 72-74),
<http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/tpt/54/2/10.1119/1.4940167>http://scitation.aip.org/content/aapt/journal/tpt/54/2/10.1119/1.4940167; Rifkin can be reached at <mailto:mrifkin@universityprep.org>mrifkin@universityprep.org.