APS/AAPT Joint NY State Section Meeting Spring 2004:
Recruiting and Retaining
Underrepresented Populations
How We Can Help:
The Rutgers Story
Suzanne White-Brahmia
Eugenia Etkina
Partial List of Contributors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
George Horton
Brian Holton
Suzanne White-Brahmia
Eugenia Etkina
Baki Brahmia
Alan Van Heuvelen
Plethora of hard working teaching assistants
who cared so much that they actually
changed their students lives
Plugging the Pipeline
• Who is underrepresented?
• When they do come, why don’t they stay?
• What can we do?
Rutgers Initiative:
Part of a Bigger Picture
• Kean Act of 1968 – created EOF in NJ in
response to the rage of the Newark Riots
• EOF provides
– “opportunities to those who might otherwise
be unable to attend such institutions”
– support that is entirely need-based
• ~1/3 of EOF students are African
American or Latino(a)
EOF- Strengthening Our Success
Strong links with EOF Directors in Engineering
and in Health Sciences is essential to success of
our program.
• Outside of class, EOF provides
–
–
–
–
–
summer program
tutorial assistance
reduced course load
extensive counseling services
knowledge/caring regarding life circumstances of
students
Rutgers Gateway Program
• 1987 University offered 12 extra TA
lines/$340k in new special funding for the
entire university:
“…in support of the institutional goal of
increasing student retention, particularly
among minority students, by concentrating
on improving the competence and
persistence of freshmen.”
Beginning of Gateway Physics
• Observations 1985-86
– Only 63% of incoming freshman engineering majors
passed first year physics, 17% of whom received “D”s
– Unsuccessful students disproportionately represented
by females, African Americans and Latinos
• 1987 Gateway Prephysics course awarded
$60k and 1.3 TA lines from university
Gateway Prephysics ’87-’89
• One semester, taken before Analytical Physics
• Remedial mathematics, some physics, based on
Prelude to Physics, C. Swartz (Wiley 1983)
• “prephysics” structure replaced after just two
years because:
– Required extra year to obtain degree
– Stigma
– One semester too short to prepare for Analytical
Physics
What Puts Students At Risk of Failing Physics?
• Weak academic preparation
– Many African American/Latino/female students do not take the
most challenging math and physics in HS (many don’t get the
opportunity)
• Low confidence level
– Physics is perceived as difficult
• “Impostor” syndrome
– “Everyone but me understands…”
• Lack of community
– First level of help students use is their peers
• Unrealistic expectations
– Hope to pass with little effort
Methods for Addressing At Risk Factors
To Address…
Recommended methods
are…
•Low Confidence
•Group work
•Impostor Syndrome •Continuous feedback
•Lack of Community •Ample availability of staff
•Weak Academic
•Emphasis on concepts and
preparation
scientific reasoning
•Abstraction proceeded by
hands-on experimentation
Essential Features of Extended
Physics
• Group Work
– teams of 2-3
– evaluated on both group/indiv understanding
• Course Coordinator provides:
– integration of all aspects of learning cycle
– continuity and cohesion amongst teaching staff
– advising/emotional support to students
• Assessment
– nontraditional exam format
– in each class meeting
– diverse
• Spiral Learning Structure
– each lecture followed by a small group meeting with hands-on
collaborative activities
• Increased contact hours each week
– Extended courses meet ~twice as often as the regular counterpart
Extended Physics Program -Timeline
• 1989 – Extended Analytical Physics course
created as an alternative to the Analytical
Physics course for freshman engineers,
difficulties included
– developing appropriate curriculum
– student needs were not well met by the frequent
change-of-staff common in large universities
• 1992 – University staff line secured for Director
of Extended Physics Program
• 1993 – Extended General Physics created
• 2000 – Extended sections in 2nd year Analytical
course created
Extended Courses Offered
Students
Engineering
Majors
Pre-Med,
Science,
Computer
Science
majors
Regular Course
Analytical Physics I
Alternate Path
Extended Analytical
Physics I
Analytical Physics II
Analytical Physics
II: Extended
Recitations
Extended General
Physics
General Physics
Extended Analytical Physics
• Placement based on low math placement test
scores (pre-calc)
• Some space available for students from regular
course and sophomores
• ~60% students are in EOF program
• Higher percentage of female, Latino/African
American students than regular course
• Curriculum based on Investigative Science
Learning Environment (ISLE-Etkina, Van
Heuvelen)
What is ISLE?
Students learn physics using strategies to
construct their knowledge similar to those
used by physicists.
• Strategies include:
– Making observations and discovering patterns
– Developing and testing models
– Applying models
• Methods used by students:
– construct and use multiple representations of physical
processes
– design investigations
– constantly reflect on knowledge construction
– solve multipart problems
ISLE in Extended Analytical Physics
Increment n by 1
Lecture Activities
-Making Observations
-Discovering Patterns
-Developing Models
Recitation
HW due for
Chapter n
-Application Problems
Lecture Activities
-Testing Model w/
Experiments and
Problems
-Application of
Model
Recitation
Hands-On Activities for
Chapter n
-Developing Model
-Testing Model
Group Projects:
Oral Presentation
• Replaces one midterm exam
• Groups of 2-3 design one cycle on a topic of choice
• Cycle includes:
–
–
–
–
observational experiments,
mathematical model,
testing experiments,
and data analysis
• Assessment
– 30% arranging meetings with TAs, showing up to meetings
prepared
– 10% rating of performance in group by the other group members
– 60% quality of work and presentation
Oral Presentations
Engineering Physics Options
1st Year
Mechanics, Waves, and
Thermodynamics
2nd Year
Electromagnetism, Optics,
Modern Physics
Extended Analytical Physics
(EAP I)
3 credits per semester
Extended Analytical Physics II
(AP II)
Analytical Physics (AP I)
3 credits per semester
2 credits per semester
% of incoming class
Physics Passing Rate of First year Engineers
90
80
70
60
50
1985 (before)
40
30
20
1995 (after)
10
0
All
Female
Afric.
Amer./Latino
Extended vs. Regular - Final Exam 1996
68
Score (max=100)
66
64
62
Extended
60
Regular
58
56
54
52
All
Female
Afric.
Amer./Latino
But…
Extended students
experienced a difficult
transition to the
traditional second year
physics course.
In response to a petition created by the
EAP I students, Extended sections of AP
II were created in 2000.
Comparison of Structure:
Extended and Regular Sections of AP II
Meetings Section
per week
size
(max)
Recitation
Activities
Regular
1
36
Instructor goes over
HW at board,
quizzes
Extended
2
18
Students solve
selected problems
collaboratively,
quizzes, minilabs,
HW help
Course Grades for AP II
Fall '99
EAP I (n=136)
AP I (n=228)
Percentage of Students
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
F
D
C C+ B B+ A
Course Grades for
AP II Fall 2000
50
Extended
Sections
(n=56)
Percentage of Students
40
Regular
Sections
(n=405)
30
20
10
0
F
D
C
C+
B
B+
A
Abandoners are...
students who started attending classes,
sometime during the term stopped
attending class and did not take the
final exam.
Completion of AP II by EAP I
before vs after
Creation of Extended Recitations
160
complete
140
abandon
80
93 %
complete
100
77 %
complete
Number of Students
120
60
40
20
0
'99
'00
Abandoners AP II
’99 vs ’00
by Ethnicity and Gender
1999
2000
10
8
6
4
2
female
0
black/latino
Number Abandoning AP II
12
Final Exam Score Distribution for
AP II 2000
40
percentage of relevant subgroup
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
Final Exam Score (300 max.)
AP I '99 (n=227)
EAP I '99/ Regular AP II '00 (n=57)
EAP I '99/Extended AP II '00 (n=45)
300
Do We Help With Retention?
• Coordinators of both Extended courses
were “2004 EOF Champions”
– awarded by State of NJ Commission of
Higher Education Equal Opportunity Fund
Board of Directors, for “having developed new
approaches that have had a significant impact
on EOF students.”
Retention in Engineering
70
% 1st-yr students
60
50
40
1985 (before)
30
1993 (after)
20
10
0
All
Female
Afric.
Amer./Latino
Retention in University
% 1st-yr students
90
80
70
60
50
1985 (before)
40
30
20
1993 (after)
10
0
All
Female
Afric.
Amer./Latino
What We Can Do
• On Individual Level (courses)
– Model professional practices in a nurturing
environment
• On Departmental Level
– Evaluate student performance and look at
subgroups of underrepresented students
• On an Institutional Level
– Know who your EOF Directors are (or EOFequivalent) and communicate with them
To reach students whose educational
backgrounds vary significantly, offer a
variety of meaningful learning and
assessment opportunities as part of the
course structure.
It is not how smart you
are; but how you are
smart.
- Howard Gardner
Publications About Extended Physics and ISLE
•
B.L. Holton, and G.K. Horton, “The Rutgers Physics Learning Center:
Reforming the physics course for first-year engineering and science
students,” Phys. Teach. 34(3), 138-143 (1996).
•
E. Etkina, et. al., “Lessons learned: a case study of an integrated way of
teaching introductory physics to at-risk students of Rutgers University.”
Am. J. Phys. 67(9), 810-818 (1999).
•
S. Brahmia, and E. Etkina, “Turning students on to science,” Journal of
College Science Teaching, 31(3), 183-188 (2001).
•
S. Brahmia, and E. Etkina, Emphasizing Social Aspects of Learning to Foster
Success of Students At- Risk, Proceedings of the 2001 Physics Education
Research Conference. Rochester, NY.
•
Etkina, E. & Van Heuvelen, A. (2001). Investigative Science Learning
Environment: Using the processes of science and cognitive strategies to
learn physics. Proceedings of the 2001 Physics Education Research Conference.
Rochester, NY, 17-21.
•
Submitted for publication to AJP: S. Brahmia et. al. Plugging the Leaky
Pipeline: A Practical Approach to Promoting Success of At-Risk Students in
a Large-Lecture Physics Course for Engineering Majors