Creating Cultural Transformation that Supports Physics Teacher Education
ORAL · Invited
Abstract
For almost a decade, numerous initiatives in physics education have intensified efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our physics communities. The call for such initiatives increased starting in 2020 as we were forced to contend with heightened awareness of the inequities embedded in our educational (and societal) systems after the George Floyd incident and the pandemic.
I have found myself and my home institution, Arizona State University (ASU), at the intersection of DEI initiatives inspired by the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA), the APS Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (APS-IDEA), and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). At ASU we have worked to put the best suggestions from these DEI visions into action to support a positive cultural change in our physics department.
During this workshop, I will give specific examples of how these various DEI tenets have inspired concrete actions across multiple spheres of influence. Examples will include actions that have been implemented by individual teachers, by local institutions/departments, and by the broader community of teacher members in AMTA and AAPT. Shared items will include:
--A discussion of how we might change grading practices in our courses to ensure they are equitable to all learners, including ideas from the Grading with Equity movement.
--How readings and discussions around DEI-related pedagogy and grading are now embedded into ASU’s Methods of Physics Teaching courses (and Modeling Workshops for teachers throughout the country).
--How the local APS-IDEA team has worked to ensure DEI practices are promoted in the ASU physics department, including our monthly faculty meetings, scholarship opportunities for students, and the revision of our departmental bylaws.
--An overview of AAPT’s DEI task force and the resulting guiding principles, which AAPT is committed to embedding in national conferences across physics grade levels and specialties.
I have found myself and my home institution, Arizona State University (ASU), at the intersection of DEI initiatives inspired by the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA), the APS Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance (APS-IDEA), and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). At ASU we have worked to put the best suggestions from these DEI visions into action to support a positive cultural change in our physics department.
During this workshop, I will give specific examples of how these various DEI tenets have inspired concrete actions across multiple spheres of influence. Examples will include actions that have been implemented by individual teachers, by local institutions/departments, and by the broader community of teacher members in AMTA and AAPT. Shared items will include:
--A discussion of how we might change grading practices in our courses to ensure they are equitable to all learners, including ideas from the Grading with Equity movement.
--How readings and discussions around DEI-related pedagogy and grading are now embedded into ASU’s Methods of Physics Teaching courses (and Modeling Workshops for teachers throughout the country).
--How the local APS-IDEA team has worked to ensure DEI practices are promoted in the ASU physics department, including our monthly faculty meetings, scholarship opportunities for students, and the revision of our departmental bylaws.
--An overview of AAPT’s DEI task force and the resulting guiding principles, which AAPT is committed to embedding in national conferences across physics grade levels and specialties.
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Presenters
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Kelli Warble
Arizona State University
Authors
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Kelli Warble
Arizona State University