How We Can Help: The Rutgers Story

Suzanne White-Brahmia

Eugenia Etkina

APS/AAPT Joint NY State Section Meeting Spring 2004:

Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Populations

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•Impostor Syndrome•Lack of Community

•Group work•Continuous feedback•Ample availability of staff

•Weak Academic preparation

•Emphasis on concepts and 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 OfferedStudents Regular Course Alternate Path

Engineering Majors

Analytical Physics I

Analytical Physics II

Extended Analytical Physics I

Analytical Physics II: Extended Recitations

Pre-Med, Science, Computer Science majors

General Physics Extended 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)

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

What is ISLE?

ISLE in Extended Analytical Physics

Lecture Activities -Making Observations-Discovering Patterns-Developing Models

Lecture Activities-Testing Model w/ Experiments and Problems-Application of Model

RecitationHands-On Activities for Chapter n -Developing Model-Testing Model

 

RecitationHW due for Chapter n-Application Problems 

           

 

Increment n by 1

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

Extended Analytical Physics (EAP I)

3 credits per semester

Analytical Physics (AP I)

2 credits per semester

Extended Analytical Physics II (AP II)

3 credits per semester

1st YearMechanics, Waves, and Thermodynamics

2nd YearElectromagnetism, Optics, Modern Physics

Physics Passing Rate of First year Engineers

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

All Female Afric.Amer./Latino

% o

f inc

omin

g cl

ass

1985 (before)

1995 (after)

Extended vs. Regular - Final Exam 1996

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

66

68

All Female Afric.Amer./Latino

Sco

re (

max

=10

0)

Extended

Regular

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

Meetingsper week

Sectionsize

(max)

RecitationActivities

Regular 1 36 Instructor goes overHW at board,quizzes

Extended 2 18 Students solveselected problemscollaboratively,quizzes, minilabs,HW help

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

F D C C+ B B+ A

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of

Stu

de

nts

EAP I (n=136) AP I (n=228)

Course Grades for AP II Fall '99

Course Grades for AP II Fall 2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

F D C C+ B B+ A

Perc

en

tag

e o

f S

tud

en

tsExtendedSections(n=56)

RegularSections(n=405)

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 Ibefore vs after

Creation of Extended Recitations

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

'99 '00

Nu

mb

er

of

Stu

de

nts

complete

abandon

77 %

comp

lete

93 %

comp

lete

Abandoners AP II ’99 vs ’00

by Ethnicity and Gender

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

bla

ck/l

ati

no

fem

ale

Nu

mb

er

Ab

an

do

nin

g A

P I

I

19992000

Final Exam Score Distribution for

AP II 2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300

Final Exam Score (300 max.)

perc

en

tag

e o

f re

levan

t su

bg

rou

p

AP I '99 (n=227)

EAP I '99/ Regular AP II '00 (n=57)

EAP I '99/Extended AP II '00 (n=45)

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

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

All Female Afric.Amer./Latino

% 1

st-y

r st

ud

ents

1985 (before)

1993 (after)

Retention in University

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

All Female Afric.Amer./Latino

% 1

st-y

r st

ud

ents

1985 (before)

1993 (after)

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 EOF-

equivalent) and communicate with them

It is not how smart you are; but how you are smart.

- Howard Gardner

To reach students whose educational backgrounds vary significantly, offer a

variety of meaningful learning and assessment opportunities as part of the

course structure.

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