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The Formation of Successful Physics Students Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1706 The formation of successful physics students Discourse and identity perspectives on university physics ANDERS JOHANSSON ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS ISSN 1651-6214 ISBN 978-91-513-0413-7 UPPSALA urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-357341 2018 Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Häggsalen, 10132, Ångströmlaboratoriet, Lägerhyddsvägen 1, Uppsala, Friday, 5 October 2018 at 09:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor Ellen Karoline Henriksen (Fysisk institutt, Universitetet i Oslo). Abstract Johansson, A. 2018. The formation of successful physics students. Discourse and identity perspectives on university physics. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1706. 139 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-513-0413-7. In university physics education, unequal student participation has always been an issue. An example is the fact that men constitute 70–80% of the student body in most countries. In recent years, physics education research has started to explore issues of participation, diversity, and identity, but more research and theoretical and methodological development is needed. The work presented in this thesis adopts a discursive perspective on students’ physics identity, building on developments in gender studies and related fields. Focusing on several important steps in physics education, the study explores what it means to become a physicist by asking how norms about being a successful physics student are constructed in the discourses of the education. The methodology is qualitative and interpretative, using participant observation and interviews to explore classroom discourse and student narratives. These theoretical and methodological tools combined with a detailed focus on physics education practice, provide a framework for a deeper understanding of identity in physics. A general conclusion of this study is that physics courses, when taught from a narrow physics perspective, may limit the possibilities for identification for many students. For example, engineering students on less physics-oriented programmes had difficulties seeing electromagnetism as significant for their vocational identity. Similar results occurred in quantum mechanics, where a strong focus on calculating can alienate some students. Concurrent with the particular appeal that quantum mechanics can have in attracting students to physics, a mismatch between expectations and course practice can cause an identity crisis for students investing in an identity as a quantum physicist. For physics master’s students, finding a place in physics meant negotiating norms about intelligence and “nerdiness”. These common and gendered stereotypical attributions for physicists took on specific significance in relation to subject choice in physics. More theoretical and pure physics directions were implicitly accorded higher status and seen as requiring more intelligence, but at the same time could also be positioned as more nerdy. The study’s outcomes provide input to physics instructors and departments who want to develop more inclusive and diverse physics education, as well as theoretical and methodological resources for further research. Anders Johansson, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Physics Didactics, 516, Uppsala University, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden. © Anders Johansson 2018 ISSN 1651-6214 ISBN 978-91-513-0413-7 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-357341 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-357341) Till Staffan List of papers This thesis is based on the following papers, which are referred to in the text by their roman numerals. My specific contributions are outlined below each paper. I Andersson, S., & Johansson, A. (2016). Gender gap or program gap? Students’ negotiations of study practice in a course in electromagnetism. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 12(2), 020112. Staffan Andersson proposed the idea and collected the data. We analysed the material and wrote the paper together. II Johansson, A., Andersson, S., Salminen-Karlsson, M., & Elmgren, M. (2018). “Shut up and calculate”: the available discursive positions in quantum physics courses. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 13(1), 205-226. The paper was published ahead of print in August 2016. I proposed the idea. The project was designed in a collaborative process led by me. I conducted the observations and interviews. Analysis and writing was done collaboratively but led by me. III Johansson, A. (2016). Analyzing discourse and identity in physics education: Methodological considerations. In D. L. Jones, L. Ding, & A. L. Traxler (Eds.), 2016 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings (pp. 180–183). Sacramento, CA: American Association of Physics Teachers. I proposed the idea for the paper and wrote it. IV Johansson, A. (2018). Undergraduate quantum mechanics: Lost opportunities for engaging motivated students? European Journal of Physics, 39(2), 025705. I proposed the idea for the project. I designed the research, planned and conducted the interviews. I analysed the interview material and wrote the paper with feedback from supervisors and others. V Johansson A. (submitted) Negotiating intelligence, nerdiness, and status in physics master’s studies I proposed the idea for the project. I designed the research, planned and conducted the interviews. I analysed the interviews, discussed the analysis with supervisors and others, and wrote the paper with feedback from supervisors. Reprints were made under open access licences or with permission from the publishers. Contents Glossary ............................................................................................................ 11 Preface .............................................................................................................. 13 1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 15 1.1 Research aims ....................................................................................... 17 1.2 Development of specific research questions ....................................... 18 1.3 Structure of the thesis ........................................................................... 20 2 Situating my research .................................................................................. 21 2.1 Development of research in science education ................................... 21 2.2 Physics education research .................................................................. 22 2.3 Major areas of contemporary research in PER ................................... 23 2.3.1 Conceptual understanding ......................................................... 23 2.3.2 Problem solving, representations and semiotic resources ....... 25 2.3.3 Students’ attitudes and beliefs ................................................... 26 2.3.4 Development of teaching and curricula .................................... 26 2.3.5 Tools for assessing student understanding, attitudes, and epistemology .............................................................................. 27 2.4 Developments in contemporary PER .................................................. 28 2.4.1 Use of theory .............................................................................. 28 2.4.2 Methodology: research paradigms in PER ............................... 29 2.4.3 Cognition and context ................................................................ 31 2.5 Diversity, equity, gender, and identity in PER .................................... 32 2.5.1 PER focusing on gender, equity and identity ........................... 33 2.5.2 A characterization of topics ....................................................... 34 2.5.3 A lack of critical perspectives? ................................................. 38 2.5.4 A look at the most recent work ................................................. 39 2.5.5 Critical perspectives on gender and identity ............................ 41 2.5.6 What is missing? ........................................................................ 45 3 Identity in discourse .................................................................................... 47 3.1 What is meant by theory? .................................................................... 47 3.2 The identity concept ............................................................................. 48 3.3 Who needs identity? ............................................................................. 50 3.4 Discursive subject positions – a poststructuralist understanding of identity .................................................................................................. 51 3.5 Performativity and subjectification – problematizing agency and structure ................................................................................................. 53 3.6 Doing education research inspired by poststructuralist theories ....... 55 3.7 The measurement problem in studies of identity ............................... 56 3.8 The role of the critical researcher ........................................................ 58 4 Methodologies for studying discourse ....................................................... 60 4.1 Studying discourse and identity .......................................................... 60 4.2 Knowing discourse
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