Gender disparity is an issue among the many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Although many previous studies examine gender issues in STEM as an aggregate discipline, there are unique issues to each of the fields that are considered STEM fields. Some fields, such as physics, have fewer women graduating with degrees than other fields. This suggests that women's experiences vary by STEM field. The majority of previous research also examines gender and other disparities at either the nationwide or individual level. This project entailed social network analysis through survey and interview data to examine a single physics department's doctoral students in order to provide a comprehensive look at student social experiences. In addition to examining gender, other demographic variables were studied to see if the results are truly associated with gender; these variables include race/ethnicity, year in program, student type, relationship status, research type, undergraduate institute, and subfield. Data were examined to determine if there are relationships to social connections and outcome variables such as persistence in completing the degree and the time to degree. Data collected on faculty were used to rank faculty members; data such as h-indices and number of students graduate over the past 5 years were collected. Fifty-five (55) of 110 possible participants completed the survey; forty-three are male, and twelve are female. Twenty-eight of the fifty-five survey participants were interview; twenty-three are male, and five are female. Findings for peer networks include that peer networks are established during the first year and do not change drastically as one progresses in the program. Geographic location within the campus affects socializing with peers. Connections to fellow students are not necessarily reciprocated; the maximum percentage of reciprocated connections is 60%. The number of connections one has varies by network purpose, with students having more connections for the more social purposes. Students are isolated when working on their research, even in their early years. Research discussion does not occur, unless one is providing casual updates to a peer. Findings for student-faculty networks indicate that these relationships are important but complicated. Advisor selection is often done casually, even when one is switching advisors. Faculty have a lot of influence on the doctoral students such as motivating research collaborations among students or aiding in the job search. Most doctoral students feel as though there is a power dynamic that hinders them from socializing with faculty and thus, are not close to the faculty. Opportunities to develop stronger relationships and for professional development are often missed. The total number of peer and faculty ties has significant relationships to whether a student considers leaving the program. Analyzing the qualitative and quantitative data through demographic variables showed how complex these experiences are. All demographic variables indicated there are statistically significant differences in social experience among the groups, though the extent varies. The year in program variable showed the most differences among cohort years, primarily with those in the fifth year. While gender showed few differences, women tended to have more homophilous peer networks than men and women tended to have more connections to higher prestige faculty. The race/ethnicity, student type, undergraduate institute, subfield, and relationship status variables produced few statistically significant results. Peer networks have statistically significant differences in homophily when examining research type. The regression model suggests that being female, having a higher year in the program, and/or completing undergraduate studies from a liberal arts college increases the time to degree. Being in a relationship (dating or married) and/or working on experimental research decreases the time to degree. Only research peer network and departmental information network variables remain in this model. Suggestions for further research for both physics/STEM education and social network analysis are included. Suggestions for ways in which the Jonas University physics department can improve its climate are also included. Although these suggestions are written based upon the Jonas University data, they may be applicable to other physics/STEM graduate programs.

Submitted by WILLDSON ROBSON SILVA DO NASCIMENTO (willdsonrobson@hotmail.com) on 2018-06-26T13:38:12Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação REVISADA atual.pdf: 2113371 bytes, checksum: fff70205d14be2f9009344674d72b3f9 (MD5) Dissertação REVISADA atual.pdf: 2113371 bytes, checksum: fff70205d14be2f9009344674d72b3f9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Lucilene Cordeiro da Silva Messias null (lubiblio@bauru.unesp.br) on 2018-06-26T16:58:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 nascimento_wrs_me_bauru.pdf: 2008925 bytes, checksum: 94583023a13915708b3bb2b726d69f7d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-26T16:58:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 nascimento_wrs_me_bauru.pdf: 2008925 bytes, checksum: 94583023a13915708b3bb2b726d69f7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-27 / O presente trabalho teve por objetivo analisar os efeitos da prática do Goalball no processo da mobilização da aprendizagem dos fenômenos e conceitos físicos de uma aluna e um aluno com deficiência visual nas aulas de Física, a partir de uma experiência vivenciada na escola. Ressalta-se que, quando se fala em uma educação para todos e todas, remete-se à ideia de dar oportunidades aos alunos e alunas, de acesso e permanência na escola, com as mesmas igualdades de condições, respeitando suas singularidades. Ao se abordar a questão das diferenças, não se remete somente às minorias ou às crianças com necessidades especiais. É muito mais amplo, pois todos nós seres humanos somos únicos, portanto diferentes uns dos outros. Adotou-se como aporte teórico a Mobilização, uma categoria da Relação com o Saber (Charlot, 2000) para a realização da pesquisa. Tendo como questão central: Qual o papel do Goalball no processo da mobilização da aprendizagem do aluno com deficiência visual no Ensino de Física? Procurou-se refletir sobre o envolvimento em uma atividade que gere sentido, desejo e prazer no processo de ensino e aprendizagem dos alunos. Foram dois alunos participantes, um aluno que tem sua identidade construída no sexo masculino (matriculado no 3º ano do ensino médio) e outra no sexo feminino (matriculada no 3 ano do ensino médio). Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa do tipo participativa, tendo como instrumentos de coleta de dados as Observações das aulas, Diário de campo, Balanço do Saber Reorganizado, Entrevista Semiestruturada e a Organização dos Dados, baseados na Análise Descritiva, Gil (2008). Nesse contexto, a pesquisa nos expõe que os efeitos produzidos pelo Goalball nas aulas de física nos estudantes foram: a Mobilização, Pesquisar, Relembrar, Aprender mais facilmente, Resignificar e Entender Melhor sobre os fenômenos e conceitos fisicos apresentados. / The aim of the present work was to understand the effects of Goalball practice in mobilizing the learning of phenomena and physical concepts of students with visual impairment in physics classes. It should be emphasized that when it comes to an education for all, it refers to the idea of giving students opportunities for access and permanence in school, with the same equality conditions, respecting their singularities. When addressing the issue of differences, it does not refer only to minorities or children with special needs. It is much broader, because all human beings are unique, therefore different from each other. Mobilization, a category of Relation with Knowledge (Charlot, 2000), was used as a theoretical contribution to the research. Having as a central question: What is the role of Goalball in the process of mobilizing the learning of students with visual impairment in teaching physics ?, sought to reflect on the involvement in an activity that creates meaning, desire and pleasure in the teaching and learning process of the students. There were two students, one male student (enrolled in the second year of high school) and the other female (enrolled in the third year of high school). It is a qualitative research of the participatory type, having as data collection instruments the observations of the classes, field diary, reorganized knowledge balance, semistructured interview and the organization of data based on the Descriptive analysis, Gil (2008). In this context, the research was exposed on the effects of Goalball in the physics classes in the students by a Mobilization, Searching, Remembering, Learning more easily, Reinforcing and Improving exercises and articles presented.

Orientador: João José Caluzi / Banca: Jesuína Lopes de Almeida Pacca / Banca: André Koch Torres de Assis / Banca: André Ferrer Pinto Martins / Banca: Washington Luiz Pacheco de Carvalho / Resumo: O objetivo central deste trabalho é a Tese de que o processo dialético entre o erro e a verdade, entre a razão e a experiência, propicia a formação de novas zonas do perfil epistemolótico e, consequentemente, contribui para a aquisição de um conhecimento mais sistematizado e mais elaborado. O estudo da epistemologia de Bacharel por meio de suas características: histórica, descontinuísta, dialética e racionalista, e também, pelas noções de obstáculos epistemológicos e perfil epistemológico, fornece subsídios que nos ajudam a compreender a importância do erro e da verdade no desenvolvimento e na aquisição de conceitos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa teórica e empírica. Primeiramente, pro meio de uma recorrência histórica regressamos à história do eletromagnetismo. As concepções deste período se enquadram em duas regiões do perfil: a idéia de ação a distância e noção da teoria de campo. Podemos verificar a importância do erro e da verdade para a formação de uma nova zona do perfil. Em seguida, no campo pedagógico, fizemos uma pesquisa de campo. Elaboramos um curso de extensão universitária denominado "Fundamentos Históricos do Eletromagnetismo" e, aplicamos aos alunos do curso de licenciatura em Física da UNESP/Bauru durante o ano letivo de 2006. Os encontros ocorriam quinzenalmente, nos quais, estudávamos alguns episódios históricos relevantes da temática proposta. A metodologia da análise foi dividida em três etapas do processo de psicanálise propostas por Santos (1998): Na conscientização, aplicamos um questionário logo no primeiro dia de aula. A desestruturação consistiu na gravação dos encontros para análises (gravação, transcrição e interpretação de dados). Esta etapa foi dividida em dois módulos que ocorreram no primeiro e segundo semestres letivos. No primeiro módulo, estudamos o período até a descoberta do eletromagnetismo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The central goal of this work is the Thesis that the dialectic process between error and truth and, between reason and experience, propitiates the formation of epistemological profiles, new zones, and consequently, it contributes for the acquisition of a better knowledge. The study of the Bachelard's epistemology through its historical, discontinuous, dialectical and relationalist characteristics and, through the notions of epistemological obstacles and profiles supplies subsidies that help us to understand the importance of the error and of the truth in the development and acquisition of news concepts. This is a theorical and empirical research. First, through a historical recurrence we return to the history of the electromagnetism. The conceptions of this period show two zones of the profiles: Action at a Distance and theory of field. We can verify the importance of the error and of the truth for the formation of the epistemological profiles's new zones. In the pedagogical field, we did a research in the classroom with some students. We elaborated a course of extension. It has been called "Historical Fundaments of the electromagnetism" and, we applied it to the students of the Physical Teaching Course at Unesp/Bauru during the year of 2006. The meeting happened biweekly, in which, we studied some excellent episodes of thematic proposal. The methodology of analysis was divided in three stages of the psychonalysis process proposals by Santos (1998). In the awareness, we applied a questionnaire in the first day of class. The destabilization consisted in the recording of the meeting for analysis (recording, transcription and interpretation of the data). This stage was divided in two modules that had occurred in the first and second semesters of the year. In the first module, we studied the period until the discovery of eletromagnetism and, in the second module, its posterior interpretations... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Interactive touchscreens such as tablet PCs (TPC) and interactive whiteboards (IWB) are becoming more and more common in classrooms around the world. To date, very little research has been conducted on the impact of the new technology on physics education. This systematic literature review aims to investigate research on what impact tablet PCs and interactive whiteboards might have on the education in upper Secondary School. The review was performed in response to the following questions: 1. What is the influence of IWBs and TPCs on students’ active participation in physics education? 2. How can an IWB or TPC improve students’ learning about physics concepts? 3. How can educational research on touchscreen technology help inform effective teaching strategies in physics education? To respond to the questions of the study, relevant research about interactive whiteboards and/or tablet PCs was consulted and analysed. Twelve articles were located, mainly through the ERIC and Scopus databases, but also through Google Scholar. The included articles reported empirical research about physics education with interactive whiteboards or tablet PCs. The results from the articles indicate that interactive touchscreens might help improve learners’ active participation in physics education. Interactive whiteboards can, for example, be used to display interactive simulations during group work, something students are found to appreciate and easily engage in. A tablet PC can be used in the same way, but also allows students to receive anonymous support and feedback from the teacher during class which seems to be beneficial for learning. Results show that it is possible to improve students’ understanding of physics concepts by using interactive whiteboards or tablet PCs. However, further research is required to compare results from students using touch technology and students taught in traditional manner to be able to draw any general conclusions about observed learning effects.

A presente dissertação apresenta o relato da implementação de uma proposta metodológica para alunos do 9º ano do ensino fundamental, aos quais foram oferecidas atividades centradas em situações-problema. Tais atividades foram planejadas para pequenos grupos envolvendo a análise do funcionamento de equipamentos, o estudo da radiação infravermelha, o uso de vetores, o equilíbrio de corpos, além do estudo da energia solar. Essas atividades foram desenvolvidas em quatro turmas do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental no Colégio Adventista Marechal Rondon em Porto Alegre, durante os anos letivos de 2009 e 2010. Para o planejamento e a implementação das atividades, foram consideradas as ideias de interação social de Vygotsky, da aprendizagem significativa de Ausubel e dos campos conceituais de Vergnaud. Os resultados obtidos na aplicação de tais atividades mostraram um aumento tanto do interesse dos alunos no estudo da Física, quanto de sua autonomia e segurança em analisar problemas novos, bem como o desenvolvimento das capacidades individuais ligadas à Física. / This dissertation describes the implementation of a methodological proposal designed to ninth graders to whom problem-situation centered activities were offered. These activities were planned for small groups involving the analysis of how instruments work, the study of infrared radiation, the use of vectors, the equilibrium of bodies, and the study of solar energy. The implementation of the proposal was carried out with four groups of ninth graders of the Marechal Rondon Adventist School, in Porto Alegre, during the 2009 and 2010 school years. The theoretical framework used to design the activities was based on Vygotsky’s social interaction, Ausubel’s meaningful learning, and Vergnaud’s conceptual fields. The findings of the application of the instructional activities suggest an increase in student’s interest in study of physics, their autonomy and firmness in problem solving, as well as the development of individual skills related to physics.

Neste trabalho apresentamos uma investigação desenvolvida ao longo de três anos em cursos introdutórios de Física da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande. O objetivo foi minimizar a dicotomia observada entre teoria e laboratório. A estratégia de ensino utilizada nas disciplinas de Física Geral para Engenharia fez uso do Vê de Gowin, um dispositivo heurístico capaz de explicitar como se dá o processo de produção do conhecimento científico. A construção de diagramas Vê foi utilizada para auxiliar na compreensão de textos nas aulas teóricas e como alternativa aos tradicionais relatórios nas aulas experimentais. A professora também fez uso dos Vês para organizar o ensino, em especial das aulas de laboratório. Alicerçados na teoria da aprendizagem significativa de Ausubel e Novak e nas teorias de ensino de Gowin e Moreira, e fundamentados em algumas idéias-chave de epistemólogos e filósofos da ciência contemporâneos, procuramos estimular uma integração entre teoria e experimentação, buscando contribuir para uma compreensão mais efetiva dos conceitos físicos e das concepções epistemológicas veiculadas nas aulas de Física. Na pesquisa, optamos por uma metodologia interpretativa, de imersão, mas também fizemos uso de vários dados quantitativos, procurando indícios da validade da estratégia. Os resultados mostraram que a eficácia do instrumento, para promover a desejada integração, depende da atuação decidida do professor. Indicaram também que as concepções dos estudantes sobre a ciência, o cientista e o modo como se dá a construção do conhecimento, ensinadas muitas vezes de forma implícita em aula, são persistentes e capazes de interferir na aprendizagem de teorias físicas. / In this paper, we presents a research carried out over three years in Physics introductory courses at Federal University of Rio Grande. The aim of the present study was to minimize the observed dichotomy between theory and lab. The teaching strategy in General Physics disciplines for Engineering has made use of Gowin's Vee, a heuristic device able to explain the process of scientific knowledge production. The construction of Vee diagrams was used to assist understanding of texts in theory classes and as an alternative to traditional reports in the experimental classes. The teacher also made use of it to organize the education, especially for laboratory classes. We based our work on the theory of Ausubel and Novak's meaningful learning and on Gowin and Moreira's theories of teaching and we also grounded it on some key ideas of contemporary epistemology and philosophy of science. We want to promote theory-experiment integration, seeking to contribute to a more effective comprehension of physical concepts and epistemological conceptions expressed in Physics classes. In research, we opted for an interpretative methodology, but we also made use of several quantitative data, looking for evidence of strategy's validity. The results showed that the effectiveness of the instrument performance to promote the desired integration depends on the teacher's decisive role. They also indicated that the students conceptions about science, the scientist and how the knowledge construction is made, that are taught many times implicitly in class, are persistent and can interfere in the physical theories learning.

Nesse trabalho foi produzido um minicurso de Cinemática com ênfase em interpretação de gráficos. Foram elaboradas seis Videoaulas que abrangeram conceitos básicos da Cinemática tais como referencial, posição, deslocamento, velocidade e aceleração. Utilizou-se testes iniciais e finais de interpretação de gráficos da cinemática para verificar se houve ganho de aprendizagem por parte dos alunos após cursarem o minicurso. A aplicação desse material ocorreu em um site particular, mas pode ser adaptado a outros ambientes de ensino como o Moodle, por exemplo. Nessa aplicação, no site do minicurso de Cinemática, houve um questionário inicial no qual traçou-se um perfil dos participantes, um teste inicial sobre interpretação de gráficos, as seis Videoaulas, um teste final sobre interpretação de gráficos e um questionário final. As Videoaulas foram elaboradas à luz da teoria da aprendizagem significativa de David Ausubel e dos pressupostos pedagógicos e técnicos de Jack Koumi para a produção de vídeos didáticos. Ambos referenciais orientaram o processo de construção dos vídeos no que tange aos cuidados pedagógicos e técnicos de uma produção audiovisual voltada para o ensino. O resultado da aplicação mostrou-se favorável ao uso do minicurso de Cinemática, pois houve um ganho de 36% entre os testes inicial e final com o uso das Videoaulas. Entretanto, apenas uma parcela menor do total de inscritos no minicurso concluiu todas as atividades propostas. Os comentários finais do feedback mostraram que a maioria aprovou o minicurso e recomendaria aos seus colegas, mas ainda preferem aulas presenciais, pois podem sanar suas dúvidas diretamente com o professor. / In this work was produced a kinematics mini course focused on graphics interpretation. It was created six video lessons covering basics such as framework, position, velocity and acceleration. A private website was used as an application platform for the mini course. Initial and Final tests of understanding graphs in kinematics were applied to assess the learning gain achieved by the students after the teaching activities. A questionnaire, to establish the profile of the students, and a feedback questionnaire at the end of the mini course, to gather the students impressions about the video lessons, were also applied. The video lessons were construct based on the principles of the Ausubel’s meaningful learning theory and the recommendations of Koumi about technicalities of filming instructional videos. The group composed of the students that watched all the videos, and answered the initial and final tests (29 of 212 enrolled), obtained an average normalized gain of 0.36. The results of the feedback questionnaire point out for a high appreciation of the mini course by the students, however, they still prefer to meet the teacher in class for the lessons.

Neste trabalho apresentamos uma investigação desenvolvida ao longo de três anos em cursos introdutórios de Física da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande. O objetivo foi minimizar a dicotomia observada entre teoria e laboratório. A estratégia de ensino utilizada nas disciplinas de Física Geral para Engenharia fez uso do Vê de Gowin, um dispositivo heurístico capaz de explicitar como se dá o processo de produção do conhecimento científico. A construção de diagramas Vê foi utilizada para auxiliar na compreensão de textos nas aulas teóricas e como alternativa aos tradicionais relatórios nas aulas experimentais. A professora também fez uso dos Vês para organizar o ensino, em especial das aulas de laboratório. Alicerçados na teoria da aprendizagem significativa de Ausubel e Novak e nas teorias de ensino de Gowin e Moreira, e fundamentados em algumas idéias-chave de epistemólogos e filósofos da ciência contemporâneos, procuramos estimular uma integração entre teoria e experimentação, buscando contribuir para uma compreensão mais efetiva dos conceitos físicos e das concepções epistemológicas veiculadas nas aulas de Física. Na pesquisa, optamos por uma metodologia interpretativa, de imersão, mas também fizemos uso de vários dados quantitativos, procurando indícios da validade da estratégia. Os resultados mostraram que a eficácia do instrumento, para promover a desejada integração, depende da atuação decidida do professor. Indicaram também que as concepções dos estudantes sobre a ciência, o cientista e o modo como se dá a construção do conhecimento, ensinadas muitas vezes de forma implícita em aula, são persistentes e capazes de interferir na aprendizagem de teorias físicas. / In this paper, we presents a research carried out over three years in Physics introductory courses at Federal University of Rio Grande. The aim of the present study was to minimize the observed dichotomy between theory and lab. The teaching strategy in General Physics disciplines for Engineering has made use of Gowin's Vee, a heuristic device able to explain the process of scientific knowledge production. The construction of Vee diagrams was used to assist understanding of texts in theory classes and as an alternative to traditional reports in the experimental classes. The teacher also made use of it to organize the education, especially for laboratory classes. We based our work on the theory of Ausubel and Novak's meaningful learning and on Gowin and Moreira's theories of teaching and we also grounded it on some key ideas of contemporary epistemology and philosophy of science. We want to promote theory-experiment integration, seeking to contribute to a more effective comprehension of physical concepts and epistemological conceptions expressed in Physics classes. In research, we opted for an interpretative methodology, but we also made use of several quantitative data, looking for evidence of strategy's validity. The results showed that the effectiveness of the instrument performance to promote the desired integration depends on the teacher's decisive role. They also indicated that the students conceptions about science, the scientist and how the knowledge construction is made, that are taught many times implicitly in class, are persistent and can interfere in the physical theories learning.

This dissertation explores how students’ beliefs and attitudes interact with their identities as physics people, motivated by calls to increase participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. This work combines several theoretical frameworks, including Identity theory, Future Time Perspective theory, and other personality traits to investigate associations between these factors. An enriched understanding of how these attitudinal factors are associated with each other extends prior models of identity and link theoretical frameworks used in psychological and educational research. The research uses a series of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including linear and logistic regression analysis, thematic interview analysis, and an innovative analytic technique adapted for use with student educational data for the first time: topological data analysis via the Mapper algorithm. Engineering students were surveyed in their introductory engineering courses. Several factors are found to be associated with physics identity, including student interest in particular engineering majors. The distributions of student scores on these affective constructs are simultaneously represented in a map of beliefs, from which the existence of a large “normative group” of students (according to their beliefs) is identified, defined by the data as a large concentration of similarly minded students. Significant differences exist in the demographic representation of this normative group compared to other students, which has implications for recruitment efforts that seek to increase diversity in STEM fields. Select students from both the normative group and outside the normative group were selected for subsequent interviews investigating their associations between physics and engineering, and how their physics identities evolve during their engineering careers. Further analyses suggest a more complex model of physics and engineering identity which is not necessarily uniform for all engineering students, including discipline-specific differences that should be further investigated. Further, the use of physics identity as a model to describe engineering student choices may be limited in applicability to early college. Interview analysis shows that physics recognition beliefs become contextualized in engineering as students begin to view physics as an increasingly distinct domain from engineering.

Doctor of Philosophy / Physics / Nobel S. Rebello / This dissertation investigates the effects of visual cueing and outcome feedback on students' performance, confidence, and visual attention as they solve conceptual physics problems that contain diagrams. The research investigation had two parts. In the first part of the study, participants solved four sets of conceptual physics problems that contain diagrams; each set contained an initial problem, four isomorphic training problems, a near transfer problem (with a slightly different surface feature as the training problems), and a far transfer problem (with considerably different surface feature as the training problems). Participants in the cued conditions saw visual cues overlaid on the training problem diagrams, while those in the feedback conditions were told if their responses were correct or incorrect. In the second part of the study, the same students solved the near and far transfer problems from the first study two weeks later. We found that the combination of visual cueing and outcome feedback improved performance on the near transfer and delayed near transfer problems compared to the initial problem, with no significant difference between them. Thus, the combination of visual cueing and outcome feedback can promote immediate learning and retention. For students who demonstrated immediate learning and retention on the near and far transfer problems, visual cues improved the automaticity of extracting relevant information from the transfer and delayed transfer problem diagrams, while outcome feedback helped automatize the extraction of problem-relevant information on the delayed far transfer problem diagram only. We also showed that students' reported confidence in solving a problem is positively related to their correctness on the problem, and their visual attention to the relevant information on the problem diagram. The most interesting thing was how changes in confidence occurred due to outcome feedback, which were also related to changes in accuracy and visual attention. The changes in confidence included both reductions in confidence and increases in confidence due to feedback when the student was wrong (first) and right (later). This seems to have led to learning (change in accuracy), and also changes in attentional allocation (more attention to the thematically relevant area).