The importance of science beliefs such as self-efficacy, interest, identity, sense of belonging, perceived recognition and effectiveness of peer interaction in science education has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Self-efficacy, interest, and identity can be considered students' internal beliefs, and sense of belonging, perceived…

Physics is known for its emphasis on innate brilliance as a prerequisite for disciplinary membership and success. Women, Black, Latine, and Indigenous individuals remain vastly underrepresented and marginalized in physics spaces, a reality that is due in part to oppressive stereotypes that position them as less inherently intelligent than their…

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews to investigate how gifted Finnish upper-secondary-school physics students (N = 24) actualize their physics talent in their career choices. The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Half of the students had their primary career choice in natural sciences and engineering (NS&E). The…

The subject of mathematics is important for many other subjects, including physics. The questions we ask in physics often need a mathematical translation to be graphically interpreted and transformed. Students learn physics when interacting with physical questions; questions from physics also give insights and discoveries in mathematical problems.…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into unknown territories of closed schools and remote teaching, and gave teachers a range of new experiences with physics teaching. We studied these experiences by using survey responses from 85 upper secondary physics teachers in Norway. We found that home-school physics instruction was characterised by a…

This research focuses on the experiences of six undergraduate white women who are physics and astronomy majors. Specifically we conducted semistructured, empathetic interviews that reveal how uncomfortable physics environments inside and outside of the classroom, which were often propagated by male instructors and peers, excluded undergraduate…

Women and many people of color continue to be minoritized in STEM and notably in physics. We conducted two studies demonstrating that exposure to counternarratives about "who does physics" and "why one does physics" significantly increases high school students--especially women's--physics-related career intentions. These…

Female student engagement in the STEM fields does not currently match the level at which male students are engaged. Whether it is in high school course enrollment, college, or careers, males outnumber females in terms of enrollment and study of advanced physics and engineering. The purpose of this mixed-methods, phenomenological action research…

Societal stereotypes and biases about who belongs in physics and who can excel in it can impact the physics beliefs, including their self-efficacy, interest, and identity, e.g., of women in physics courses. Exploring these beliefs longitudinally and analyzing how different beliefs predict students' physics identity are important for developing a…

While new physics bachelor's degree holders have a breadth of possibilities open to them, the initial post-degree outcomes for physics bachelors generally fall into two main categories: entering the workforce or continuing their education at the graduate or professional level. About two-thirds of those continuing with their studies are enrolled in…

Identity-based research in physics education has been receiving increased attention in the past few years given the potential of identity in producing novel insights into the ways' students engage in physics. In this study, we examined the development of preservice physics teachers' physics identity through a specific instructional practice: a…

This study aims to examine the 9th-grade 2018 physics curriculum according to various criteria. A cross-sectional survey model was used. The sample consists of 36 physics teachers working in various high schools in 12 regions of Turkey in the 2022-2023 academic year. The data of the study were collected via the "9th-grade 2018 physics…

Students who aim to become physics teachers for secondary education partake in physics courses together with other physics students. The aim of this study is to understand what is valued, taken for granted, and possibly reproduced in physics teaching given for future secondary school physics teachers. This study is based on observations in…

This paper investigates the interactions between context and professional development of physics instructors in a case study of two physics faculty. A phenomenological-case study approach was used to analyze two physics faculty at different institutions over a year and a half using three semistructured interviews each. The data enabled the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has constituted a sudden educational transformation around the world. It has disrupted instructors, including physics educators, forcing them to adjust to remote teaching. The hands-on laboratory, one of the components of physics instruction, has also had to rapidly go online in all branches of this science, including nuclear…