This work examines student meaning-making in undergraduate physics problem-solving. We use a social semiotic perspective to sketch a theoretical framework. The social semiotic approach focuses on all types of meaning-making practices that are accomplished through different semiotic modes that include visual, verbal (or aural), written and gestural modes and language, text, algebra, diagrams, sketches, graphs, body movements, signs, and gestures are examples for semiotic resources. We use the developed theoretical framework to investigate how semiotic resources might be combined to solve physics problems. Data for this study are drawn from an upper-division Electromagnetism I course and a student ("Larry") who is engaged in an individual oral exam. We identify the semiotic and conceptual resources that Larry uses. We use a resource graph representation to show Larry's coordination of resources in his problem solving activity. Larry's case exemplifies coordination between multiple semiotic resources with different disciplinary affordances to build up compound representations. Our analysis of this case illustrates a novel way of thinking about what it means to solve physics problems using semiotic resources.

Pencasts are videos of problem solving with narration by the problem solver. Pedagogically, students can create pencasts to illustrate their own problem solving to the instructor or to their peers. Pencasts have implications for teaching at multiple levels from elementary grades through university courses. In this article, we describe the use of pencasts in a university level upperdivision Electromagnetic Fields course usually taken by junior and senior physics majors. For each homework assignment, students created and submitted pencasts of ordinary problems several days before the problem set was due. We compare students' performance in the class (grades for pencast submission excluded) with the pencast submission rate. Students who submitted more pencasts tend to do better in the course. We conclude with some practical suggestions for implementing pencasts in other courses.

Mastering problem solving requires students to not only understand and apply physics concepts but also employ mathematics and mathematical representations (sketches, diagrams, graphs, gestures, equations and spoken language) skillfully. As part of a larger project to investigate problem solving processes among upper division physics students, we investigate how students coordinate among multiple representations while solving problems. Data for this study is drawn from an upper-division Electromagnetism I course, where students engage in individual oral exams. We do moment-by-moment analysis of students' problem solving to see how they translate between durable representations (diagrams, written mathematical equations) with the help of evanescent representations (gestures, words); and how they build up durable representations where they can "stand fast" later. In this paper, we present the case of Larry as an exemplary case for problem solving. Larry starts from a durable representation (diagram) and builds up from there using evanescent representations (gestures and words), standing fast on the diagram. He later translates to a different kind of durable representation (mathematics), where he reasons and answers the original problem.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors quickly transitioned to online teaching to protect themselves and their students. Due to this abrupt transition and lack of communication between instructor and student, instructors had little time to create online teaching methods that successfully adapt and teach the material to best meet the student's needs. Some students did well with online teaching methods, while others seemed to struggle to engage with the material in classes. Without immediate face-to-face feedback from students, we believe that background information such as learning styles, goals, motivations, and expectations of the potential students-will help teachers improve and increase classroom engagement and comprehension. We surveyed and interviewed STEM introductory-level courses online to collect data to create personas in STEM students. Personas are "life-like models whose characteristics are driven by the various goals and motivations of real or potential users." We used persona methodology to survey the diverse learning group in a STEM classroom to create four personas found in STEM classrooms. These personas represent real-life students enrolling in introductory STEM classrooms, allowing instructors to use these personas as a novel tool to design online courses that better engage undergraduate students across STEM disciplines.