Operationalizing relevance in physics education: Using a systems view to expand our conception of making physics relevant

Abstract

A common hope of many physics educators and researchers is that students leave the course with a stronger sense that physics is relevant to them than when they entered the course. Multiple survey measures have attempted to measure shifts in students' beliefs on the relevance of physics but frequently the results show a negative shift in students' beliefs and are often reported as a failure of students to "see the relevance." We challenge this interpretation by first operationalizing relevance as a construct by using existing theories on beliefs and attitudes. We utilize ecological systems theory to identify rich sites of relevance in students lives and present evidence to demonstrate the rich ways students are able to make relevant connections to physics. We then reflect on the implications of this expanded view on the limitations of past measures of relevance. We articulate how incorporating students' disciplinary ideas and expertise into the classroom can challenge previous deficit-framed narratives of students' abilities to find the relevance of physics.

Swimming against the Tide: Five Assumptions about Physics Teacher Education Sustained by the Culture of Physics Departments

“…Here, drawing on Bernstein (1999), Airey and Larsson (2018) have discussed how physics knowledge needs to be both repackaged and recontextualized by physics teachers for use by students in school and society. Last, there is the question of relevance, which has been thoroughly connected to student motivation and results in the literature (Afjar et al, 2020;Bennett et al, 2016;Gaffney, 2013;Nair & Sawtelle, 2019). For trainee physics teachers to be motivated to learn physics, it has been shown that clear connections between the physics content and a teacher future is significant (Gaffney, 2013).…”

Views from students and professors in a nonmajor introductory physics course: What is interdisciplinarity?

“…The general alignment of our results with IPLS research in spite of the broader interdisciplinary population of this course suggests that future research concerning this course should, like this project, adapt the processes of IPLS research to the Pomona context. For example, our data strongly suggest that authentic interdisciplinary gestures (examples, applications, and connections) serve as sources of engagement and interest, but as Geller et al [6] and Nair and Sawtelle [27] remind us, engagement, interest, and relevance are complex constructs with varied meanings. Not only would adapting such IPLS research to the General Physics context provide useful information to support research-based reformation of this course, but also, given the centrality of physics-biology as their interdisciplinary context, it is worth investigating how the results of Refs.…”

“…Not only would adapting such IPLS research to the General Physics context provide useful information to support research-based reformation of this course, but also, given the centrality of physics-biology as their interdisciplinary context, it is worth investigating how the results of Refs. [6,27] as well as Refs. [11,28,29] transfer and compare to different interdisciplinary contexts.…”

Perceived irrelevance and achievement goals: Two mindset variables within attitudinal experiences of life science majors in introductory physics

“…Perceived relevance has recently become a focus within PER literature. More recent efforts include a focus on perceived relevance within well-known attitudinal surveys in physics [25] or in terms of pre-service physics teachers' issues with their own perceived relevance of physics to their teaching careers. [26] In particular, it is a concern that life science majors, e.g.…”