2023 Physics Department Chairs Conference

On your own

Speaker: Michael Jackson - New Mexico Institute of Technology

Following a brief overview of the EP3 Guide, participants in this workshop will be provided information (e.g., graduation rates and other student data) on a physics department at a fictitious institution "Stellar University" for which they serve as an external consultant (e.g., external program reviewer). With this information, participants speculate about the issues facing this department, in part by considering their own experiences. Participants will gain experience in using the cycle of reflection and action outlined in the EP3 guide and learn how the EP3 guide could be used to identify potential strategies that may be helpful for this fictitious department to consider (or perhaps their own department). Note: this is a highly abbreviated version of a half-day workshop that is currently under development.

On your own

Speaker: Rachel Smith - Iowa State

The last several years in particular have taken a toll on students and the institutional personnel who support them. In this session, I will share what we have learned from studies of undergraduate and graduate students’ experiences in terms of how to better facilitate their success in the classroom and on campus. Suggested strategies will focus on the people, practices, and policies that make up students’ support networks and inform their educational sense-making.

Engaging students in physics classes can take many forms beyond just adding a diversity of topics as part of our classes. What are the structural levers that we can use in our classes and in our programs more broadly to engage and support students from diverse backgrounds? This panel will explore structural approaches to grading, labs, computation, and our programs to support the diversity of students within our physics departments.

Congressional Visits Day Briefing
Organized by APS Office of External Affairs

Speaker: Gabriela Weaver - University of Massachusetts Amherst

The session will share emerging best practices from the TEval Project and give participants the opportunity to reflect on how teaching evaluation practices in their own setting might be improved, as well as to share any efforts they have made in this area.

Organized by APS Office of External Affairs