Dr. Andria C. Schwortz
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aschwortz.bsky.social
Dr. Andria C. Schwortz
@aschwortz.bsky.social
64 followers 160 following 3 posts
Astrophysics prof. If there’s an aschwortz on a service, it’s me.
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aschwortz.bsky.social
In solidarity with Dr. Louks @allylouks.bsky.social for the harassment she’s received about her dissertation on Xitter, let’s see women, femmes, and other non-men posting their obscure PhD dissertations, “woke” or otherwise. Here’s mine.
Selfie of me holding up the printed copy of my dissertation with the title on the spine facing the camera: Schwortz, “Physics and Astronomy Mentoring and Professional Development: Equity and Empowerment Across K-20 STEM Spaces”. Please excuse my bed head… Physics and Astronomy Mentoring and Professional Development: Equity and Empowerment across K-20 STEM Spaces Andria C. Schwortz ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wyoming This dissertation focuses on three different populations of learners served by typical physics departments: STEM majors within a calculus-based introductory physics course, non-STEM majors within a general education survey astronomy course (Astro 101), and in- service STEM teachers within a professional development workshop. The three studies within this dissertation examine issues of equity including student empowerment and gender issues across these courses. The voice of students in a studio physics class of introductory electro- magnetism was sought out using an action research approach, with data including surveys, notes from one-on-one student/teaching assistant conferences, and counts of interactions with instructors. Learning in an Astro 101 course was investigated via both quantitative and qualitative data, with quantitative data consisting of pre/post-test results broken down by astronomy content and dataset skills, and by cognitive load level, showing that female students struggled to demonstrate improvement in their understanding. This was supported by qualitative data including notes while students were working on the activity, transcriptions of video and audio recordings, and interviews. And the discourse was analyzed to search for the positioning and interactions with a group of five mixed-sex in-service primary and secondary STEM teachers during an astronomy professional development workshop. These teachers used their words, body language, and the computer to position themselves as supporting a hierarchy based on gender and experience. They also showed evidence of both sensemaking and "playing the classroom game". Challenges to empowering learners in an equitable fashion were found across all three participant populations, as well as in the researchers themselves.…
December 3, 2024 at 3:40 PM
aschwortz.bsky.social
Twitter screenshot: Jessie @mommajessiec I have one intelligent child who is designing a parachute and, putting this as politely as I can, I have another child willing to try the parachute.
December 23, 2023 at 10:31 PM