Dr. Eleanor Sayre

Kansas State University

Students Develop Identity as Physicists

102 Cardwell Hall

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

4:30 p.m.

A major goal of undergraduate education in physics is the development of new physicists. In this talk, I present our theoretical framework for identity which combines technical content knowledge with social and cultural indicators. I outline three ways that my research lab investigates student identity development in physics: students' developing content knowledge in physics classes, what it means to "think like a physicist", and how students build communities of practice in physics courses.