Physics Colloquium: Empirical investigations of change efforts within physics programs

Physics Colloquium
Empirical investigations of change efforts within physics programs: Toward advancing excellence, inclusion and sustainability

Dr. Diana Sachmpazidi
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Physics University of Maryland, College Park

Abstract:
Scholars and disciplinary organizations have been calling on the physics education community to improve targeted aspects of their programs around issues such as 1) teaching and pedagogy and 2) recruitment and retention of marginalized students. Most prior research in physics education focused on the physics student as the unit of change. In my work, I take a systems approach by studying how the program’s culture enables or hinders student success, focusing on the physics program as the change unit. In this talk, I discuss how my research addresses long-standing issues in physics education by developing partnerships with key disciplinary organizations and initiatives to achieve impactful and sustained changes. I describe my prior and ongoing work on departmental change, focusing on highly-ranked R1 physics graduate programs and small, primarily undergraduate institutions. I continue by presenting my research agenda for the next five years. I conclude by discussing how my work complements RIT’s discipline-based education research, the potential partnerships I envision developing at RIT, and my plans to continue securing external funding to support students and postdocs.

Speaker Bio:
Diana Sachmpazidi is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. Diana received her Ph.D. in Science Education/Physics at Western Michigan University in 2021. In her dissertation, Diana focused on the long-standing challenges in physics graduate education by focusing on the departmental context that students experience. In her postdoc, she researched the APS Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) initiative by focusing on the culture of physics programs around assessment and educational change. She received over $700k in external funding for two research awards through APS and NSF. Specifically, through the APS Innovation Fund Award project, she designs a survey instrument to enable researchers and physics disciplinary organizations assess the physics community’s progress towards cultural change around inclusivity and approach to educational change. Moreover, through the NSF Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) project, she aims to support 16 R1 physics programs to advance the culture around supporting marginalized graduate students. Diana is trained in and has experience in qualitative, quantitative, and instrument development methods. In her free time, Diana enjoys swimming and hiking.

Intended Audience:
Anyone with interest in the topic. All are Welcome.

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