Applicant:
Homeyra Sadaghiani
Amount Funded:
$6,900.00
Proposal Abstract:
The story of physics is often told through the lens of our culture and human biases. Physics textbooks highlight the accomplishments of merely a few scientists whom we credit with equations, laws, or theories in their names alone. What often goes unmentioned is the fact that neither of these men worked alone; each benefited from a rich network of collaborators and each stoop on the shoulders of hardworking individuals who came before them. Forgetting this leads to a problem: most of us begin to believe that the small cohort of individual geniuses is responsible for the sciences’ great deeds and discoveries. Additionally, those who are named in history often were privileged, had a higher social status, were more resources, dominated the society and culture in some form- or merely were just lucky. Ironically, a large majority of these scientists and nearly all the physicists named in our history are white European males. However, we all know that is not the whole story; the story of science is the story of humanity and the contributions of a wide range of diverse populations all over the world have brought us to where we are today.
I plan to substantially redesign a GE area D course (PHY 3060- History of Physics) to be more inclusive and equitable. I also plan to make this course to be a flexible high-quality hybrid course by providing a range of accessible online materials, inviting expert guest speakers to classrooms, and giving students choices on their assignments as well as opportunities to present their own research findings on the unrecognized physicists. This course will enhance our students’ social awareness about the biases that have influenced the history of science. First, incorporating the often-forgotten stories of underrepresented groups in the physics classroom can be an effective strategy to communicate a more inclusive narrative of the discipline. Second, setting these discoveries within students’ local historical context reinforces the fact that modern scientific progress is largely attributed to successful cooperation within and across scientific collaborations.
This project is deliberately designed at its core to incorporate inclusive strategies leading to equitable outcomes for all students. The redesign process aims to improve and enhance teaching and learning in flexible learning modalities, including proven effective pedagogical activities to improve student learning outcomes, perspective, and attitudes, measured with validated and assessment tools. Further, the budget and expenses are reasonable and well justified. The project cost is reasonable, justified, a one-time expenditure, with no ongoing expenses, making it easily sustainable.