Topic: Exploring Men’s and Women’s Roles in Physics Lab Group Work
When: Monday, Feb 22 from 12 - 1 pm
Where: Virtual (sign up for the Zoom link)

The next dB-SERC lunch discussion will take place on Monday, February 22 from 12 – 1 pm. Dr. Natasha Holmes from Cornell University  will give a talk on exploring men and women's roles in physics lab group work.

Abstract: While group work is common in most introductory physics labs, research in physics education has found that students' experiences in those groups are not necessarily in common. I'll discuss our recent work evaluating how students participate in the hands-on aspects of physics labs, particularly illuminating imbalances between men's and women's participation. I'll also describe how nuances in students' perceptions of these experiences and differences in single-gender versus mixed-gender groups motivate different types of instructional interventions (or even no intervention at all!).

Bio: Natasha G. Holmes is the Ann S. Bowers assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Cornell University, with the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics. Dr. Holmes received her B.Sc. in physics from the University of Guelph and her M.Sc. and PhD in physics at the University of British Columbia. Her graduate work involved designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative pedagogies for undergraduate physics labs. She then went on to do her postdoctoral work at Stanford University working with Dr. Carl Wieman. Her research group studies many aspects of student learning, attitudes, and skill development from hands-on laboratory experiences, with a focus on critical thinking and experimentation. She also explores issues of equity and diversity in physics and methodological issues and techniques in physics education research.