Experiments in Supporting A Diverse Community of Learners

Experiments in Supporting A Diverse Community of Learners Tom Giblin and Aaron Reinhard Kenyon College

Who we are Frank Peiris Professor Aaron Reinhard Associate Professor Gordon Loveleand Lab Director Tom Giblin Associate Professor ● Graduate ~10 -15 majors/year Half go to graduate school (physics) ● About 10 -15 students/year do summer research ● Teach about 5 -6 non majors courses/year Maddie Wade Assistant Professor Ben Schumacher Professor Tim Sullivan Professor Les Wade Assistant Professor Paula Turner Professor

Experiments in Support of Diversity • Over the past few years, we have tried a set of strategies to recruit and retain a more diverse set of students • We wish to present a sample of these strategies as a set of experiments that (may) have dramatically altered our current student body • These strategies include: • Inclusive Pedagogy: Active Learning and Blended Classrooms • High-Impact Practices: Low- or no-barrier engagement opportunities • Department Climate and Culture: co-curricular conversations and initiatives

First Year Enrollments and Active Pedagogy • At Kenyon students don’t declare a major until second semester or later • “Recruiting” happens in the first semester course • What happens in the first semester class can have a big impact • Inclusive pedagogy has always been a focus; however, recently have instituted a wide-range of research-validated practices

Transition to retention in the second year! • This has only recently transitioned to the second year • Increase in blended learning in second/third courses in sequence? • Other effects • High impact practices, improved department climate?

High-Impact Practices • We have a long history of providing meaningful research experiences • We have had an issue with access in summer research • This trend was reflected in students taking independent studies, as well as other measures of scholarly engagement Alumni Survey, 2017 Did you Participate in Summer Research

High-Impact Practices • We have a long history of providing meaningful research experiences • We have had an issue with access in summer research • This trend was reflected in students taking independent studies, as well as other measures of scholarly engagement Alumni Survey, 2017 Did you Participate in Summer Research

High-Impact Practices Alumni Survey, 2017 Did you Participate in Summer Research • We have a long history of providing meaningful Narrative Response from one Alumna research experiences I recall many of my fellow male students working with a faculty • We have hadmember, an issue but there never seemed to be an opportunity for with accessfemale in summer students. I do not know what that was. I truly enjoyed research taking course from all my professors, so I would have enjoyed • This trend was reflected working with any one of them. in students taking independent studies, as well as other measures of scholarly engagement

Low- to No-Barrier High Impact Practices • The Radio and Optical Astronomy Research Group (ROAR) which includes the Arecibo Remote Control Observatory (ARC) group was the first to offer physics/astronomy research to firstyear students and non-majors during their first year. • Other groups followed (Cosmology, e. g. ) to tie co-curricular practices into the first year.

Department Climate • Most importantly we have dedicated ourselves to being willing to take responsibility for the problem and to engage in hard conversations • This has led to a set of initiatives: • Vera Rubin Day – a campus wide set of activities connected to the first-year seminar to tackle outstanding issues of Women in Physics • SACNAS – attending the national conference for diversity in STEM with a group of students. This led to the creation of a local chapter • APS Meetings – taking students to professional conferences • Supporting Student Groups – The Society of Physics Students, o. STEM, etc

These campus wide activities have put Physics in the middle of the inclusion conversation • We are developing a reputation as a department that cares about the issues of equity and inclusion • Students have begun to see physics as one of the departments on campus committed to improving science climate.

From our recent experience • Retention requires: • innovative pedagogy, active learning and inclusive classrooms • time investment in co-curricular, low- to no-barrier high impact experiences • being willing to engage the student body in difficult conversations and to take ownership of the student experience