Zahra Hazari | Florida International University (original) (raw)

Papers by Zahra Hazari

Physical Review Special Topics-physics Education Research, May 21, 2010

An individual's motivational orientation serves as a drive to action and can influence their care... more An individual's motivational orientation serves as a drive to action and can influence their career success. This study examines how goal orientation toward the pursuit of a graduate degree in physics and chemistry influences later success outcomes of practicing physicists and chemists. Two main categories of goal orientation are examined in this paper: performance orientation or motivation to demonstrate one's ability or performance to others, and learning orientation or motivation through the desire to learn about a topic. The data were obtained as part of Project Crossover, a mixed-methods study which focused on studying the transition from graduate student to scientist in the physical sciences and included a survey of members of two national professional physical science organizations. Using regression analysis on data from 2353 physicists and chemists, results indicate that physicists and chemists who reported a learning orientation as their motivation for going to graduate school were more productive, in terms of total career primary and/or first-author publications and grant funding, than those reporting a performance orientation. Furthermore, given equal salary, learningoriented individuals produced more primary and/or first-author publications than their nonlearning oriented counterparts.

One goal of education is to help students become well-rounded citizens who can think broadly acro... more One goal of education is to help students become well-rounded citizens who can think broadly across boundaries. In addition, individuals with interdisciplinary thinking skills can be valuable contributors to modern research challenges by understanding and recognizing interdisciplinary connections and working in diverse teams. However, little research exists on the connection between interdisciplinary thinking and physics education. What aspects of physics classroom practices and experiences foster interdisciplinary thinking? What effect does interdisciplinary thinking have on the development of students' physics identities? Using a physics identity theoretical framework with data from a national survey, this study found that self-reported characteristics of interdisciplinary thinking are significantly correlated with higher levels of physics identity development. Also, several factors of the physics classroom environment and pedagogies are significantly related to interdisciplinary thinking.

Although the number of students earning bachelor's degrees in physics has increased, the percenta... more Although the number of students earning bachelor's degrees in physics has increased, the percentage of those degrees earned by women has not increased for more than 10 years. We use a physics identity framework to understand the factors that may impact physics career choice. Physics identity consists of three dimensions: recognition (perception of recognition by others), interest (desire to learn more), and performance/competence (perception of ability to understand). Our previous work has shown that recognition and interest are more significant predictors of physics career choice than performance/competence, and that women may require more recognition than men in order to choose physics careers. Therefore, teaching strategies that specifically target recognition and interest should be identified. Using data from a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of college students, we use regression models to determine which teaching strategies predict recognition and which strategies predict interest.

Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, Jul 1, 2017

AbstractThis article describes beliefs related to human-caused climate change and predictors of t... more AbstractThis article describes beliefs related to human-caused climate change and predictors of these beliefs among students intending to pursue civil engineering. Based on a nationally distributed...

Physical review, Apr 22, 2019

Sexual harassment occurs more frequently in male-dominated fields and physics is a more maledomin... more Sexual harassment occurs more frequently in male-dominated fields and physics is a more maledominated field than most other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Thus, it is important to examine the occurrence and impact of sexual harassment on women in physics. A survey of undergraduate women, who attended a conference for undergraduate women in physics, revealed that approximately three quarters (74.3%; 338=455) of survey respondents experienced at least one type of sexual harassment. This sample was recruited from a large fraction of undergraduate women in physics in the United States. We find that certain types of sexual harassment predict a negative sense of belonging and exacerbate the imposter phenomenon. The types of sexual harassment that predict these outcomes, both forms of gender harassment, while seemingly less severe types of harassment, have been found to have substantially negative personal and professional consequences. These findings are important since prior work has found that sense of belonging and the imposter phenomenon are related to students' persistence in STEM fields. Our results have implications for understanding and improving persistence in physics by informing the community about the occurrence of sexual harassment and its effects so that we can begin to work towards reducing its occurrence and mitigating its effects.

Many students are disempowered in physics classes finding them to be more difficult, unpleasant, ... more Many students are disempowered in physics classes finding them to be more difficult, unpleasant, narrow, and masculine when compared to other subjects. Such disempowerment can lead students to limit their engagement. This study explores how physics teachers can help students engage with the material and develop their physics identities by obscuring traditional classroom hierarchies. Employing a positionality lens on case studies of four high school physics teachers, we coded teachers' behavioral cues that contributed to the relational structure in the classroom. Our findings suggest that teachers' physical cues (space and hierarchical stance occupied), structural cues (dynamic nature of the classroom allowing alternating roles), contextual cues (including students' thoughts and experiences), and social cues (obscuring traditional boundaries between teacher and student) affect the social distance between the teacher, students, and content. This social distance can moderate students' level of engagement and ultimately their physics identity development.

The physics classroom provides an excellent opportunity for students to comprehend global sustain... more The physics classroom provides an excellent opportunity for students to comprehend global sustainability issues and simultaneously be empowered by their science learning. Drawing on data from a large national survey study of college students about their high school science experiences, we compare how frequently sustainability topics (e.g. energy supply, energy demand, climate change, water supply) are covered in high school physics versus other science courses. Furthermore, employing science agency and physics identity theoretical perspectives, we examine whether the inclusion of sustainability topics has an effect on student science agency beliefs or their physics identities while controlling for demographics and other background variables. Our results indicate that physics courses are reported to cover sustainability topics less frequently than other science courses. In addition, the inclusion of certain topics (e.g. energy supply) has significant effect on student science agency beliefs and physics identity.

In earlier work, we found that women who reported experiencing the "discussion of underrepresenta... more In earlier work, we found that women who reported experiencing the "discussion of underrepresentation" in their high school physics classes were more likely to report a career interest in the physical sciences in college. To explore this effect in more detail, we conducted two double-blind, random-assignment experiments on students enrolled in introductory, algebra-based college physics. In the first, students were randomly assigned to read one of two short essays (one focused on the underrepresentation of women in physics, the other reporting on AMO physics research led by a woman) followed by a uniform set of reflection questions. In the second, another cohort of students was primed on their beliefs about gender differences in physics before undergoing the same treatment (one of two essays and reflection questions). In this paper, we compare the impacts on students' general science identity, physics identity, and performance gains on selected FMCE problems.

There are few studies on how a student's choice of engineering is affected by having an engineer ... more There are few studies on how a student's choice of engineering is affected by having an engineer as a family member, yet there are persistent hypotheses about these types of familial influences. Engineering major choice is an important step in the engineering pipeline since paths into engineering are relatively closed after the freshman year. In this work, we explore the influence of familial engineers on students' choice of engineering through a mixed methods approach. The quantitative portion of this study comes from the nationally representative Sustainability and Gender in Engineering (SaGE) survey, completed by 6,772 students enrolled in first-year English courses during Fall 2011. The qualitative data come from seventeen interviews of high school students conducted during in-depth observations at two public U.S. high schools in 2013. A linear regression predicting the likelihood of a an engineering career was constructed with family members' professions and career influence input as predictors, along with controls for students' academic performance, their family's general support for math/science, and their socioeconomic status (SES). From the interview data, students' own narratives about "who has influenced [their] career choice" were coded to triangulate the quantitative data and provide some explanatory power. The results show that siblings or other relatives being an engineer has a stronger positive influence on students' engineering choice than their parents. These results are supported by students' narratives that their "other" family influences are a stronger influence than direct parental influences except for students who reported a strong, positive relationship with a paternal engineering role model. Notably, no gender differences were found in this work.

Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 2016

ABSTRACT Learning more about the career outcome expectations of students interested in civil engi... more ABSTRACT Learning more about the career outcome expectations of students interested in civil engineering can help identify gaps between their expectations and sustainability challenges. The authors used data from two national surveys to compare students interested in civil engineering and other engineering disciplines. Those interested in civil engineering are more likely to address such sustainability topics as environmental degradation, water supply, and climate change. However, civil engineering students are less likely to have outcome expectations related to disease and saving lives. Particularly, female students interested in civil engineering have similar expectations to males but also hope to address poverty and opportunities for women and minorities. The gaps in outcome expectations related to disease and saving lives are troubling for a profession that is so instrumental in providing, for example, clean water and safe shelter. Showing the connection between societal needs and civil engineering may broaden participation, including among underrepresented female students. Recruiting more undergraduates using these outcome expectations would bring sorely needed new ideas and ways of thinking to help civil engineering respond to sustainability challenges.

Drawing from earlier work of Gee, Carlone, Johnson, and Shanahan, we developed a framework for "g... more Drawing from earlier work of Gee, Carlone, Johnson, and Shanahan, we developed a framework for "good physics student role identity" or, more simply, "physics identity" which is a reliable proxy for students' affinity towards physics and is predictive of students' physics-related career choices. This framework was postulated to be comprised of performance beliefs, competence beliefs, recognition beliefs, and interest. Subsequent investigations showed that performance and competence beliefs are not distinct and the combined performance/competence construct is somewhat akin to Bandura's self-efficacy. Recent work has extended this framework to mathematics and engineering. We conclude with a brief discussion of the future of the framework for understanding "best practices" in STEM classrooms.

Journal of Engineering Education, Apr 1, 2016

Background-Prior to college, many students do not have experience with engineering, but some ulti... more Background-Prior to college, many students do not have experience with engineering, but some ultimately choose an engineering career. Additionally, women choose engineering at lower rates than men, which results in women's underrepresentation. The framework of critical engineering agency (CEA) is utilized to understand student attitudes and beliefs for choosing engineering. Purpose/Hypothesis-We investigate the relationships among students' math and physics identities in high school that predict choice of engineering careers; how students' beliefs about science and technology predict a choice of engineering careers; whether these beliefs are different by gender; and how well CEA explains students' engineering choice. Design/Method-The data were drawn from the nationally representative Sustainability and Gender in Engineering (SaGE) survey distributed during Fall 2011 (n = 6,772). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to understand students' affective beliefs for predicting engineering choice in college. Results-Multiple subject-related identities compose engineering students' identity at the beginning of college. Recognition from others and interest in a subject are important predictors of developing an identity. Students' performance/competence alone are not significant predictors of engineering, but are mediated by interest and recognition from others. Student identities and agency beliefs are significant predictors of engineering choice (explaining 20.2% of the variance). Gender differences were found for students' math and physics identities and agency beliefs. Conclusions-Students' self-beliefs account for approximately one-fifth of the variance in engineering choice in the transition from high school to college. Steps can be taken to improve students' affective beliefs in early engineering experiences through addressing identity and agency beliefs. Keywords-critical engineering agency, engineering choice, structural equation modeling Research questions This study uses SEM to examine the direct and indirect influence of students' self-beliefs in multiple identity domains and their agency beliefs on their undergraduate engineering intentions. This research was conducted at a single time point and acts as a "snapshot" of the physics and math identities and agency beliefs that students hold, on average, when choosing engineering in college. This paper addresses four research questions through quantitative methods. Research Question 1: What are the relationships among students' identities in high school that predict the choice of engineering careers? Research Question 2: How do students' agency beliefs predict a choice of engineering careers? Research Question 3: To what extent do students' beliefs differ among men and women? Research Question 4: How well does critical engineering agency as an explanatory framework describe students' choice of engineering careers? Methods Data source

Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Jan 30, 2017

International Journal of Engineering Education, 2016

This paper considers the intersectionality of students’ race, ethnicity, and gender, to learn mor... more This paper considers the intersectionality of students’ race, ethnicity, and gender, to learn more about how various groupspursue sustainability goals through engineering. The lack of diversity in engineering is a persistent issue which hinders thedevelopment of moresustainable engineeringsolutions. Therefore, this paper investigates sustainability-related beliefs andcareer outcome expectations among engineering students who identify with groups underrepresented in the field. Thesetopics are investigated using data from a national (United States) survey of students in introductory college courses. Thesurvey sample was stratified by institution type and the number of enrolled students. Responses came from 6,772individuals enrolled at 50 institutions. Data was analyzed, ethnicity, and gender using descriptive statistics andmultinomial logistic and linear regression. The intersectional approach to analyzing the data reveal opportunities totailor teaching and messaging for greater diversity in engineering. For example, black females are more likely than othergroups to want to address food issues in their careers while white females are no different than other groups. Results likethese suggest ways to excite various populations about engineering careers, which could help attract much-needed diversityof thought to engineering for sustainability.

The journal of college science teaching, Mar 1, 2012

Science Educator, Apr 1, 2008

Interview data from secondary and postsecondary science instructors explored their in depth views... more Interview data from secondary and postsecondary science instructors explored their in depth views on preparing students for college science. Professors expressed a high level of consensus concerning two factors: general student skills and mathematics preparation. Teachers, who expressed lower levels of consensus, did agree on the importance of mathematics, but also highlighted a variety of factors that promote active pedagogy in the classroom as well as the importance of technology, textbooks, other materials, and assessments. Given this divergence, the authors explored the research supporting the value of these factors as well as highlighted possible strategies for narrowing the gap.

Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Apr 2, 2012

ABSTRACT Compared to the undergraduate population, the number of students obtaining physics degre... more ABSTRACT Compared to the undergraduate population, the number of students obtaining physics degrees has been declining since the 1960s. This trend continues despite the increasing number of students taking introductory physics courses in high school and college. Our work uses an ex-post facto design to study the factors that influence students' decision to pursue a career in physics at the beginning of college. These factors include high school physics classroom experiences, other science-related experiences, and students' career motivations. The data used in this study is drawn from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) Project, a large-scale study that surveyed a nationally representative sample of college/university students enrolled in introductory English courses about their interests and prior experiences in science.

ACM Transactions on Computing Education

While computing programs in the U.S. are experiencing growth in enrollment trends, they are still... more While computing programs in the U.S. are experiencing growth in enrollment trends, they are still grappling with matters related to retention and persistence of computing undergraduates. One construct identified by scholars as having an impact on persistence in computing is computing identity which is shaped by constructs such as recognition, performance/competence beliefs, sense of belonging, and interest. Likewise, participation in what scholars call communities of practice (CoP) can aid in the development of their computing identity. To help foster computing identity development, an initiative was designed at three large public universities named Flit-Path (Florida IT Pathways to Success). Flit-Path was established using the principles inherent to communities of practice with the goal of recruiting and retaining computing students. The Flit-Path program leveraged curricular and co-curricular support to engage academically talented students with financial need in computing discipl...

The STEP UP project (STEPUPphysics.org) was designed t... more The STEP UP project (STEPUPphysics.org) was designed to reduce barriers for high school women in physics and encourage them to pursue an undergraduate physics degree, in which women have been underrepresented historically. STEP UP focuses on implementing high school interventions by recruiting high school physics teachers, called Advocates, who are trained to teach STEP UP's research-driven materials in their classroom. To understand the effects of material implementation on Advocates, surveys are being administered to them before and after the school year.  Using a "tempered radicals" framing, this talk will present an analysis of initial survey responses describing the characteristics of teachers who are willing to be disruptive in order to reduce barriers for women and change the physics classroom culture. Results will inform  our understanding of teachers and the ways in which we can support their development as tempered radicals.