Investigating Undergraduates' Physics Usefulness Narratives: What Can Words Convey About Motivated Beliefs From Various Backgrounds?

• In Event: STEM Motivation and Empowerment Across Secondary School and College: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here?

Abstract

We explore students’ physics-related beliefs and how major, gender, and first-generation college-going status (FG) can provide clues about those beliefs. A text analysis program examined physics usefulness narratives written by undergraduates (N=1,005, 20% female, 35% FG, 18% Latino/Hispanic, 40% Asian, 28% South East Asian) enrolled in introductory physics at a large university using two language dimensions that approximate motivation. We observed that females used a higher proportion of negative emotion words when writing about the personal usefulness of physics. Taking FG, gender, and major into account, Latino/Hispanic and Asian undergraduates used more power words and fewer positive emotion words than their White/Caucasian peers. FG undergraduates also used a higher proportion of risk words in their writing. Implications are discussed.

Authors

• Nayssan Safavian, University of California - Irvine

• Anna-Lena Dicke, University of California, Irvine

• Yannan Gao, University of California - Irvine

• Glona Lee, University of California - Irvine

• Jacquelynne S. Eccles, University of California - Irvine