(Press-News.org) ITHACA, N.Y. – Experts see peer recognition as important to student success in physics, and a new study gives college-level physics instructors insight into how students perceive the message from their classmates that “you’re good at physics.”
Even when women receive similar amounts of recognition from peers as men for excelling in physics classes, they perceive significantly less peer recognition, the researchers found. “Men are internalizing their recognition differently than women,” said Natasha Holmes, professor of physics at Cornell University.
Holmes is corresponding author of the paper “Bias in Physics Peer Recognition Does Not Explain Gaps in Perceived Peer Recognition,” which is under embargo until 5am EST on March 5, 2025 in Nature Physics.
“This research fits into the broader goal of physics education research, to understand how we support students to make sure they are successful, and how we figure out where we can intervene,” Holmes said. “We know from the research that having teachers and parents recognize students as being good at physics is important, but peers’ recognition is a huge part. Small interactions can take place that either pull someone in or push someone out.”
With the goal of advancing physics teaching and learning, physics education research uses data-driven outcomes to explore what students are learning and how to help instructors promote student learning. The subfield has been active within physics for decades in the U.S., Holmes said, and to have this study published in a leading international physics journal signals its growth and acceptance broadly. The article is the first on physics education research to be published in Nature Physics since editors invited submissions from the subfield in March 2024.
Past studies, including at Cornell, have examined how undergraduate physics students receive recognition from peers for being good at physics; other studies have looked at how they perceive those messages.
This is the first study to examine the relationship between receiving and perceiving messages of positive recognition, said first author Meagan Sundstrom, Ph.D. ’24, a postdoctoral researcher at Drexel University. The team developed and tested three possible relationships based on prior literature, each of which could inspire future study, she said.
Sundstrom designed the study to directly compare the number of nominations students receive from their peers for being strong in their physics course (a stand-in for received peer recognition) to the extent to which students feel recognized by their peers (perceived peer recognition.) The study included more than 1,700 undergraduate students enrolled in 27 courses at eight institutions in the U.S.
Although men and women received proportional recognition from peers in their physics lab classes, men received disproportionate recognition in their physics lecture classes. But men reported significantly higher perceptions of peer recognition than women in both lab and lecture courses.
“For students receiving the same amount of peer recognition … women report significantly lower perceived peer recognition than men,” the researchers wrote.
“We learned that the place for intervention is on perception of recognition – on how students are internalizing the recognition they are receiving,” Holmes said.
The study provides a guide for further research to find out why peer recognition has different impacts, and to design and test specific classroom techniques to support all students’ sense of physics recognition, Holmes said.
In addition, factors outside physics classrooms feed into the ways students perceive themselves in science contexts.
“We are up against a lot of socio-cultural dynamics in that internalization,” Holmes said. “But to test short-term approaches within classes, I think we can broaden what it means to identify as a good physicist and to make sure there are self-reflection activities for students to break down the ways in which they are physicists.”
The study was supported by the National Science Foundation.
-30-
END
New study examines how physics students perceive recognition
2025-03-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
For some, childhood adversity can promote resilience to anxiety disorders
2025-03-05
New Haven, Conn. — Research has shown that young people who face adversity such as traumatic or stressful events during brain development are 40% more likely to develop anxiety disorders by adulthood. But most people who endure these experiences during childhood and adolescence prove to be resilient to these mental health effects.
A new Yale study finds that when this adversity occurs during brain development may affect how susceptible people are to anxiety and other psychiatric problems as adults.
According to the study, published March 5 in the journal Communications Psychology, ...
A sustainable iron catalyst for water oxidation in renewable energy
2025-03-05
A newly developed pentanuclear iron complex (Fe5-PCz(ClO₄)₃) can offer an efficient, stable, and cost-effective solution for water oxidation. By electrochemically polymerizing the complex, researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo obtained a polymer-based catalyst, poly-Fe5-PCz, and achieved water oxidation with up to 99% Faradaic efficiency and exceptional stability, even under rigorous conditions. This breakthrough offers a scalable alternative to rare metal catalysts, advancing hydrogen production and energy storage for renewable energy.
Water oxidation plays a vital role in renewable energy technologies, ...
Cloud–radiation feedbacks found to be key to the diverse tropical pacific warming projections
2025-03-05
New research has uncovered why different climate models offer varying projections of sea surface temperature (SST) changes in the tropical Pacific, a region critical for global climate patterns. The study, published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences on March 5, identifies cloud–radiation feedback as the dominant source behind these differences.
Reliable projections of the tropical Pacific SST warming (TPSW) pattern are crucial for understanding how global climate will change in a warming world. While the latest climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project ...
Body image perceptions take shape from early childhood, psychologists reveal
2025-03-05
Embargoed until 8am GMT on Wednesday 5 March 2025
-With pictures-
Our perceptions of body image are shaped by what we see from as early as seven years old, according to new research by Durham University (UK).
These body ideals continue to be influenced by visual exposure to different body weights into adulthood, the research also found.
The results show that people’s perceptions of body weight are flexible and adult-like from seven years of age onwards and have implications for our understanding of body size and the perceptions, and possible misperceptions, of weight in health ...
Can long-term use of anti-inflammatory medications prevent dementia?
2025-03-05
Past research has suggested that inflammation may contribute to the development and progression of dementia and that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications may help protect against dementia due to their anti-inflammatory effects. A new large prospective study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society provides additional evidence, showing that long-term NSAID use is linked to a decreased risk of developing dementia.
In the population-based study of 11,745 adults with an average follow-up of 14.5 years, 9,520 participants had used NSAIDs at any given time, and 2,091 participants developed dementia. Long-term NSAID use was associated with a 12% ...
Review supports introducing small amounts of food allergens during early childhood
2025-03-05
A review in Clinical & Experimental Allergy concludes that exposing young children to small amounts of foods that they’re allergic to is safer than avoiding the foods altogether, which could be very dangerous if accidental exposure occurs.
The review notes that exposing preschool-aged children to small amounts of food allergens—called oral immunotherapy—can lessen the severity of a reaction following an accidental exposure. Also, delaying exposure until a later age misses the window ...
How are human activities affecting sea otters?
2025-03-05
Because of their high metabolic rates, sea otters are especially vulnerable to disturbances that can increase their energy needs. New research in The Journal of Wildlife Management reveals how human activities affect the behavior and energy expenditure of southern sea otters.
By studying southern sea otters over 5 years at 3 sites along the coast of California, investigators found evidence that on average, the likelihood of a group of sea otters being disturbed (which affects their ability to rest) is less than 10% when stimuli such as small craft are more than 29 meters away, although this threshold varies by location, group size, ...
Discriminated groups create safe spaces online
2025-03-05
Online threats, hatred and harassment have led people who feel discriminated against to create digital spaces where they can feel safe. According to a new thesis from the University of Gothenburg, these spaces are characterised by clear rules and constant maintenance and monitoring.
Much of social life today takes place online. Unfortunately, the worst aspects of interpersonal relationships also appear in the digital world. A study of 51 countries revealed that 38% of women had personally experienced online harassment. Bullying and harassment have led people to create their own digital safe spaces, which is the topic ...
How one researcher equipped with a smartphone is creating detailed reports on the insides of stranded sea creatures
2025-03-05
What inspired you to become a researcher?
My interest in research began with an early love for nature, particularly the ocean and its wildlife. Drawn to conservation, I am fascinated by how technology can help study and protect marine mammals.
Can you tell us about the research you’re currently working on?
This research focuses on using accessible 3D scanning technologies, like LiDAR-equipped mobile devices and UAV photogrammetry, to document and analyze stranded marine mammals. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing technology that uses laser pulses to determine the ...
Americans borrowed $74 billion last year to cover healthcare costs
2025-03-05
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 5, 2025 – More than 31 million Americans (12%) report needing to borrow about $74 billion last year to pay for healthcare despite most having some form of health insurance, according to a new survey from West Health and Gallup. Nearly one-third (28%) report being “very concerned” that a major health event could throw them into debt.
The survey found almost 20% of Americans aged 49 and under needed to borrow money to cover medical costs compared with just 9% of those 50 to 64. Women between the ages of 50 and 64 were twice as likely as men in the same age group to say they had to borrow (12% vs. 6%). Two percent ...