Cassandra Paul

An illustration of a man standing in water that comes up to his neck surrounded by fish, with text: I dropped out of high school. Now, I’m living my dream as a fish scientist

"No one should be made to feel inferior or that they do not belong in science because of their origins." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/48JF6Pg

@djphysicswebb.bsky.social , always happy to chat, but if someone told me that my job was option #3, I would quit. 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for the kind words!!!

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

Our new research indicates that the gender gap in intro physics is an artifact correlated with the “stakes” associated with physics exams and is therefore NOT due to differences in preparation or understanding. 🧪🧵 #acadmicsky #HigherEd #EduSky #STEMed link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

This thread illustrates why it’s so important to think about grades and grading from the student perspective.

In this study, the retake opportunities were built into regular class time. Students who didn’t want to take advantage of the opportunity would just leave class early. Perhaps that makes a difference.

Thanks for the kind words!

It’s potentially the same phenomenon, but- If stakes cause anxiety and anxiety causes the gender gap - which thing actually causes the gap? Instructors can control stakes- but they can’t necessarily control anxiety. Exam Stakes are a course structure causing a bias against women. We can change this.

Lowering exam stakes could cut the gender grade gap in physics, finds study – Physics World The gender gap in exam results was much larger in the high-stakes classes that did not allow retakes

We also got a nice write-up by Physics World! @physicsworld.bsky.social

physicsworld.com/a/lowering-e...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

These 3 independent results can all be explained by the hypothesis that exam stakes introduce a bias (measurement error) against women in intro physics, and that course structures (retake options, or lower stake assessments) can eliminate them. 🫳🎤

link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

Finally, controlling for quiz grades (arguably the best predictor of success on a final exam) did not remove the gender gap on the final exam. Said plainly: for women and men who have the same quiz scores, women would perform lower on the final exam.

link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

We found that that the higher the stakes were on the assessment, the bigger the gender gap on the assessment was.

link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

We did a separate analysis to find if the “stakes” of the exam predicted the gap. We define “high stakes” as exams that count for larger percent of course grade (final exam) “medium stakes” as quizzes, and “low stakes” as first attempt on exam in retake class. link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

Furthermore women actually do BETTER than men on the first try of the exam (though not significantly so) so it’s not that women need the extra opportunity to make up for differences in preparation. link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

It turns out that women are just as likely to take advantage of the retake opportunity as men so that does not explain why gender gap disappears. (*While gender is non-binary, our data is almost entirely binary. See paper for details on non-binary/unknown gender data.) link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

In our latest work we explore why the gender gap went away. For example- Are women more likely to take advantage of the retake opportunity? Or do women do better on the second attempt (presumably because they need more practice due to differences in prior preparation)? link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

Attributing equity gaps to course structure in introductory physics Changes to the structure of introductory physics courses can eliminate some demographic grade gaps.

One of those course structures was a “retake exam option”: where students are allowed to retake any exam (same topic different test) if they want to. We found that in intro physics courses where retakes were allowed, there was no gender gap (when there otherwise was). link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

Attributing equity gaps to course structure in introductory physics Changes to the structure of introductory physics courses can eliminate some demographic grade gaps.

In 2023 @djphysicswebb.bsky.social and I argued that courses can be centered as the “cause” of course level equity gaps in higher education because changes to the course structure eliminated equity gaps. link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

Our new research indicates that the gender gap in intro physics is an artifact correlated with the “stakes” associated with physics exams and is therefore NOT due to differences in preparation or understanding. 🧪🧵 #acadmicsky #HigherEd #EduSky #STEMed link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

Last call before the deadline. Accepting applications until filled.. #academicbluesky 🧪🏡

Thank you for the kind words! We are excited about these results too.

Thank you for the kind words!

Thank you for the boost and the kind words!!!

Thank you for the kind words!

Thanks for the kind words words. Good luck at the faculty meeting! 😉

Research suggesting how an exam gender gap can be inflated from zero up to roughly 1/3 of a grade point simply by increasing the stakes of your exams.
Can't help thinking of gaps on a different high stakes exam, the SAT, when I see results like these.
#iTeachPhysics 🎢 #EduSky 🍎 #academia #HigherEd

Thanks for reading our paper, Dan! I appreciate the kind words!

Fighting for Fair Development Community Benefits Agreements as a Strategy for Making the Energy Transition More Equitable in the United States

Check out this storymap highlighting findings from our latest report. 🔌💡

Fighting for Fair Development, Community Benefits Agreements as a Strategy for making the #EnergyTransition more Equitable in the United States. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a860...

High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.

Proud of the work I published with @djphysicswebb.bsky.social . Gender Gap in intro physics is eliminated when employing retake exams because women do better on the FIRST try - suggesting exam STAKES (not differences in preparation/understanding) explain gender gap. 🧪 link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

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