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Research project IMMPACT – In-exclusion and Materialities in Mathematics and Physics enACTments

Who feels welcomed in mathematics and physics at university level and why? We study the path of students from under-represented groups into these fields and the identities that they build as they engage with these subject areas.

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Theme

Contact person at SU

Paola Valero

Professor

Department of Teaching and Learning

08-120 768 21

paola.valero@su.se

Overview

Project period

01-01-2022 - 31-12-2025

Responsible

Department of Teaching and Learning

Research subjects

Mathematics Education Science Education

Status

Ongoing

Funding

Swedish Research Council

Research groups

Science Education Equity

In our research group we are interested in exploring issues of inclusion–exclusion and participation in science education, both in formal and informal learning contexts. The group has a particular interest in minoritised learners of science, and an emphasis on the physical sciences.

Eleanor Armstrong, Amy Smith, Beatrice Hansen, Anna Danielsson, Carolina de Barros Vidor och Nhu Tru

SOCAME – Social and Critical Aspects in Mathematics Education

SOCAME advances research on mathematics education as social, cultural and political phenomena. At present, the group is a strong research environment with regular seminars and several connected international projects and initiatives.

Photo: Lisa Österling.

Project description

IMMPACT takes a novel approach to understand processes of inclusion and exclusion in higher education mathematics and physics by focusing on the relationship between students’ identity enactment and scientific practices. It investigates the trajectories of students from diverse, underrepresented backgrounds when entering university mathematics and physics, and how students enact an identity when engaging in their bachelor studies.

The project is informed by two empirical studies.

Study 1 is based on a questionnaire distributed to first year students. The analysis will be used to identify patterns between the students’ trajectories and aspirations and the students’ gender, cultural capital, ethnicity or migration background.

Study 2 is a longitudinal, qualitative investigation. It analyses how the students’ identity enactment and the discursive/material configurations of mathematics and physics practices shape one another. A data set, consisting of time-line interviews and walking ethnographies, will be analysed to identify configurations of identity that promote students’ successful engagement.

The project advances existing research by bringing together mathematical and physics identity research, with a theoretical approach inspired by sociomaterial studies, and a mix-method longitudinal methodological design. The project re-examines the challenges of retaining a diversity of students in university mathematics and physics education.