I always HATED exams because I was really bad at them. In my physics undergrad, I jokingly wished exams had a Q saying ”whatever topic you studied really well but didn’t come up, write what you know here for extra points”. Now that I’m on the other side (teaching at uni), I kind of still think it 🙃

Cassandra Paul@cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 4w ago

@djphysicswebb.bsky.social, Mary Chessey and I have a newly accepted paper on uncollected test item responses on open-ended physics exam questions! Blank responses on exams are missing data, not measurements of physics knowledge or skills. Read on for details... Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2606.05473

We continue to point out issues suggesting that college courses are an active part of bias against marginalized demographic groups. 🎢 #EduSky 🍎 #academia #HigherEd #AcadmicSky

Cassandra Paul@cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 4w ago

@djphysicswebb.bsky.social, Mary Chessey and I have a newly accepted paper on uncollected test item responses on open-ended physics exam questions! Blank responses on exams are missing data, not measurements of physics knowledge or skills. Read on for details... Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2606.05473

New research on open-ended college physics exams! Blank responses from students might not mean what you think! #academicsky #edusky #EducationResearch

Cassandra Paul@cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 4w ago

@djphysicswebb.bsky.social, Mary Chessey and I have a newly accepted paper on uncollected test item responses on open-ended physics exam questions! Blank responses on exams are missing data, not measurements of physics knowledge or skills. Read on for details... Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2606.05473

New research on physics exams! Blank responses may not mean what you think! 🧪

Cassandra Paul@cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 4w ago

@djphysicswebb.bsky.social, Mary Chessey and I have a newly accepted paper on uncollected test item responses on open-ended physics exam questions! Blank responses on exams are missing data, not measurements of physics knowledge or skills. Read on for details... Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2606.05473

@djphysicswebb.bsky.social, Mary Chessey and I have a newly accepted paper on uncollected test item responses on open-ended physics exam questions! Blank responses on exams are missing data, not measurements of physics knowledge or skills. Read on for details... Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2606.05473

Missing Data on Physics Exams: Demographic Patterns, Course-Level Predictions, and Implications for Equity

In a previous quantitative retrospective study we showed that different demographic groups of students leave different numbers of problems blank on physics exams, leading to inequities in course outco...

arxiv.org

@cassandrapaul.bsky.social and I show that employing undergraduate Learning Assistants in introductory courses may help smooth many students' paths through the university and increase STEM graduation rates. arxiv.org/pdf/2607.27006 🎢 #EduSky 🍎 #academia #HigherEd #AcadmicSky

The 2026 National Science Foundation budget is $8.75 Billion.

First 6 Days of Iran War Cost U.S. $11.3 Billion, Pentagon Says

nytimes.com

This is also happening in San Jose.

Union of Concerned Scientists@ucs.org · 7mo ago

ASK A SCIENTIST: A data center has been proposed in our town. What can we do as a community to ensure we aren’t left covering the environmental and financial costs? UCS energy analyst María Fernanda Chavez responds.

In my utopian vision of the future, instead of offloading all the pointless, annoying work tasks (like reports that none one will read and needlessly opaque forms) to robots, we restructure work and society so that the pointless tasks don't happen at all.

You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 8mo ago

Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu

ICE and CBP must not receive another cent while people are being killed, beaten, and kidnapped in the streets. www.huffpost.com/entry/adam-s...

‘I'm Not Giving ICE Another Dime’: Schiff Says Republicans Who Vote To Give ICE More Funding Will ‘See More Americans Die’

Sen. Adam Schiff also argued the money funded to DHS has been “wasted hand over fist."

huffpost.com

Thank you, Sen. Schiff!

Sen. Adam Schiff@schiff.senate.gov · 9mo ago

ICE and CBP must not receive another cent while people are being killed, beaten, and kidnapped in the streets. www.huffpost.com/entry/adam-s...

Across America and the world, people are realizing it’s not possible to appease America’s dictator. The only way to deal with him is to stand up to him — and the only way to stand up to him is by joining together against him. It's time for a massive general strike across the country.

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

I don’t want to hear anything from an elected official unless it’s a plan to defund the DHS and impeach Noem, Bovino, etc. No texts. No emails. No talk about the economy. Step up or step off.

CC @liccardo.house.gov @padilla.senate.gov and @schiff.senate.gov

Roxane Gay@roxanegay.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I don’t want to hear anything from an elected official unless it’s a plan to defund the DHS and impeach Noem, Bovino, etc. No texts. No emails. No talk about the economy. Step up or step off.

No science or nature today. ICE just murdered another person in my home state, an ICU nurse working with vets & now they're trying to frame him for the action . All because ICE is angry & afraid of the 50000 Minnesotans who marched yesterday. If you're not calling Congress you're letting them down

Tip for Californians- @padilla.senate.gov doesn’t allow VM at his DC office during non business hours (which seriously??) but you can leave a message at a local office. Neither CA Senators ever have people answering the phones in my experience at any office even during business hours.

Mark Peifer (He, him)@peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 9mo ago

No science or nature today. ICE just murdered another person in my home state, an ICU nurse working with vets & now they're trying to frame him for the action . All because ICE is angry & afraid of the 50000 Minnesotans who marched yesterday. If you're not calling Congress you're letting them down

We are extremely proud of this!

AAPTHQ@aapthq.bsky.social · 9mo ago

The San José State Physics and Astronomy Department has earned a Bronze Award from the #Physics and #Astronomy SEA Change Committee (P/A SEA Change) for its work to create a more inclusive and supportive department. Read more ➡ ow.ly/23Ru50XX3cG #PASEAChange #ITeachPhysics

The San José State Physics and Astronomy Department has earned a Bronze Award from the #Physics and #Astronomy SEA Change Committee (P/A SEA Change) for its work to create a more inclusive and supportive department. Read more ➡ ow.ly/23Ru50XX3cG #PASEAChange #ITeachPhysics

Minnesota needs ICE to leave, not an escalation that brings additional federal troops beyond the 3,000 already here. My priority is keeping local law enforcement focused on public safety, not diverted by federal overreach. www.kare11.com/mobile/artic...

Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act, send troops into Minneapolis over anti-ICE protests

President Donald Trump threatened to "institute the Insurrection Act" in Minneapolis Thursday morning to quell protests in opposition to immigration enforcement.

kare11.com

No one in America is safe from ICE. They are taking our freedoms. ICE agents who are committing crimes must be prosecuted.

ICE is shooting mothers in the face and breaking down people’s doors without warrants. I won’t support a spending bill that doesn’t rein in Trump’s masked, poorly trained ICE agents terrorizing American citizens.

Increase in productivity since 1979: 87% Increase in hourly pay since 1979: 32% Just so happens that ~25% of workers were unionized in 1979. Today? 10%. As unions declined, the super-rich have taken a larger share of wealth generated by labor. We must build back union power.

Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.

"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

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/...

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.

link.aps.org

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

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌@chanda.blacksky.app · 12mo ago

So there is a new article out about grade inflation at a certain school and people think it's funny that students told the student paper that the report was stressful and here's why I don't think it's funny A friend of mine killed herself my senior year It is a high pressure place and

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/...

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.

link.aps.org