Abstract: As a society, we tend to design for the “average” person, including thinking about curriculum design as for the “average” student. In this talk, I discuss this as the “myth of average” (drawing on Todd Rose’s work) and instead highlight how we can leverage education research to design flexible learning environments in physics. Flexible curriculum design works to improve access within physics, for all students and in particular students with disabilities. I will provide examples of flexible design features from an active learning course at Michigan State University called Electricity and Magnetism Projects and Practices in Physics (EMP-Cubed) as well as highlight challenges to access in the same course and my ongoing research to better understand those challenges. With this talk, I hope to encourage a critical examination of the underlying assumptions about how we design curricula and how we can become more flexible in that design.

Brief Bio: Dr. Daryl McPadden is a physics education researcher, who has specialized in curriculum design and evaluation of active learning physics classrooms. She has worked extensively in many active learning formats, including Projects & Practices in Physics (P-Cubed), University Modeling Instruction and Studio Physics. Most recently, her work has focused on improving accessibility in active learning courses and understanding disabled students’ experiences in these class formats. Dr. McPadden received her bachelor’s of science from Colorado School of Mines in Engineering Physics, and her Ph.D. in Physics from Florida International University.

Web: https://perl.natsci.msu.edu/people/faculty/daryl-mcpadden.aspx