Type
Article
Keywords
STEM Education, Framework, Physics Education
Abstract
Many physics educators seek to improve their courses but feel constrained by traditional post-secondary structures and norms. Instructors often perceive a false tension between fostering inclusive learning environments and maintaining the rigor central to the discipline. The Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guide synthesizes decades of research-based recommendations for improving physics education. However, it offers limited guidance on how to integrate these diverse recommendations into a coherent, course-level approach—a responsibility that falls to individual instructors, whose graduate training prepared them primarily as researchers rather than as educators. This paper begins by motivating and introducing the Practicing Professionalism Framework (PPF), a course design framework developed in alignment with EP3 recommendations that encourages development of professional skills in a way that connects students’ interests and values to the broader physics community. We present the PPF in sufficient detail to enable motivated faculty to adopt and adapt it as a research-informed tool for aligning their course design with both their professional values and instructional goals. Next we present the PPF implemented in two very different instructional contexts, demonstrating how the PPF can offer a structured pathway for making courses more inclusive while preserving disciplinary rigor. We conclude with observations across the two case studies.
Language
English
Department(s)
Physics and Astronomy
Journal or Book Title
Educational Sciences
Publication Year
2026
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16040607
Publisher
MDPI
Rights Management
The original authors own the copyright to this work and have granted Carleton College permission to display and distribute it online through the Carleton College Library. For more information on the copyright status of this work, refer to the current copyright holder.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Baylor, Martha-Elizabeth, and Suzanne White Brahmia., "Practicing Professionalism Framework: A Coherent Course Structure Aligned with Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guidelines". Educational Sciences, vol. 16, no. 4, 2026. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16040607. . [Online]. Accessed via Faculty Work. Physics and Astronomy. Carleton Digital Commons. https://digitalcommons.carleton.edu/phys_faculty/18
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16040607
Included in
Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons, Secondary Education Commons
