What counts in laboratories: Developing a practice-based identity survey

An essential step in the process of developing a physics identity is the opportunity to engage in authentic physics practices. Physics laboratory courses are generally structured as a place for students to gain experience with physics practices. This makes laboratory courses an ideal place to look at the impact these authentic science practices have on students’ physics identity. As part of the development of a practice based identity survey, we have interviewed students in a variety of physics lab classes, from intro algebra based to advanced lab, to gain insight into their interpretations of different commonly discussed practices. To ground our survey in students’ experiences, we have asked questions about what these practices mean to the students. We present our findings on how students interpret these practices and situate themselves with respect to the practices as an indicator of their physics identity.