iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Linn Boldt-Christmas @nplinnspace.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

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 🙃

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David Webb @djphysicswebb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

@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

arxiv.org

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...

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David Webb @djphysicswebb.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

@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

arxiv.org

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The 2026 National Science Foundation budget is $8.75 Billion.

nytimes.com

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

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

This is also happening in San Jose.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 27/02/2026

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.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 12/02/2026

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

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

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.

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

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.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 25/01/2026

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.

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Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

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.

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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

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

he main phone number for the U.S. Congressional Switchboard, a central point to reach Senators and Representatives, is (202) 224-3121, allowing you to connect with your elected officials to discuss issues, find their offices, or get general Capitol Hill information. You can also find direct contact information and legislative details on official sites like House.gov and Congress.gov to communicate with your specific Representative or Senator about bills and concerns

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Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

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.

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AAPTHQ @aapthq.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

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

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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey @mayorjacobfrey.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

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...

kare11.com

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.

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Rep. Ro Khanna @khanna.house.gov · 14/01/2026

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

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Rep. Zoe Lofgren @lofgren.house.gov · 14/01/2026

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.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

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.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

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.

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Science Magazine @science.org · 03/12/2025

"No one should be made to feel inferior or that they do not belong in science because of their origins." #ScienceWorkingLife scim.ag/48JF6Pg

An illustration of a man standing in water that comes up to his neck surrounded by fish, with text: I dropped out of high school. Now, I’m living my dream as a fish scientist

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

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/...

link.aps.org

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.

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

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

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

link.aps.org

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.

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David Webb @djphysicswebb.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Research suggesting how an exam gender gap can be inflated from zero up to roughly 1/3 of a grade point simply by increasing the stakes of your exams. Can't help thinking of gaps on a different high stakes exam, the SAT, when I see results like these. #iTeachPhysics 🎢 #EduSky 🍎 #academia #HigherEd

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Proud of the work I published with @djphysicswebb.bsky.social . Gender Gap in intro physics is eliminated when employing retake exams because women do better on the FIRST try - suggesting exam STAKES (not differences in preparation/understanding) explain gender gap. 🧪 link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

link.aps.org

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.

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

6 of my papers were in this database.

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Alessandro Rigolon @alerigolon.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

I’m at my kids’ parent orientation, and the topic that generated more questions from parents is the school car line. Curriculum? No. New teachers? Nope. If that’s not an indicator of a failed transportation system, I don’t know what is.

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Something I wish more people understood: part of the point of shock-and-awe grant terminations at NIH and NSF has been to make scientists and university administrators afraid to speak out against the administration. And it's working. But, some of us were never going to get a grant from them anyway.

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

🎤 BOOM: Federal judge just ruled to *reinstate* the suspended ~300 NSF grants at UCLA. Determines that NSF violated the previous court order by attempting to swap "termination" with "suspension". storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

NSF’s actions violate the Preliminary Injunction. Though there may be situations where
a “termination” and “suspension” are not the same thing, there is no principled difference
between a “termination” and the immediate, indefinite, and “final” “suspension” of funding in
this context. The suspensions have the same effect, and are based on the same type of deficient
explanations, as the original terminations. NSF communicated the suspensions by means of a
form letter that failed to provide the requisite grant-specific reason for halting funding, and that
failed to adequately consider grant-specific interests, including the reliance interests of the
researchers. Therefore, pursuant to the Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. No. 55), NSF’s suspension
of the grants at issue here is VACATED. For avoidance of doubt, the Court also clarifies that
grant “termination,” as the term is used in the Preliminary Injunction, encompasses
circumstances where grant funding is cut off on a long-term or indefinite basis, like the
suspensions carried out by NSF on July 30

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

📚 (Early) good news for education researchers! Today, Senate appropriators said NO cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) budget for FY26. Holds flat at $793 million. In contrast, the President's budget request wanted to slash IES's budget by -67%. 🧵 1/3

edweek.org

Senators—Including Republicans—Reject All of Trump's Proposed Education Cuts

The budget bill could go before the full Senate as early as September.

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TPM @talkingpointsmemo.com · 30/07/2025

Sen. Elizabeth Warren argued that Democrats can’t trust Republicans and Trump to uphold any bipartisan government funding agreement. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/warren-...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Warren Demands Dems Refuse to Participate in Budgeting So Long As Trump is Freezing Funds

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took to the Senate floor on Wednesday morning...

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

If you've ever *benefitted* from NIH research (big population), CALL YOUR SENATOR now to let them know. ⏰ Tmrw morning, Senate appropriators will mark up NIH's FY26 budget. Personal examples help. My own case: decades of *sustained* investment in NIH-funded cancer research saved my life.

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Glad reporting is still happening around this issue. I appreciate that Rep. Zoe Lofgren ‪@lofgren.house.gov‬ keeps pushing on this. UC researchers have had their NSF grants reinstated through class action lawsuit, but CSU researchers are still waiting. sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-rep...

sanjosespotlight.com

San Jose Rep. Lofgren calls out Trump for science cuts - San José Spotlight

Government workers from the National Science Foundation are sounding the alarm on President Donald Trump’s attack on the federal independent agency and its impact on the scientific community. In a Jul...

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Cassandra Paul @cassandrapaul.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Researchers who have had their NSF grants cancelled and are finishing up publications started before the termination…. How are we thanking (or not thanking) NSF in the acknowledgments? I can’t be the only one thinking about this! Feel free to drop your preprint or pub below.👇 #academicsky #science 🧪

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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

🧪280 NASA employees past & present + at least 4 astronauts, have signed a declaration of opposition to the many of the impending drastic changes The last six months have been full of rapid, wasteful & catastrophic changes that have sabotaged their mission. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

‘We dissent’: NASA staff declare opposition to Trump cuts

Declaration of dissent, which warns that science and safety are at risk, joins similar documents from staff at the EPA and the NIH.

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

🧪Have a terminated NSF grant? Or been impacted by such a termination? Call your Senators, esp if they're Repub!! An amendment to restore killed NSF grants will later be debated on the *full Senate* floor, after it narrowly failed in committee today. 🧵 Brief thread 1/4

science.org

Senate panel raises hopes that NSF will restore killed grants

Republicans promise to work with Democrats to salvage defeated amendment

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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

I’m hearing a lot of despair and “what’s the point”-ing. Here’s the point: ONE less person kidnapped by ICE. ONE more child vaccinated. ONE grant reinstated. ONE more PEPFAR treatment. ONE more meal to a hungry kid. ONE more person covered by Medicaid. One life is ALWAYS worth resistance.

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