Research
Research Experiences
I conduct Physics Education and STEM Education Research. I am skilled at using both quantitative and qualitative techniques and have lots of programming experience, due to research and personal projects. This page serves as a portfolio of my past and current research along with published works, pending publications, and presentations in conferences.
Current Research
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills located in Central LA. I am continuing my critical investigations into the experiences of students of color. This research is about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in university graduate STEM education, particularly the experiences of students of color in STEM majors at institutions of higher education. I am also investigating how to use Large Language Models (LLMs) in the classroom, with the hope of improving student learning and success. I hope to discover new ways to hone LLMs for teaching and evaluating students. Besides my own research ideas, I collaborate with others on various projects. I am part of a multi department research collaboration at CSUDH and am part of a NSF grant collaboration involving 14 of the 23 CSU campuses.
Published Works
Pending Publications
Rodriguez, M., Critical Race Theory with applications to DBER, Chapter in Springer Handbook on Equity-Oriented, Discipline-Based STEM Education Research
Rodriguez, M., Archibeque, B., Head, T. & Potvin, G., Using Social Interdependence to model student interactions in small groups, Small Group Research
Conference Presentations and Posters
January 2024
Critical Race Theory Perspective of Physics
Invited Talk at AAPT Winter Conference in New Orleans, LA
July 2023
The use of large language models for a project in Quantum Mechanics
Oral presentation at AAPT Conference in Sacramento, CA
April 2023
Intersectional Experiences of Graduate Students in STEM Programs
Poster for Jhumki Basu Symposium at NARST in Chicago
October 2022
My path to Being a Puerto Rican Physicist
Invited Talk at SACNAS Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico
*First invited talk at a big conference!
March 2022
Microaggressions against International Students of Color in STEM Graduate Programs.
Oral Presentation at the NARST International Conference in Vancouver, Canada
*Awarded Jhumki Basu Fellowship
July 2021
Understanding the ongoing attacks on Critical Race Theory.
Co-hosted Session at the American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
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An Introduction to Critical Race Theory for Physicists.
Oral Presentation at the American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
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Microaggressions and Isolation among Graduate STEM Students of Color.
Poster at the Physics Education Research Conference
July 2020
The Associations Between Conceptual Learning, Physics Identity Gains and Social Interdependence.
Oral Presentation at the American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
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The Associations between Conceptual Learning, Physics Identity and Social Interdependence.
Poster at the Physics Education Research Conference
July 2019
Studying Small-group Interactions in a Collaborative Learning Environment through the Lens of Social Interdependence Theory.
Oral Presentation at the American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
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Social Interdependence Theory and Transfer in a Collaborative Learning Environment.
Poster at the Physics Education Research Conference
July 2018
A study on Positive Social Interdependence in Small-group Work.
Oral Presentation at the American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
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An Analysis of Social Interdependence in Small-group Work.
Poster at the Physics Education Research Conference
July 2017
Frequent Group Interactions Improve Student Learning Gains in College Physics.
Oral Presentation at the American Association of Physics Teachers Conference
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An Analysis of Physics Beliefs amongst Introductory Students.
Poster at the Physics Education Research Conference
Awards and Fellowships
Fellowships Earned
Spring 2022 Won Fulbright postdoctoral award and declined
Spring 2022 AAAS Finalist
Spring 2022 Jhumki Basu Fellowship for NARST conference
Fall 2019 Dissertation Year Fellowship at FIU
Awards Given
Spring 2022 University of Utah Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Award
Fall 2020 Notable Paper in PERC Proceedings
Fall 2013 Top 10% TA evaluations at at OU
Spring 2011 Undergraduate of the Year in Physics at FAU
Spring 2009 First Place in Math Olympics competition at PBSC
Past Research
Research as Bachelors and Masters Student
My research journey began as an undergraduate student at Florida International University conducting computational physics research, modeling the Brownian Motion of a two dimensional rod in a fluid. This project involved calculating the position and orientation of the rod by writing a code in C. As a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma (OU), I was part of two research groups. My first group was an experimental quantum information group and involved me adjusting lab equipment and learning about quantum entanglement to push the limit of the information one photon can store. The second group I was part of was a theoretical condensed matter group, where my project was calculating the thermoelectric properties of bi-layer graphene. I gained lots of valuable knowledge and training throughout this period of his research, but I quickly realized that my true passion was in physics education.
Research as Doctoral Student
After realizing my research passion was more in physics education, I left OU with his MS in Physics and continued my Doctorate at Florida International University. During my doctoral years, I conducted five projects total, three of which went on to form his dissertation. I also worked on two side projects included a multi institutional two year longitudinal study on engineering student beliefs of who can do engineering, that resulted in his first journal publication in Engineering Studies. The theme of my collected papers dissertation centered around group learning The first study, using linear regressions on a nationally representative stratified sample, found that students who worked in small groups every class had higher conceptual gains. The second study, utilizing linear models, identified that students who initiated task interdependence, in their groups, saw higher physics identity gains than their counterparts. The third study, involving a qualitative constant comparative analysis of two purposely sampled groups of students, examined the mechanisms through which students engage with one another using the lenses of Social Interdependence and Social Metacognition. revamping parts of his dissertation work with collaborators. We created a new methodology of observing small groups of students interacting with one another using Social Interdependence Theory.
Research as Postdoctoral Scholar
While being a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Utah, I switched research paths and began doing work centered around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) topics. There I led a qualitative project, involving nearly 30 participants in two sets of interviews, investigating the experiences of graduate students of color in STEM programs. Some students reported experiencing microaggressions or other forms of discrimination during their studies. We also found that students have unique paths that depend on their own identities but also depend on the demographics of their STEM environment. The final set of results is being finalized for publication and should be released soon.