The changes I make to my courses are always evidence based. I either gather evidence from the literature about what works or I consult with students and request their feedback. In most of my courses I measure the learning gains of students using concept inventory tests. When I implement a change I look for changes in the learning gains of students where appropriate as well as considering evidence such as exam scores and student feedback.

A change I implemented in 2019 based on evidence was the introduction of a "belonging exercise" into the second week of problem solving workshops for Physics 1A. At the Australian Institute of Physics congress Prof. Chandralekha Singh from the university of Pittsburgh presented evidence that a 15 minute belonging intervention had a very positive effect on the well being and retention of students in minority groups. Upon hearing about this I decided to introduce a similar intervention at UNSW, she sent me her resources and I adapted them for our context. I have spoken to students in the 2019 cohort and many of them have felt that the belonging exercise did help them feel more confident about physics. The intervention involves getting students to write down what they are worried about and then showing them the worries of past successful students. It lets students know that all students have similar worries.