Rate My Professor McLean Phillips

Anna McLean Phillips is an Associate Professor and senior lecturer (education focused) in the School of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, at Monash University. She heads the Physics Education Research @ Monash (PERM) group, contributing directly to improvements in physics education at Monash and beyond. Phillips began her professional career teaching physics, astronomy, and engineering to high school students in grades 10-12. She earned a Master of Science in Physics from Tufts University in Massachusetts, USA, in 2015, followed by a PhD in Physics Education Research from the same institution in 2019. Her doctoral dissertation, titled "Problematizing as 'Doing Physics': The Importance of Articulating, Refining, and Motivating Problems in Classrooms," explored key aspects of physics learning practices. After her PhD, she held postdoctoral positions at Cornell University in New York, USA, and Tufts University.

Her research interests encompass student experiences in physics learning environments, the practices of professional and student physicists, computational practices in physics and student engagement with them, the role of agency in learning physics, and mixed-method longitudinal studies on retention factors in the physics major, including for marginalized and neurodiverse groups. Key publications include "Physicality, modeling, and agency in a computational physics class" (Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2023), "Not engaging with problems in the lab: Students’ navigation of conflicting data and models" (Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2021), "Positioning as not-understanding: The value of showing uncertainty for engaging in science" (2018), "Beyond 'asking questions': Problematizing as a disciplinary activity" (2018), "Problematizing as a scientific endeavor" (2017), "Problematizing in inquiry-based labs: how students respond to unexpected results" (2020), and "So Unfair it's Fair: Equipment handling in remote versus in-person introductory physics labs" (2022). Recent outputs address neurodiverse students' experiences in large introductory physics classes (2024) and social belonging effects on Australian STEM academic outcomes (2024). She authored an editorial for the International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education (2024) and served on the programme committee for the Australian Institute of Physics Congress 2024.