Why it should be ‘and’ not ‘or’: Physics and music

Abstract

Participation in informal physics programs as a facilitator has an effect on a person’s identity within their own discipline. This paper discusses a case study, based on Lave and Wenger’s Community of Practice framework, with analysis of three interviews of facilitators of an Irish informal learning program for eight to twelve-year-olds that aims to combine physics and music. The facilitators are university students in Music Education, Science Education, and Physics; an interview of a facilitator from each field was used. We look to see how the differing backgrounds of each interviewee affects their science identity within the various communities they are a part of. The identity code Nexus of Multimembership is studied in detail leading to a discussion of the importance of acknowledging multimembership in informal physics programs.