Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences
The term burnout is being used at increasing rates among physics students, particularly in the wake of the changes to instructional modality prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with research linking burnout to negative health and career outcomes, this increase in burnout presents a concern with respect to students' performance and retention. In this research, we will examine the experiences of undergraduate physics students in order to understand how they experience burnout. At the beginning of Fall 2022, we conducted interviews with 7 undergraduates enrolled in upper-division physics or engineering physics classes at two large research universities. We analyzed the data to determine key symptoms that students who self-identified as having feelings of burnout experienced. Following the interview study, we conducted a survey of 24 students to further investigate the symptoms of students that experienced burnout in physics. This paper presents the symptoms of the students who self-identified as burned out and also discusses strategies used by students with lower levels of burnout.
Physics Education Research Conference 2023
Part of the PER Conference series Sacramento, CA: July 19-20, 2023 Pages 350-355
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=16608">Sunil, Harshini, and Bethany Wilcox. "Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2023, Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023.</a>
![]() H. Sunil and B. Wilcox, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2023, Sacramento, CA, 2023, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788).
![]() H. Sunil and B. Wilcox, Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2023, Sacramento, CA, 2023, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788>.
![]() Sunil, H., & Wilcox, B. (2023, July 19-20). Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2023, Sacramento, CA. Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788
![]() Sunil, Harshini, and Bethany Wilcox. "Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2023, Sacramento, CA, July 19-20, 2023. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788 (accessed 3 May 2025).
![]() Sunil, Harshini, and Bethany Wilcox. "Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences." Physics Education Research Conference 2023. Sacramento, CA: 2023. 350-355 of PER Conference. 3 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788>.
![]() @inproceedings{
Author = "Harshini Sunil and Bethany Wilcox",
Title = {Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2023},
Pages = {350-355},
Address = {Sacramento, CA},
Series = {PER Conference},
Month = {July 19-20},
Year = {2023}
}
![]() %A Harshini Sunil %A Bethany Wilcox %T Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences %S PER Conference %D July 19-20 2023 %P 350-355 %C Sacramento, CA %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2023 %O July 19-20 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Conference Proceedings %A Sunil, Harshini %A Wilcox, Bethany %D July 19-20 2023 %T Investigating Academic Burnout in Undergraduate Physics Experiences %B Physics Education Research Conference 2023 %C Sacramento, CA %P 350-355 %S PER Conference %8 July 19-20 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16608&DocID=5788 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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