Session X05: AAPT Organized Session: Programmatic Efforts Changing Physics Education

National Efforts to Enhance Undergraduate Physics Education: What Works.

In this presentation I will discuss the history of three large-scale national efforts designed to enhance undergraduate physics education programs:  (1) Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics (SPIN-UP), (2) the Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop series, and (3) the Partnership for the Integration of Computation in Undergraduate Physics (PICUP).  Collectively, these projects have engaged thousands of physics faculty.  I will review evidence about the impact those projects, draw conclusions about why they were (and continue to be) successful, and provide take-away messages for future nationwide programmatic efforts in physics education.   

SEA Change in Physics and Astronomy

The Physics and Astronomy SEA Change, part of the AAAS SEA Change program, is a collaboration between multiple physics and astronomy professional societies. This program aims to support physics and astronomy departments in addressing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) issues through the departments completing a self-assessment and developing an action plan. Learn more about what we have done, lessons learned so far, and what our two pilot cohorts have been doing.   

Supporting Departmental Change Efforts with Departmental Action Leadership Institutes (DALIs)

As part of the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) initiative, a joint effort of APS and the American Association of Physics Teachers, we are piloting Departmental Action Leadership Institutes (DALIs), which support faculty members and their departments in implementing changes to their undergraduate programs. Starting in January 2021, two faculty members from each of five departments joined the first DALI. They were charged with leading cross-constituency teams in their departments to engage in a change effort, following the Departmental Action Team (DAT) model. This DALI started with a virtual kickoff workshop followed by twice monthly meetings and the opportunity for individual consultations with the DALI facilitators. These activities were designed to to help the DALI participants engage in a change effort, support a high-functioning team, interface with external stakeholders, and develop change agency. The first cohort wrapped up after a year, the second is ongoing, and two more are scheduled to launch this fall.  In this presentation, we will describe the goals and structure of the pilot DALI, present some initial feedback from our participants, and describe our plans to document the impacts on participants and their departments.