Developing the Key Components Model for Informal Physics Programs

Informal physics programs are understudied partly due to the broad spectrum of program structures and wide variety of activities. Moreover, the program facilitators hold diverse positions - faculty members at universities, staff members of national labs, and student leaders. In this study, we conduct an in-depth analysis of surveys and interviews from a subset of a national data set. Our goal is to develop and validate a practitioner-focused model of the key organizational components of informal physics programs. Based on the model of The Physics Teacher Education Program Analysis (PTEPA),  we have identified 11 categories of organizational components that demonstrate the inner workings of the studied programs. In this talk at the American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting, we present our model and discuss the future work to develop tools for effective program assessment.

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