The last revision of the Guidelines (1) occurred in 2002. Recent advances in physics education research have shown the need for a major update. Under the auspices of the Organization for Physics at Two Year Colleges, a committee was assembled to update criteria for curriculum (in-seat and remote), laboratory instruction, necessary support personnel, budgets, and physical plant.  In the process, we have assembled an extensive library of peer-reviewed literature supporting changes in methods and facilities needed to support student success in the two-year college environment. We are incorporating those ideas into our first draft of the revised document. We will report the status of our efforts on this poster.

1. Hogan, W.; Davies, C.; O'Kuma, T.; Plumb, M.; Waggoner, W.; Warren, W.; Guidelines for Two-Year College Physics Programs AAPT (2002)

OPTYCs is The Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges (https://optycs.aapt.org). Part of the OPTYCs mission is to provide Continuing Professional Development Workshops (CPDW) and Tandem Meetings for TYC physics faculty across the country. In this poster, we will summarize the workshops and the Tandem Meeting that occurred during year 2 of the project. We will also highlight workshops at the current meeting and any currently scheduled future workshops and the 2025 Tandem Meeting. We will also invite TYC physics colleagues and others to submit ideas for workshop content (https://optycs.aapt.org/user/Contact.cfm). CPDW is open to all with an emphasis for TYC faculty. OPTYCs is supported by NSF-DUE-2212807.

Challenges when studying physics, especially for those prepared at under-resourced schools, create feelings of discomfort and lack of self-efficacy approaching this subject matter. These issues contribute to students not considering STEM degrees and careers. Thus, we have created the NSF IUSE funded SPARC – Strengthening Physics Achievement via Research and Collaboration Project whose goal is to improve undergraduate student outcomes in a calculus-based General Physics I course and prepare them for subsequent science and engineering curricula. Here we present our “Doing Physics” (DP) intervention that emphasizes problem-solving, scientific reasoning, and collaborative skills. DP employs inquiry-based science, Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences-CUREs, mentored research, and game-based learning. Results indicate that SPARC has improved the average course pass rate of General Physics from 48% to 58% in Spring 2023, the first year of implementation. SPARC has the potential to improve undergraduate Physics education and to be expanded to other STEM courses and colleges.​

On January 6, 2024, the OPTYCS Leadership Institute met in New Orleans for a day-long program where participants learned to identify and hone their leadership strengths.  The program culminated with individuals designing a professionally focused project they could apply these leadership skills.  As a participant, the project I developed was to explore avenues to enhance the newly revamped astronomy program at Suffolk County (NY) Community College and to use my leadership skills to grow the program.  Efforts have been made to identify and survey the important stakeholders in the program, inventory departmental and college-based resources, and coordinate public outreach efforts, all with the goal to establish a larger cohort of astronomy majors enrolling prior to their first semester at the college.  The status of these efforts are presented within the framework of the leadership skills developed through the Leadership Institute.

What do you get when you put 11 instructors in a room for a two-day immersive discussion that centers students in DEI-effective practices? A lot of amazing actions to share! In this presentation, we will first give an overview of the DEI Capacity-Building Program organized by OPTYCs, The Organization for Physics at Two-Year Colleges. Participants in the first cohort of this two-year program have already begun work towards shifting practices to increase DEI in their classrooms. We share some highlights of their work that came out of the two-day retreat in January 2024 and how that work has continued together during virtual follow-up meetings. A second cohort will begin next year. Applications for this program will open summer 2024, and all interested two-year college faculty who teach physics-related courses are invited to apply. OPTYCs, including this program, is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2212807.

Within STEM, physics ranks among the least aligned with the US population regarding racial and gender representation. This not only has the potential to hinder new discoveries and innovations, it also highlights a lack of equitable opportunities for individuals. In an effort to identify ways in which teaching practices may contribute to this problem, our research explores correlations between active learning strategies and growth in students’ conceptual understanding. The data analyzed are from a pre/post survey in a two-year college calculus-based introductory university physics class with a primarily Vietnamese, Black, and white population. We present topics including force and free-fall that show either substantial or limited improvement in student learning gains. We compare data across several demographics, and relate corresponding learning activities. We provide recommendations to improve both learning outcomes and instructional methods, with the aim of increasing opportunities for all identities to complete degrees and pursue career goals.