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Science educators agree that computation is a growing necessity for curricula at many levels. One program looking to bring computation into high school classes is ICSAM (Integrating Computation in Science Across Michigan), an NSF-funded program at Michigan State University. ICSAM is a year-round program that brings a community of teachers together to help them equitably add computation into their physics curricula. While in the ICSAM program, data is collected from participating teachers through interviews, surveys, classroom videos, and more. In this paper, we examine a case study of a very active participant who fits the mold of a typical high school physics teacher. We utilize the lenses of critical pedagogical discourses and contextual discourses to explore the decision-making behind the adoption of various resources by this teacher during their time with ICSAM. The ways in which this teacher integrated computation in their classroom, along with the nuanced challenges that they faced, may be able to help inform other teachers, professional development providers, and curriculum development of the nature of implementing computation into high school curricula. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (DRL-1741575) and Michigan State University's Lappan-Philips Foundation. 

Characterizing the landscape of informal physics learning is a necessary and important endeavor that requires an in-depth study of the different types of existing programs. In this project we focus on informal programs sponsored by physics departments in academic institutes and physics national labs. We seek to understand the structural elements and cultural practices within the diverse array of informal physics spaces. Thus, we are developing a framework based on organizational theory that is contextualized for informal physics programs. We have collected data using survey and interview protocols for different informal physics activities. Here, we present an in-depth case study in which we have analyzed a “science cafe”-style event facilitated by volunteers from a physics and astronomy department. Applying organizational theory to the data set allows us to determine the fine-grained details of the program and the interconnections between the key elements of programming, personnel, resources, audience and institution. We further characterize and discuss the challenges the program faces from the facilitator’s perspective. From these findings, we will be able to look at larger data sets in the national study. 

There are many informal physics education programs across the country. However, the available information about these programs varies widely and can be difficult to find. Without this knowledge, it is difficult for individual informal physics efforts to be understood as part of a broader national landscape of physics learning outside of the classroom. In this paper, we describe the development of study design and implementation to map the complex landscape of informal physics in the United States. We seek to determine the best ways to collect meaningful and comprehensive data from the wide-ranging and diverse formats of informal physics programs facilitated by academic institutions. Data was obtained from initial web searches for programs, surveys and interviews of program facilitators, and site visits of program events and activities. This data was analyzed along with participants’ feedback to produce iterations of the survey and interview protocol. We report on challenges and outcomes from our attempts to collect information about programs in Michigan as a test case for the national landscape. These methods can also be used in other informal education studies to gather program information.