Alliance for Physics EXcellence (APEX)

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The Alliance for Physics Excellence (APEX) project is led by Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) and includes as core partners the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (UA-T), Drake State Technical College, the American Association of Physics Teachers/Physics Teaching Resource Agents, and the Huntsville City School system. The partnership also includes supporting partners from the 11 Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) regional in-service centers, Madison County Schools, Scottsboro City Schools, Madison City Schools, and the Alabama State Department of Education. The vision of APEX is to promote significant gains in student learning by transforming secondary physics education throughout Alabama. APEX is serving as a comprehensive agent of change by successfully integrating cutting edge teaching practices within secondary physics programs, and it is directly impacting 25% of the physics teachers (with 41,000 students) throughout all Alabama school systems. The overarching goal of this project is transformation of the work of pre-service and in-service physics teachers as they gain a deeper content knowledge of physics and also employ effective pedagogical strategies based on physics education research. These teachers go on to apply that knowledge within their own classroom "action research," and this serves as a catalyst to encourage teacher experimentation within their classes - while also encouraging the sharing of these findings with physics teaching colleagues. APEX builds on three components, each with its own subset of goals relating to the overarching project goal. The first component is a physics education center for teacher training that works toward: (1) increasing the quantity of highly qualified in-service teachers and the number of underrepresented minority pre-service teachers; (2) increasing the depth and breadth of content knowledge, pedagogy, and instructional technology knowledge and skills; (3) promoting the development of the undergraduate physics teacher education programs at AAMU and UA-T; (4) implementing a cyber infrastructure resource repository for sharing and disseminating best teaching practices and lessons learned; and (5) distributing laboratory equipment to schools via the Alabama Science in Motion program. A second component builds on a physics teaching research program to promote and guide action research in the classroom, thus enhancing evidence-based best practices in these Alabama classrooms. The third component is a physics leadership development initiative that works with policy makers and administrators to encourage their broad support of physics teachers and programs. APEX's best practices, lessons learned, and research findings are being disseminated in journals of physics education, as well as being presentated at regional and national STEM education conferences.