Collaborative Research: Fostering integration of computational practices into physics courses - A local communities approach

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Studies have for a long time documented the need to introduce computational physics into the undergraduate curriculum. The future workforce needs to be computationally competent-in thinking as well as in skills and practice. This project is a response to the need and proposes exploration into a new change model using a research-based Framework. The Framework - a structure and a research strategy for introducing computation into undergraduate physics was born in 2006 and developed by the Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics (PICUP). The purpose of this collaborative research exploration is to design and test an adaptation of the Framework that is effective and sustainable and that can be scaled up by replication. It is a proof of concept study centered on this project's attempt at significant curricular reform through faculty development starting at the grass roots. The research-based PICUP Framework will be used in a local approach at a sectional meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) followed by extensive collaborative development work among participating faculty. Research-based faculty development will be implemented at regional sites and will be scaled up by replication in any of the 47 AAPT sections. Central to the evaluation plan is assessing how this novel approach helps a computational community to develop. An experienced evaluator is developing metrics to measure progress.