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  • Open Access

Central role of personnel in informal physics programming

Bryan Stanley1, Dena Izadi1, Claudia Fracchiolla2, and Kathleen Hinko1,3

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Road, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
  • 2American Physical Society, 1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, Maryland 20740, USA
  • 3Lyman Briggs College, Michigan State University, 919 E Shaw Lane, East Lansing, Michigan 48825, USA

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 19, 020115 – Published 21 August, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.19.020115

Abstract

Physicists, physics students, and community members come together and engage with physics content through various forms of informal education programming. Our prior work has shown that the landscape of informal physics programs in the United States has a variety of formats, audience demographics, and content. Informal physics programs have many benefits for both facilitators and community members; however, we do not fully understand how the variety of program structures, designs, and organizations affect participants’ experiences. In this study, we apply an organizational theory framework to study the connectedness of six functional aspects of informal physics programs: Assessment, Audience, Institution, Personnel, Program, and Resources. We interview lead facilitators about the design and structure of their programs. Here we present an in-depth qualitative analysis of three cases. We find that the personnel, consisting of the faculty, staff, and physics students facilitating the educational activities, have a prominent role in these programs. Our findings show how personnel members influence the physics content, activities, and interactions with the audience. We discuss how understanding these aspects can help support improving the functionality of informal physics programs in equitable and inclusive ways.

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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 19, 020115– Published 21 August, 2023
  • Received 17 April 2023
  • Accepted 26 June 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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