Sustaining educational transformations: evidence and approaches at CU Boulder

Research in educational innovations provides mechanisms to systematically improve education in large introductory physics classes. But what is involved in adopting, and than adapting, research-based transformations to suit local constraints? How do we assess the impact of the curricula, how do we promote and sustain changes across time, with a broad variety of faculty? We report here on local efforts to implement two well-studied PER-based innovations: Peer Instruction [1] and Washington Tutorials [2]. Our course transformations are facilitated through our local model of undergraduate Learning Assistants, promoting reforms while recruiting and supporting future K-12 teachers. We document the impacts from multiple terms, instructors, and courses, including sustained learning gains that exceed twice the national average for traditional courses. A guiding theme of our studies is to investigate the sustainability and impacts of our efforts.\\[4pt] [1] Mazur, E., ``Peer Instruction,'' Prentice Hall 1997\\[0pt] [2] McDermott, L., Shaffer, P. and the PEG, ``Tutorials in Introductory Physics,'' Prentice Hall 2002