Increasing student success

A more scientifically literate society benefits all STEM disciplines, as well as society as a whole. It is best realized by better serving all undergraduate STEM students. In better-serving all students, a physics department also benefits. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville physics department has seen a drastic change in number of majors, the number of students active in research and the number of graduates pursuing graduate work, while also increasing the number of majors who decide to teach. Prior to our involvement with the Physics Teacher Education Coalition, graduation rates had increased by more than a factor of 4 in 4 years. After the increased efforts when we became a part of PhysTEC (http://PhysTEC.org) our graduation numbers doubled again. Specific attention to class policy to impact student learning in our introductory courses and strong preparation of the graduate teaching assistants, and quality advising were our primary areas of emphasis. What worked to build these numbers and strengthen these resources at Arkansas will be discussed.