Program improvements in Physics and STEM teacher preparation at Lewis University

Lewis University has been working to increase the number of physics majors and the number of students in STEM teacher preparation programs. These efforts have been supported, in part, by NSF S-STEM and Noyce grants. During the last 8 years, the Physics Department has modernized its curriculum, developed partnership programs with other institutions, and increased its community outreach activities. In that time, we have more than tripled the number of first-year physics majors, increased the number of transfer students into the program, and increased the number of physics majors graduating each year from fewer than five per year to more than 16 per year on average for the last four years. Moreover, the Physics Department has seen an increase in the diversity of its student population, especially in underrepresented minorities in physics. While we have seen substantial growth overall, the number of students in the physics teacher preparation program has seen only slight increases so far. This presentation will discuss recent successes relating to our S-STEM and Noyce activities and the foundation we have built to grow the number of students in the physics teacher preparation program in the future with the help of the PhysTEC Recruiting Grant that Lewis University has been awarded.