The PhysTEC Teacher Education Program at FIU

The FIU PhysTEC Project is an integral component of the Physics Department's educational transformation that has led to more than a ten-fold increase in majors. The transformation seeks to increase the quality and quantity of physics majors and future physics teachers, including those from historically underrepresented groups. Elements of the efforts include transformed introductory physics courses, establishment of a physics research and learning community, engagement of stakeholders spanning high school through the university administration, and advocacy by a physics education research group. The PhysTEC Project supports future physics teachers through a Learning Assistant program coupled to newly revised secondary education programs. The Learning Assistant program is an experiential program that recruits new students into teaching careers while providing a mechanism for transforming courses - undergraduates experience the rewards and intellectual challenges of teaching through providing interactive engagement learning experiences for their peers in introductory physics courses. Students that continue in the program enroll in a multidisciplinary teacher preparation program and may receive significant financial support. FIU is a minority-serving urban public research institution in Miami, Florida serving over 39,000 students, of which 64{\%} are Hispanic, 13{\%} are Black, and 56{\%} are women. Programmatic strategies and impacts of the program will be provided.