1. Advancing your Advanced Lab: Let ALPhA help!
Edited from slides used by Toni Sauncy (Texas Lutheran University Department of Physics) at the 2018 APS sectional meeting

2. abstract
The Advanced Laboratory Physics Association (ALPhA) was formed in 2007 to provide communication and interaction among advanced laboratory instructors world-wide. The association has been pro-active in supporting educators and researchers in the development of apparatus, instrumentation, and curriculum for the advanced lab, a key component of the undergraduate physics education experience.
These slides will present information on ALPhA’s activities. Please feel free to choose slides that suit your purposes.
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3. Motivation for Advancing your Advanced Lab
APS Back Page, “Labs are Necessary, and We Need to Invest in Them”
By Marcos D. Caballero, Dimitri R. Dounas-Frazer, Heather J. Lewandowski, and MacKenzie R. Stetzer
“…at its core, physics is an experimental science.”
“[for students]…laboratory work is an authentic way to develop an understanding of the experimental nature of physics.”
“Laboratory courses that foster collaboration and deep understanding of experimental physics need more support.”
“From our perspective, laboratory courses are a core component of undergraduate physics education. ”

4. Motivation for Advancing your Advanced Lab
“Undergraduate labs lag in science and technology”
Toni Feder, Physics Today,70(4), 2017.
Among the roughly 750 institutions in the US that offer a physics bachelor’s degree, “there has been a collapse” in lab courses in recent decades,…”there really is no significant federal money for instructional lab equipment anymore.”

5. Motivation for Advancing your Advanced Lab
“Introductory physics labs: We can do better”
Natasha Holmes and Carl Wieman, Physics Today, 71(1), 2018.
Labs that just try to reinforce concepts do not add any value. We need labs that “teach experimentation, reasoning, and critical thinking skills.”

6. Challenges to Advancing the Advanced Lab
Tight Funding, low status
Space (often not in continuous use)
Costly
Even in larger institutions may allocate as little as $1000 annually for advanced lab equipment and supplies
Faculty Expertise/interest/training
Age of much equipment >> Age of New faculty
Misconception / confusion / uncertainty about the value of the lab course
What are the goals? benefits?
How do labs fit in the current landscape of assessment?
Teaching in the lab is not the same as teaching in the classroom, even with the advent of innovative, high impact pedagogies. Teaching in the lab is not best for reinforcing content.

7. Let ALPhA Help You! Advanced Lab Physics Association (ALPhA) Goals
provide communication and interaction among instructors
support and enhance advanced experimental physics education
Organizational structure
4 officers + board members
19 regions
300 members worldwide
ALPhA is the group that nurtures and supports all aspects of advanced lab instruction.

8. Some of ALPhA’s Activities
ALPhA achieves its mission by:
Conferences: Providing conferences and workshops on advanced experimental instruction
Immersions: Holding multi-day training sessions for instructors
Generating funding and resources: Curricular Resources on Compadre and at AAPT, Equipment Giveaways, Single Photon Detector Initiative
Supporting National Awards: Reichert Award, AAPT-ALPhA award
Advanced Lab Listserv: Facilitating communication among instructors

9. 1. Beyond First Year (BFY) Lab Conferences
Goals
expose attendees to physics experiments beyond the first year
Discuss lab curriculum
Methods to Achieve Goals
hands-on small-group workshops
plenary talks
panel discussions
poster sessions
networking events
ALPha Board is considering a four year cycle and regional meetings to broaden geographic coverage.

10. 1. BFY Conferences - examples
Over 50 workshops designed to have lab instructors walk away with hands-on experience
Parts lists
Construction plans
Lab curriculum
Assessment methods
All materials archived on Compadre website
Most workshops provide lab guides, parts lists and sources, and on-going communication after the conference

11. 2. Immersions
2-3 days of intensive hands-on work with a single advanced lab experiment.
Only 2-3 participants per experiment.
Equipment grants are available!

12. 3. Resources – ALPhA on Compadre

13. 3. Resources - ALPhA at AAPT
“AAPT Recommendations for the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Curriculum”
Examination of the current state of undergraduate laboratory instruction and reflecting on the skills and practices that are integral to experimental physics.
Vetted by broad-based physics educators community
Approved by AAPT Board
The AAPT Recommendations for Lab Curriculum should be part of departmental planning, self study and external review processes

14. 3. Resources - Funding Opportunities
Funding for equipment used in Immersions through the Reichert Foundation
Single Photon Detector Initiative – buying detectors in bulk so members can receive a discount
Equipment Giveaways
Vendor Discounts – developing relationships with vendors like Jasper Display to facilitate purchasing of SLMs
Often the hardest thing about teaching the advanced lab is funding it. ALPhA is here to help!

15. 4. Supporting National Awards
AAPT – ALPhA award – given to an undergraduate and their mentor for development of an undergraduate advanced lab
Reichert Award (Reichert Foundation and APS)– given to an outstanding instructor who enhances an advanced undergraduate laboratory course
TLU Department of Physics

16. 5. Promoting the Advanced Lab Listserv
The Listserv allows instructors to communicate in real time, and the response time is a couple of hours!

17. Summary
Advanced labs are important and need an overhaul
ALPhA is the group that can help!
ALPhA provides a robust, broad-based, and passionate community. Join today!

18. Alpha Officers and Board Members
Other Board Members
Nina Abramzon, Cal Poly Pomona Nicole Ackerman, Agnes Scott College Daniel Borrero, Willamette College Xuemei (May) Cheng, Bryn Mawr College Enrique (Kiko) Galvez, Colgate University Joseph Kozminski, Lewis University Toni Sauncy, Texas Lutheran University

19. BFY Conferences – history
2009 Topical Conference on Advanced Laboratories
Sponsored jointly by AAPT, APS, & ALPhA
July 23, July 25, 2009 in University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI
2012 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College (BFY)
July 25, July 27, 2012 in University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University
2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year (BFYII)
July 22, July 24, 2015 in College Park, Maryland
2018 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College (BFY III)
Loyola University Maryland, July 25-27, 2018