Modeling the key components of informal physics programs

Physicists, physics students, and public audiences gather in informal physics learning environments in a variety of formats, such as youth camps, public lectures, and demo shows. However, focusing only on the format of these events does not allow us to understand underlying factors important for the design and implementation of informal physics activities. From our qualitative research study, we investigate the aspects of informal physics programs that are critical to their functionality and present the results here. We conducted surveys, interviews with lead program facilitators, and site visits to multiple programs, and analyzed the data to find key themes and challenges present within the programs. We work to identify the key components of informal physics programs that facilitators have influence over, such as recruitment, program content, and the distribution of personnel roles. We share our current model for these key components and discuss future work to develop tools for program facilitators to assess their programs.