Expanding Career Opportunities for Physics Majors at Hispanic-Serving Institutions through Online Particle Physics Courses

As part of a National Science Foundation-funded initiative to expand career pathways for physics majors at 14 Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), we developed an online particle physics course through the CSU Fully Online program, collaborative between CSU Fresno and Cal Poly Pomona. This course provides students with opportunities for summer research experiences at CERN, U.S. national labs, and R1 universities, aiming to bridge the gap between undergraduate studies and advanced research in physics.

The course integrates active learning strategies, including pre-lecture videos, weekly assessments, structured office hours with think-pair-share activities, guided discussion forums, and term papers on frontier topics in particle physics. These interactive components are designed to enhance student engagement, foster deeper understanding, and motivate students—particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds—to pursue graduate studies in physics.

This project contains a physics education research component, where we collect data on student attitudes, assessment performance, self-efficacy, and physics identity. Our aim is to explore whether online courses with active learning components can improve educational outcomes and expand access to advanced physics topics for students from underrepresented institutions.