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Team Facts & News

In 1986, under the direction of the AAPT Executive Officer, Jack Wilson, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) organized the United States Physics Team for the first time. — AAPT.ORG

2016 Physics Olympics Team Banner

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2017 F=MA EXAM IS CLOSED!

Complete the short registration form online or, if utilizing a purchase order, you can download a PDF form, complete and send to the AAPT National Office. We encourage on-line registration. You do not need to supply the names of students who will participate at this time; only the number of students.

Proctoring Requirements for the F=ma and USA Physics Olympiad exams

Both the F=ma and USA Physics Olympiad exams MUST be proctored.  It is expected that competitors will take the exam at their local school.  Home schooled students should contact nearby high schools, community colleges, or universities to ask if they can take the exam there.

In order to verify the identity of exam proctors, we ask that email addresses be official school email addresses whenever possible, ideally associated with a school district or an accredited private school.

If you are unable to provide an official school email, then you will need to provide additional contact information for your organization in order to verify your identity and the identity of the organization.

The requirements for the proctor are that they not be a relative of the student(s) taking the exam.  Proctors should have at least a 2 year degree, though this degree does not need to be related to physics.  Librarians would make a suitable proctor, and a candidate may take the test at a library, assuming that the librarian will be able to observe the test taking to ensure the integrity of the process (parents will need to register, and then provide proctor information to Janet Lane at jlane@aapt.org).

Testing centers will need to acknowledge that they are a testing center, and provide a web address to verify their status.

Unfortunately, the immediate parents of a home schooled student are not acceptable proctors; in such cases, parents will need to arrange for a non-relative proctor, preferably a teacher at a local school. 

PLEASE NOTE: AAPT does not refer or arrange test centers, teachers or proctors for the F=ma and USAPhO exams.

2007 U.S. Physics Team working together

Fee Structure

The fee to participate is $35 ($25 for AAPT members) per school plus:

  • $4 per student - WebAssign
  • $8 per student - Downloadable PDF

(Schools will need to return Scantron sheets)

Registration & Exams

  • Registration Deadline: December 12, 2016
  • Preliminary F=ma Exam Dates: January 17 - 23, 2017

Ordering Exam

Faculty Members have two options for how students may take the preliminary exam:

  1. Faculty can request a secured PDF version of the exam. A password protected exam and instructions will be sent to the e-mail address that you provided when you registered, this will be sent in early January. You will also receive by mail, sufficient Scantron sheets for the number of registered students. These will be mailed from the AAPT Office to arrive about one week before the testing dates.
  2. Faculty can register students to the take the exam via WebAssign. Students will need access to the Internet, but no additional software will be needed. Students can register with WebAssign prior to the exam period and take several practice exams, for instructions go to http://aapt.org/physicsteam/2017/pracexam.cfm. You will be sent a password to your institution e-mail address for your students to access the exam in WebAssign during the actual exam period.

Students taking the exam by either the paper plus Scantron or WebAssign options must be monitored and all normal exam protocols must be followed. Detailed procedures that should be followed will be provided for those who register their students to take the exam.

Contact Information

For more details and information about the US Physics Team, please contact AAPT's Programs department at 301-209-3340 or programs@aapt.org